Sophie's Choice (1982)

Sophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live in Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust. They befriend Stingo, the ... See full summary »

Director:

Alan J. Pakula

Writers:

William Styron (novel), Alan J. Pakula (screenplay)

Stars:

Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol

Won 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Meryl Streep	...	Sophie
Kevin Kline	...	Nathan
Peter MacNicol	...	Stingo
Rita Karin	...	Yetta
Stephen D. Newman	...	Larry
Greta Turken	...	Leslie Lapidus
Josh Mostel	...	Morris Fink
Marcell Rosenblatt	...	Astrid Weinstein
Moishe Rosenfeld	...	Moishe Rosenblum
Robin Bartlett	...	Lillian Grossman
Eugene Lipinski	...	Polish Professor
John Rothman	...	Librarian
Joseph Leon	...	Dr. Blackstock
David Wohl	...	English Teacher
Nina Polan	...	Woman in English Class

Storyline

Sophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live in Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust. They befriend Stingo, the movie's narrator, a young American writer new to New York City. But the happiness of Sophie and Nathan is endangered by her ghosts and his obsessions.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | writer | holocaust | concentration camp | nazi | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Polish German French Russian

Release Date:

8 December 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

La decisión de Sophie

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Promenade, Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 7,591,469 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC), Keith Barish Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min 157 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When director Alan J. Pakula was initially signed on to the film, he envisioned only Liv Ullmann in the title role.

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Goofs

In one of the early scenes when Stingo is moving in he is carrying 3 cases of Spam on his shoulder. They barely move despite him writhing around to get the door open. When he gets into the room he drops them on the bed and you can clearly see most of the cans are glued to the cardboard. The actor even flips the top row over on the bed and they stay attached.

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Quotes

Sophie: My mother, she's very sick, you know. And I can't do anything. But I think - if only I could have got - that meat for my mother it would make her strong. So I go to the country and er... the peasants were selling ham and I buy it with the black market money and I bring it back. But it's forbidden, you know, because all the meat goes to the Germans. So I sat on the train and I hid it under my skirt, I am pretending that I am pregnant, you know? Oh I was so afraid. I was shaking. And then the ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Joan Rivers/Musical Youth (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Lieder ohne Worte, Op.30, No.1"
(1833-34)
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy)
Performed by Lorin Hollander

User Reviews

Probably the best Oscar-winning performance ever.

If the Oscars were to take every Best Actress winner ever -- from Janet Gaynor to Helen Hunt -- Meryl Streep would definitely have a good shot at winning against them. She gives a spellbinding, totally believable performance as Sophie, a timid Polish woman who befriends Stingo (Peter MacNicol), while she tells him of her tortured past in a concentration camp. As always, she does her foreign accent without fault, and puts her all in her performance, better than she's ever done. The movie itself is very good, too -- it may drag at times (at 2 1/2 hours), but definitely worth a look.