Sophie's Choice

1982 · directed by Alan J. Pakula

Rating

82/100

Hit

yes

Prestige lists

AFI 100

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.

Sophie's Choice (1982), directed by Alan J. Pakula, rates 82/100 — a hit. See how its director, cast and crew rate across their careers.

Cast

• Meryl Streep
• Kevin Kline
• Peter MacNicol
• Rita Karin
• Stephen D. Newman
• Greta Turken
• Josh Mostel
• Marcell Rosenblatt
• Moishe Rosenfeld
• Robin Bartlett

Crew

• Néstor Almendros — Director of Photography
• Evan A. Lottman — Editor
• Marvin Hamlisch — Original Music Composer
• Alan J. Pakula — Screenplay

More from Alan J. Pakula

1. All the President's Men (1976) — 82/100 · hit
2. Klute (1971) — 77/100
3. Presumed Innocent (1990) — 73/100
4. The Parallax View (1974) — 72/100
5. Starting Over (1979) — 66/100
6. The Pelican Brief (1993) — 61/100

How these numbers work: Methodology