Sophie's Choice | 
| Director: Alan J. Pakula
Actors: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter Macnicol, Rita Karin, Stephen D. Newman
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $3.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 2825
Format: Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 150
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
DVD Layers: 2
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Letterbox
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: IVED60487D
ISBN: 0784011710
UPC: 012236048701
EAN: 9780784011713
ASIN: 0784011710
Theatrical Release Date: December 8, 1982
Release Date: April 21, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: New, still sealed!
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Product Description
Emotional tale of a young writer and a world war ii survivor which whom he is obsessed. Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/01/2005 Starring: Meryl Streep Kevin Kline Run time: 150 minutes Rating: R Director: Alan J. Pakula
Amazon.com essential video
The sunny streets of Brooklyn, just after World War II. A young would-be writer named Stingo (Peter MacNicol) shares a boarding house with beautiful Polish immigrant Sophie (Meryl Streep) and her tempestuous lover, Nathan (Kevin Kline); their friendship changes his life. This adaptation of the bestselling novel by William Styron is faithful to the point of being reverential, which is not always the right way to make a film come to life. But director Alan J. Pakula (All the President's Men) provides a steady, intelligent path into the harrowing story of Sophie, whose flashback memories of the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp form the backbone of the movie. Streep's exceptional performance--flawless Polish accent and all--won her an Oscar, and effectively raised the standard for American actresses of her generation. No less impressive is Kevin Kline, in his movie debut, capturing the mercurial moods of the dangerously attractive Nathan. The two worlds of Sophie's Choice, nostalgic Brooklyn and monstrous Europe, are beautifully captured by the gifted cinematographer Nestor Almendros, whose work was Oscar-nominated but didn't win. It should have. --Robert Horton
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| Customer Reviews: Read 69 more reviews...
 One of the best performances! September 10, 2008
Meryl Streep delivers one of, if not her best performances in any film I have seen her in. If you are a student of film, you must see this. If you are a fan of film, you must see this. If you are neither, you still must see this. The story is not for the faint of heart, it's a very intense subject matter that will have your mind doing cartwheels. Every performance I see is compared to Streep's performance in this film, leaving me walking away from the theatre saying "well, it was good, but it was no Sophie's Choice." See this film!
Another good film: Postcards from the Edge add it to your cart with Sophie's Choice.
War Trauma September 8, 2008
Amazing, brilliant, powerful the whole movie leads to the climax which is not what you expect. Meryl Streep is again incredible! how does she do it, very very believable...
 One Character too many September 7, 2008
I won't belabor too much on "Sophie's Choice". It has a number of haunting scenes and the preformance of Meryl Streep was certainly deserving of an Oscar. Kevin Kline was alright and I came to understand that his role was fairly essential to give us the overview of a woman defeated years before by a macabre experience. However, I found the role of the writer/narrator to be extraneous and annoying. If the book is like the movie (and I suspect it is) I won't bother with it. I would have assumed that the script writer and the director (if not one and the same) would have filtered out the writer's egotistical efforts to make himself the story. Stingo?!? Give me a break. There was too much to be shared to have to include him. Sorry about that but this was a 2 hour movies that was expanded unnecessarily.
Seeing this movie would be the right choice... August 27, 2008
I think that `Sophie's Choice' is not a film you can enjoy the first go around. No, I think it takes at least two viewings before you can behold all that the film really represents. It's kind of like `Million Dollar Baby', another film that doesn't really make an impression until the second viewing. The reason for this is that you aren't really sure what all the fuss is about until the final moments of the film. Both films seem like average movie going experiences until the emotionally crippling finales that open your eyes to a whole new way of viewing the film. The second time around you are able to appreciate so much more because you know exactly what kind of film you're watching.
The film follows a young aspiring writer nicknamed Stingo who moves into a boarding house in Brooklyn where he shares occupancy with a young and beautiful Polish immigrant named Sophie. Sophie herself is nice enough, but her boyfriend Nathan is another story, one moment kind and affectionate and the next moment thrown into a jealous and unjustified rage.
The film feels as though it is nothing more than a film of friendship and restrained affection (especially between Stingo and Sophie) and moves along as if the film is more concerned with Nathan and his effect of those around him than anything else; but as the film progresses towards the halfway mark the focus shifts and we realize that Sophie has a past so dark and horrible one can't help but be engrossed in it. In fact, the best scenes of the film appear in gritty black and white and are spoken in German as Sophie recounts her life before Brooklyn.
The acting in this film has been lauded, especially with regards to Meryl Streep, and that Oscar was more than earned (she donned a perfect Polish accent and learned to speak German for the role) but Meryl was not the only one pulling her weight. Kevin Kline, who made his big screen debut with this film, does a good job with depicting his characters emotional state. He comes off a little over-the-top and obnoxious until his character is fully explained, and then everything starts to fall into place. Peter MacNicol was unjustly snubbed of an Oscar nomination, for his portrayal of Stingo is brilliantly controlled, matching Streep step for step but never overshadowing her. He allows her to bloom but never fades away from view, keeping his viewpoint foremost in our minds. This is Sophie's story told through his eyes, and we never forget that.
And then there is Meryl, and what a revelation she is here. Many have lauded this as her finest performance (Premiere Magazine has this listed as the #3 greatest performance of all time) and even if I slightly prefer her `A Cry in the Dark' performance I cannot deny that this is truly outstanding in every sense of the word. I was utterly absorbed in her from the get go, and her final scene, that final revelation when you realize what choice Sophie had to make (it is now what you expect) she breaks your heart into a million pieces. Streep has always been and will always be one of my favorite actresses of all time, and years, decades, centuries from now she will be remembered along with the greats like Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn and (cross your fingers) Kate Winslet (LOVE) as one of the greatest actresses to ever grace the big screen and invade our hearts.
So, in closing I must say that `Sophie's Choice' lives up to the hype. It may not seem like it at first, but that's only because the film deceives you into thinking it's something that it's not. Believe me, once the weight and or gravity of the film hits you it will change everything and you will see the film in its entirety in a whole new light.
Excellent filmmaking July 2, 2008
This was my first time viewing the film-even though I knew going in what Sophie's choice was. (It's not like movie goers keep secrets) and I have to say this is an excellent character study film. Meryl Streep definitely earned her Oscar with this one. Amazing she could sound native on just a three month emerge study. Sophie's story is heart breaking. An A+++ script, wonderful direction. A definite classic.
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