Forbidden love, strong female characters at heart of ‘Sophie and the Rising Sun’
OGDEN — ”Sophie and the Rising Sun” is the love story of a spinster and a Japanese-American man who shows up in her small South Carolina town.
But the messages of the World War II era film still ring true in the United States of 2016, director Maggie Greenwald says.
The writer-director of this Sundance Film Festival entry said the tale of anti-Japanese American sentiments in 1941 resonated with her in light of recent American attitudes toward Muslim-Americans.
For those who see the film — screening Friday, Jan. 29, at Peery’s Egyptian Theater — there may come a realization that, “Hey, we’re doing it again,” in regards to discrimination against others, Greenwald said in a phone interview from festival headquarters in Park City.
“For most Americans, I think looking at that reminds us that we don’t want to do that again,” said Greenwald, who’s written and directed films like ”Songcatcher,” ”The Kill-Off” and ”The Ballad of Little Jo.”
”Sophie and the Rising Sun” was the gala premiere for Sundance in Salt Lake City, so the first weekend of the festival was “quite the whirlwind,” Greenwald said.
One of the thrills for her was seeing her film with her daughters and her husband, who composed the movie’s music, in the audience.
“It was really exciting,” she said of that particular screening, adding, “I don’t watch them all because I’ve seen (the film) a few times.”
PREVIEW
• WHAT: ”Sophie and the Rising Sun”
• WHEN: 9:30 p.m. Jan. 29
• WHERE: Peery’s Egyptian Theater, 2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden
• ADMISSION: $20. Buy online at www.sundance.org or at box office, noon to 6:30 p.m. daily.
Greenwald said she hopes to attend her film’s showing at Peery’s Egyptian Theater. This is her third film to be part of Sundance and the New Jersey resident said she thinks she did visit Ogden once before, years ago.
“I remember the driving from here to there being incredible,” she said of the scenery.
“Sophie and the Rising Sun” is based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Augusta Trobaugh. Greenwald said she became involved in the film version when executive producer Nancy Dickenson approached her about writing the screenplay and directing.
“I just connected with it very quickly. The subject matter itself was very beautiful, but it also had a very strong emotional connection with my previous work,” she said.
It was almost as if the characters from some of her other projects were showing up in “Sophie” in new incarnations, Greenwald added. “It was a natural fit for me,” she said.
The film stars Julianne Nicholson as Sophie and Takashi Yamaguchi as Grover Ohta, a Japanese-American man who comes to a small Southern town under mysterious circumstances.
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“People in the town are very wary of him and suspicious of him, and he’s very much the outsider,” Greenwald said.
“The Japanese-American man and the town spinster, played by Julianne Nicholson, fall in love and their relationship is forbidden and becomes a problem when World War II breaks out,” she continued. “His life is threatened.”
Yet the most appealing aspect of the film to Greenwald was the friendship between the women in the story — their connections to each other, the way they fight against social injustice, the way they “find the strength to be brave and to do the right thing.”
Whether it’s Sophie’s story or the story of Little Jo — a 1993 movie about a woman in the Old West who dresses as a man to survive — Greenwald said her films always revolve around strong female protagonists and defining moments in their lives.
Look no further than her next project, a pilot she’s developing for a TV series about a nun working with women in prison. When an 18-year-old prisoner gives birth to a baby, the nun assumes guardianship of the child in order to save the mother from losing her parental rights.
Greenwald has done extensive work in television as well as film, including directing movies for Lifetime, TNT and the Disney Channel, and directing episodes of “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” “Wildfire” and “The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo.”
The director said she hopes when people leave the theater after seeing “Sophie and the Rising Sun” that they are moved by the love story of Sophie but also the friendship and love between the women.
The Sundance Film Festival feels like a celebration of cinema and how much people love the art form, Greenwald said.
“Once you get to go to the movies, the audiences are so passionate and excited,” she said. “It’s wonderful to be here as a filmmaker and be reminded of why I do what I do.”
Contact reporter Becky Cairns at 801-625-4276 or bcairns@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @bccairns or like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SEbeckycairns.