Line #1 Film/SophiesChoice


1	[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sophies_choice_1982_film.jpg]]
2
3	-> ''Between the innocent, the romantic, the sensual, and the unthinkable.\
4	There are still some things we have yet to imagine.''
5	-->-- '''{{Tagline}}'''
6
7	A 1982 drama film [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] William Styron's 1979 novel of the same name, directed by Creator/AlanJPakula and starring Creator/MerylStreep in the title role.
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9	Set in 1947, the story follows Stingo (Creator/PeterMacNicol), a young writer who has recently moved to Brooklyn to work on a novel. While there, he befriends Sophie Zawistowski (Streep), a Polish immigrant, and her somewhat unstable lover, Nathan Landau (Creator/KevinKline). As Stingo gets to know Sophie better, she starts to offer him insight into her DarkAndTroubledPast, which involves having witnessed UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust very up close and personally. Meanwhile, the already-unhinged Nathan starts growing increasingly paranoid and becomes violently jealous of Stingo and Sophie's relationship...
10
11	Streep earned an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for her performance, as well as a UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}} and a UsefulNotes/{{Golden Globe\|Award}}.
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13	----
14	!!The film provides examples of:
15
16	* AllCrimesAreEqual: Sophie gets taken to Auschwitz for stealing a ham. She states that it wasn't the theft that got her sent to Auschwitz, but the fear she showed.
17	* AuthorAvatar: Stingo is almost exactly like William Styron. Just like Styron, he's from the South, born in 1925, served in the Navy during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, graduated from Duke University, worked for [=McGraw=]-Hill, and ended up writing a controversial novel about Nat Turner. Stingo's name is never revealed, but it's implied that his last name starts with "St" (since his roommates in the training camp were Strohmyer and Stutz).
18	* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Nathan is prone to violent mood swings and the opening scene is him right in the middle of one of these.
19	* CrazyJealousGuy: Nathan - and the "crazy" is to be taken literally. He's a paranoid schizophrenic, and he has recurring delusions about Sophie being unfaithful to him.
20	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Sophie has attempted suicide several times. Eventually, she and Nathan kill themselves together.]]
21	* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Stingo. The real protagonist is of course Sophie [[spoiler:but she dies at the end.]]
22	* ForTheEvulz: Stingo speculates that this is why the Nazi officer [[spoiler:forced Sophie to choose which one of her children would die.]]
23	* LovableSexManiac: Subverted with Leslie, who is foul-mouthed and likes to pretend she's one of these but is rather afraid of sex.
24	* LoveTriangle: Sophie, Nathan, and Stingo.
25	%%* MoodSwinger: Nathan.
26	* {{Omniglot}}: Sophie, being the daughter of a linguist, speaks a whole slew of languages.
27	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Stingo, though in the novel it's implied that his last name starts with "St".
28	* PetTheDog: Nathan's verbally abusive behavior towards Sophie and Stingo at the beginning of the film is somewhat neutralized by how kind and gentle he is the rest of the movie. Most notably he saves Sophie's life when she falls ill at the library.
29	* SadisticChoice: Upon arrival at Auschwitz, [[spoiler: Sophie is told to choose which of her two children will go to the gas chamber immediately, and which will live for some time longer in the camp.]] Since the story is cynical, it averts TakeAThirdOption. The movie was popular enough that the term "Sophie's Choice" is occasionally used to describe similar sadistic choices, and is even an alternative name for the trope.
30	-->[[spoiler: '''Sophie:''' [[TearJerker Take my little girl!]] ]]
31	* SmallRoleBigImpact: [[spoiler: Sophie's horrifying SadisticChoice is thrust upon her by an unnamed junior [[ThoseWackyNazis S.S]] officer. Purely for no reason, other than she happened to be standing there at that point when he walked by.]]
32	* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: It's never revealed whether Sophie's son survived, adding this uncertainty to Sophie's guilt over betraying her daughter.]]
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Context Film / SophiesChoice