Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential videoThe 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 Néstor Almendros, whose work was Oscar-nominated but didn't win. It should have. --Robert Horton
Product Details
- Actors: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Peter MacNicol, Rita Karin, Stephen D. Newman
- Directors: Alan J. Pakula
- Writers: Alan J. Pakula, William Styron
- Producers: Alan J. Pakula, Keith Barish, Martin Starger, William C. Gerrity
- Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
- Subtitles: Spanish
- Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: R (Restricted)
- Studio: Lions Gate
- DVD Release Date: April 21, 1998
- Run Time: 150 minutes
