Product Details

• Actors: Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine, Edward Herrmann, Trini Alvarado
• Directors: Gillian Armstrong
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: January 8, 2002
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005RRK1
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,390 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Mrs. Soffel" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An air of gothic romanticism pervades every aspect of this remarkable film, based on a true story from the turn of the 20th century. In its torrid plot, one can hear the icy restraints of the Victorian era cracking. Diane Keaton is uncannily perfect as Kate Soffel, wife of a priggish prison warden (Edward Herrmann). She's funny and touching playing what used to be called a "neurasthenic"--a nervous, depressed woman with mysterious physical ailments. When the film opens, Kate is just recovering from a three-month-long spell, and back at work preaching to the inmates in her husband's prison. Whom should she encounter but dangerous death row inmate Ed Biddle, in the irresistible person of Mel Gibson. The forbidden affair that blossoms between them is feverishly exciting, but the film operates on myriad other levels. Director Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career) and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) have much to say about capital punishment, and about the miserable fate of women in this repressive society who dare to act on their passions. There's nothing morally clear-cut in this movie, which is what makes it consistently fascinating. Kate and Ed's romance is as right as it is wrong; we never really know how to feel about either of them. The film's stunning cinematography and superb period details are exhilarating, from the towering, bleak beauty of the prison to the gorgeous panoramic chase scenes of horse-drawn sleighs in the snow. --Laura Mirsky

Product Description

Mel gibson and diane keaton headline the fact-based story of a wardens wife who falls for a condemned murderer and aids in his escape. Special features: trailer: cast/director film highlights: languages: english and french: subtitles in english french spanish and portuguese. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/07/2005 Starring: Mel Gibson Matthew Modine Run time: 112 minutes Rating: Pg13

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vividly and brilliantly made!, April 9, 2001

By	Jessica "joanphilip" (The Bay State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mrs Soffel [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Yet ANOTHER film to add to my favorite list of films! Could Diane Keaton be any more appealing and exquisite?!?!?! This beautiful movie deserves much MORE credit than it got! On a basic note, this movie is about a prison warden's wife, Kate Soffel, who meets and falls in love with a prisoner, Ed Biddle, on death row. Of course, that's very intriguing because how can two people on total opposite sides of life be together? I cannot say how emotional I was at the ending. It's impossible to sum up this exceptional movie in a few words. More or less, this story only applies to every person who have experienced true love, but also felt pain. Despite the conditions, the lovers manage to find a way to be together forever, and that's true love in its purest. The landscape, winter, contributes to the emptiness and instability of Kate and her husband's marriage, and the violet poem contributes to the youth and beauty of Kate and Ed's doomed, but beautiful relationship. It strikes your emotional chords at very opportune times, and it also gets you thinking about love back in the 1900's and the real Kate Soffel. Simply remarkable.I cannot put any of the words I'm thinking about the movie in clarification- I am telling this abstractly and undefined, because it's the way I felt. I felt the way I felt, and this is the best I can do. I am still emotionally attached to this movie, and of course, no clear explanations come with emotions. I have to admit, I found the ending S A D and unpredictable. It still brings tears to my eyes whenever I think of it. It's beautiful and painful. When Kate felt pain at the very ending, I also felt pain, too, for the doomed lovers. It's just so sad. I found the very last minutes striking. A voice sounding out lines from the violet poem while the camera looms down and swoops past prison cells... "A little violet from across the way came to cheer a lonely prisoner in his cell one day...." and from there, unfolds the heartbreaking story of Kate Soffel and Ed Biddle. DO N O T MISS IT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pulled me into 1901 Pittsburg from the very first scene., October 16, 2002

By	Debbie Holland (Palatka, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Mrs. Soffel (Diane Keaton) is based on the true story of a emotionally starved Mother of three. Her prison warden husband is not unsypathetic, but hasn't a clue as to what she's feeling.

Her daily routine of reading the Bible to the inmates can no
longer fulfill her emotional void...that is until the day she encounter's the new, guilt-in-question, death row inmates Jack Matthew Modine) and Ed (Mel Gibson) Biddle.

Rules of society were strict in 1901, but with death at stake, Ed Biddle begins a methodical plan to seduce the warden's wife to help them escape.

Black and White turn grey when it comes to just who is seducing who. Once the Biddle's escape the confines of their cells, it is Ed(Gibson)who doesn't want to leave "Kate" behind.

After the breakout is discovered the next morning, it seems only a Sheriff with a mind that can think the "unthinkable" suspects the warden's wife has escaped with the two deathrow inmates and not as their hostage...

On the run, Kate and Ed's passion grow until most certainly, one feels death is the only thing that can break them apart.

Mark Isham's dark film score is perfect. Who would have imagined Keaton and Gibson paired? Up until this movie, I had chalked
Gibson up to a pretty face with not much depth, BUT...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SATISFYING, December 24, 1999

By	R. Penola (NYC, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mrs Soffel (Ws) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I love the steely, snowy look of this movie, and its bizarre, infinitely compelling love story. Diane Keaton, one of the best screen actresses ever, here portrays a woman who is teetering on madness; that we never really know her state of sanity or Mel Gibson's true intentions only adds to the mystery and desperateness of the story, which by all accounts is true. The warmth of the warden's home, at Christmastime no less, contrasted with the chill of the Pittsburgh snow and the brutality contained within that prison, is remarkably effective. Gillian Armstrong directs like a painter with a brush, and every scene contains a stark beauty. I thought the chemistry between Gibson and Keaton was electric. Mark Isham's spare and original score punctuates the tragedy and isolation in these characters in a very effective way; it is a musical score that never panders or overstates, but quietly does the trick. It is not a classic film, but it does pull you along, and there are plenty of wise choices along the way. If you do not mind taking an emotional journey without an uplift, this is for you.