O Mundo de Sofia

I loved the book and enjoyed reading it.

A movie does not suit this book, it would be better if it was a TV series.

The movie was a complete disappointment, it was very bad.

A while ago, I started reading a Dutch translation of Sophie's World. While I got only as far as its treatment of Kant and Hume, I was amazed by its capacity to provide a chronological overview of Western philosophy in a way that's accessible for teenagers and adults with a limited philosophical background.

Combining a mystery story with the history of philosophy and using clever examples to illustrate new philosophical insights, the book really managed to stimulate one's curiosity for what came next while at the same time offering some very interesting information.

As I started reading other books and spending my time on other activities, I stopped reading the book in spite of my curiosity. Owning a copy of the movie version, I figured I could just as well finish the story by watching the movie.

Boy oh boy, was that a mistake. The movie just didn't capture either the atmosphere or the intent of the book. The actors were poorly casted and the plot was shopped up and rehashed so amateurishly it left only very little of the philosophical depth of the book.

The movie was confusing, superficial and downright insulting to one of the greatest introductory works to the world of philosophy ever written. I found no redeeming qualities in this movie and highly recommend everyone to skip it and just read the book instead.

It is a cliché that movies based on books tend to be not nearly as good as the book. This movie doesn't just confirm that cliché. It's a caricature of that cliché.

I read the book (german translation) and was enthusiastic about it. So far, so good.

First, the movie was much too short! You can not handle this wonderful book in a normal movie. Many philosophers were not shown or not honored enough (e.g. Marx, Hegel etc.). The book does!

Second, it was concentrated on the subplot. The main plot should be the philosophy but a viewer who has not read the book could think the story around the other people than sophie and alberto were the most important thing.

BUT: Alberto and Sophie were played fantastic actors!

I think the suitable format is a TV mini series, each part assigned to a chapter. And with the same actors and sound track.

I had not read the book, but was (and am) very curious about it. Seeing the film would hopefully tell me if I would like the book. Well, I am going to buy and read it as soon as I can now! I absolutely loved the film. It was beautifully shot, well acted and the story didn't feel at all like just a book made into a film! The story was engrossing and thorough, even though not all the philosophers were included and only a short introduction was given to what they represented. It made me wanting more, but did not leave a sense of something truly lacking. At several points my mouth was hanging open in awe: I did not expect a Norwegian film to look this stunning. Especially the images of Sofie and Alberto going back in time were breathtaking (did much of the budget go into computer imaging?). Anyone who has the chance: don't miss out on this gem!

O.K. No one really expected a film to portray in a few hours what Gaarder painstakingly created in his bestselling novel, but this film doesn't even come close to capturing the essence of Sofie's philosophical journey through adolescence.

The amateurish efforts of some of the cast distracts one's attention from the extremely simplified storyline. Will probably appeal to kids but we adults should stick to the book. Might I suggest a BBC television production? Perhaps a ten part series with professional actors and more subtlety. A big budget is, (contrary to popular convention), not as necessary as it may seem for the modern film-maker. Despite being the "biggest" and "most expensive" Norwegian film ever made, "Sofies Verden", is, unfortunately, far from being the best.