Sophie's Choice

Sophies Entscheidung
In 1947, Stingo, a young, naive Texan, comes to New York in order to become a writer. He finds a room in a Brooklyn guesthouse, where he meets Sophie, a Polish immigrant who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. Nathan, her lover, is an impulsive, choleric Jewish American obsessed with the crimes of the Nazis. Stingo is fascinated by the amour fou between Sophie and Nathan, and he is drawn ever more deeply into their relationship. Sometimes Sophie invites him into her room at night when she is waiting for Nathan. Little by little she tells Stingo about her horrible experiences during her time in the camp. Nathan is jealous of Stingo and of every other man Sophie has contact with, and heaps abuse on her. But Nathan has a traumatic past of his own, as it soon turns out. Is their love strong enough to conquer the demons of the past?

Meryl Streep won the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Sophie, whose stories director Alan J. Pakula tells in long flashbacks.



Print courtesy of Universal Studios
by Alan J. Pakula
with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol
USA 1982 151’