We, who we never were forced to witness such inhumanity and terror as those who survived the Holocaust, can probably never quite capture what it meant and indescribable it must have been. Director Alan J. Pakula tried with this film to bring us the despair closer, as we witness the struggle of a woman to survive and how she cannot live with her decisions.<br /><br />Sophies story is told by Stingo (a very young Peter MacNicol), a writer, who moves to New York and befriends quickly his new neighbors Nathan (Kevin Kline) and Sophie (Meryl Streep). Sophie survived Ausschwitz, drinks to much and is completely dedicated to Nathan, who now and then gets terrible moods. They all become good friends, but while Nathan seems to go deeper and deeper into madness Sophie tells Stingo from time to time parts of her story, how she survived and what a terrible choice she had to make.<br /><br />I wont reveal what the choice is, but for me it was one of most chilling moments I've ever seen on film. It's revealed very late in the movie, at a time where we already root for Sophie, despite being a rather naive and weak character, but we care so much for her it's like it happened to ourselves.<br /><br />Though MacNicol and Kline are both flawless in their respective parts, the movie is dominated by Meryl Streep, who demands attention in every scene she's in (and is exquisitely photographed by cinematographer Nestor Almendros). She's funny (the movie, despite the bleak and depressing story, is quite joyous), exhilarating, beautiful, but at the same time she always seems to be sad, like a cloud it's hanging over her head.<br /><br />The end of the movie, however sad it is, is not at all depressing, because somehow we felt throughout the whole movie, that Sophie was doomed from the start, that there was no other solution than this and that it's probably more peaceful for her than to go on and on.