Tom Troupe is riveting in this one character film based on Nicolai Gogol's DIARY OF A MADMAN. The film manages an almost impossible feat...to make a 90 minute drama with one character work as a viable motion picture. The cinematography by Al Taylor is also incredible. The camera weaves in and out of the shadows and uses every inch of the claustrophobic set to perfection. A rare and personal achievement for actor and playwright Troupe. A landmark film that deserves rediscovery
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CPM258 August 1999
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I have never seen this film, but my father composed the music to the movie, when I was very, very young. I have been going through his warehouse of music, and I believe I have just found the two original film canisters (2) of the movie! They are large film canisters, octagonal in shape. Is it possible to restore this film, so that I can safely watch it? I certainly don't want to take any chances, as it looks like it could be a Master tape...? The canisters seem too big to be just the reels for the music alone, and they are not the proper shape for that. Amazing...I can't wait to see it! Thanks much for any advice or comments anyone might render, prior to my opening the canisters. Jill
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Alan Fare7 December 2001SOFI is one of the crown jewels of cinematic achievement that was nearly lost forever but has found it's was back into the world. A few companies still offer it and for that we can be thankful. Tom Troupe is exceptional as the single character seen for the entire 92 minutes of SOFI's running time as he descends into hopeless madness in his own private hell of not being socially fit to win his chief clerk's daughter's love. Troupe brings Gogol's short story DIARY OF A MADMAN to vivid life in a heart rendering performance that has to be seen to appreciate. If you have a love for great drama this is a wonderful film for you.
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scotfree17 February 1999One actor, two sets, and you never lose interest in what's going on. They don't make many movies like this. More is the pity. Considered a "lost" film, it is becoming available on videotape. Seek it out. It is, to use an over-used expression, a "must-see".
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JohnSeal27 April 2008Fans of Samuel Beckett, Edward Albee, and Eugene Ionescu might enjoy this filmed version of lead actor Tom Troupe's play Diary of a Madman. Troupe (who looks a bit like the late actor Jason Miller) plays The Clerk, a working man whose diary details his disdain for his tight-fisted supervisor and his unrequited love for Sofi, the daughter of aforesaid skinflint. The Clerk also shares his inmost thoughts with a wooden puppet, and as time passes he sinks deeper into melancholia and eventual insanity. Shot by Alfred Taylor in the same Gothic style as his earlier Spider Baby and featuring makeup by the legendary Harry Thomas, Sofi is an intriguing small-scale film that anticipates the bigger budgeted American Film Theatre productions of the 1970s. It's certainly not for all tastes, but Troupe's tour de force performance is worth the price of admission.
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matratal12 April 2014When I was about 6 years old, this film was aired on the old Israeli TV movie channel. I was mesmerized. I've never seen anything like it. even in that early age i knew i wanted to make movies, but once i saw "SOFI" knew this is my kind of filmmaking. This is my first review on IMDb and i'm glad it's this one. i've been searching for "SOFI" since that day, more then 15 years ago. and I've finally found it. Tom Troupe in a great performance, Beautiful "One Man Picture Show". without a doubt one of my top 20 favorite films, and in a list full of Bergman's's and Fellini's this movie still stands out. many thanks to the makers of this film who changed the way i saw film. for showing me a way for a single character on the screen. a way to film it and make it interesting.
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mark-484435 May 2022"Sofi," the film of the play "Diary of a Madman," in turn based on Gogol's story, is a frankly amazing achievement. Engrossing, startling, a tour de force of acting, it is a rare one-character piece well worth a viewing. I'd love to find a copy of the film, but don't know where to begin.