DramaRomanceWar

Sophie's Choice

- Between the innocent, the romantic, the sensual, and the unthinkable. There are still some things we have yet to imagine.

Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.

Release Date : 1982-12-08

Language :GermanEnglishFrenchPolishRussianCzech

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : ITC EntertainmentKeith Barish ProductionsUniversal PicturesAssociated Film Distribution

Production Country : United KingdomUnited States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Zofia "Sophie" Zawistowski

Original Name : Meryl Streep

Gender : Female

Character Name : Nathan Landau

Original Name : Kevin Kline

Gender : Male

Character Name : Stingo

Original Name : Peter MacNicol

Gender : Male

Character Name : Yetta

Original Name : Rita Karin

Gender : Female

Character Name : Morris Fink

Original Name : Josh Mostel

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lillian Grossman

Original Name : Robin Bartlett

Gender : Female

Character Name : Polish Professor

Original Name : Eugene Lipinski

Gender : Male

Character Name : Librarian

Original Name : John Rothman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr. Blackstock

Original Name : Joseph Leon

Gender : Male

Character Name : English Teacher

Original Name : David Wohl

Gender : Male

Character Name : Rudolf Höss

Original Name : Günther Maria Halmer

Gender : Male

Character Name : SS Doctor

Original Name : Karlheinz Hackl

Gender : Male

Character Name : Frau Höss

Original Name : Ulli Fessl

Gender : Female

Character Name : Wanda

Original Name : Katharina Thalbach

Gender : Female

Character Name : Moishe Rosenblum

Original Name : Moishe Rosenfeld

Gender : Male

Character Name : Larry

Original Name : Stephen D. Newman

Gender : Male

Character Name : Leslie Lapidus

Original Name : Greta Turken

Gender : Male

Character Name : Astrid Weinstein

Original Name : Marcell Rosenblatt

Gender : Male

Character Name : Woman in English Class

Original Name : Nina Polan

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Eugeniusz Priwieziencew

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Krystyna Karkowska

Gender : Female

Character Name :

Original Name : Peter Wagenbreth

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sophie's Father

Original Name : Ivica Pajer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Narrator (voice)

Original Name : Josef Sommer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Emmi Hoess

Original Name : Melanie Pianka

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Alexander Sirotin

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Armand Dahan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bellboy

Original Name : Cortez Nance Jr.

Gender : Male

Character Name : Josef

Original Name : Nedim Prohić

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sophie's Child

Original Name : Jennifer Lawn

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sophie's Child

Original Name : Adrian Kalitka

Gender : Male

Character Name : Female SS Guard

Original Name : Vida Jerman

Gender : Female

Character Name :

Original Name : Irena Hampel

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Sandra Markota

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Hrvoje Sostaric

Gender : Male

Character Name :

Original Name : Marko Zec

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sophie as a Child

Original Name : Michaela Karacic

Gender : Male

Character Name : Reporter

Original Name : Tobin Bell

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2025-01-11

Not long after the end of WWII, we meet "Stingo" (Peter MacNicol) who isn't exactly impressed when he encounters his new upstairs neighbours. "Nathan" (Kevin Kline) seems to be a bit of an noisy and brutish oaf towards his girlfriend "Sophie" (Meryl Streep). Luckily, next morning peace has broken out and they climb in his window to invite him on a seaside picnic. He's a budding writer, and what he clocks quite early is the volatility of "Nathan", a Jewish man who seems to have a great deal of emotional baggage. She, on the other hand, is much more considered and sedate - and that's the shield that he is determined to penetrate. Once he does and she begins to open up to him, we discover that she is an holocaust survivor and has had to make some horrendous decisions in her life just to stay alive. It's this latter, intimate and frightening, stage of the film that really showcases Streep's abilities to convey a palpable sense of fear. Sure, the accent isn't maybe the best but the scenes in the camp, the terrors and the anachronism of the commandant's relatively luxury home and happy family - where she ends up working in domestic service - being only yards from the scene of such brutality is also well, subtly, presented. Every now and again we come up for air - to their present day - to recalibrate the story and advance the more contemporaneous storyline before we dive deeper for some more of just what happened in Europe in the 1940s. It's another of those films where the victims of this villainy are the ones who want/need/have to forget whist others are fascinated by their experiences and want to know more. From that perspective, MacNicol plays his part - increasingly treading on the psychological eggshells - well, especially as the dynamic between them begins to shift. Kline doesn't disappoint, either. His annoyingly neurotic character isn't always the most likeable, but as a vital piece of this powerfully scripted jigsaw he adds a potent dimension to sentiments of guilt, grief, anger and regret that prevail as the story builds up an head of steam. It's a stylish, Gatsby-esque, looking production and brims with humanity, humility and some very dark humour on occasion, too. Not an easy watch, but stories like this never grow old.