after enjoy meryl streep and kevin kline in the recent ensemble comedy a prairie home companion and it be great to see their dramatic performance in sophie choice and the movie that make them famous . here and they play sophie and nathan and a volatile young couple living in a brooklyn boardinghouse in the summer of 1947. their story and and eventually the story of the polish sophie time in a concentration camp during world war ii and be present through the eye of stingo ( peter macnichol ) and their young southern neighbor . though other character appear and especially during the flashback and sophie choice be largely a three person drama that rely on subtle interaction . meryl streep can always be count on to give a nuanced performance and but here and especially and she raise the bar . speak three language ( include a very realistic portrayal of how foreigner can hesitate and hunt for word when speak english ) and go from a haggard auschwitz inmate to a pretty blooming rise and consume by guilt even during the madcap or romantic moment she share with nathan and she give a brilliant performance of a very complex character . her big scene with nazi officer be of course powerful and but i be equally strike by small moment represent the heartbreaking little flash of emotion that reveal sophie postwar wound and or the extraordinary conversation she have with a nazi daughter . kline throw himself into the role of the fatally glamorous nathan and also display impressive range represent he go from charm to menace . macnichol be not up to these ( admittedly high ) standard . he can play the wide eyed innocent and but he always seem somewhat thick head and lack in passion . the movie would be more effective if stingo seem more truly change by his experience with sophie and nathan . despite stingo weakness a a character and i like the unusual structure that reveal sophie story gradually and in flashback that draw close and closer to the ultimate horror . the movie be nicely shot and some of the brooklyn scene look a though they actually could have come from a 1940s movie . but no director from the 1940s would have confront the brutality of the holocaust so directly and and few actress from any era could have give a performance like streep .