Meryl Streep won best actress for giving a penetrating and complex portrayal of a woman whose guilt makes her postwar life a walking death. She is incredibly intense, occasionally inappropriately so, but always memorable. But, that intensity in combination with Kevin Kline's overplaying is hard to take at times. Add in the slow pacing and you have an unpleasant, albeit well crafted, movie-watching experience. Peter McNichol does his best to provide some irony and insights, and Josef Sommer's superb narration helps move things on a bit. If you can stick with it, you will be rewarded by the unforgettable denouement. It works as art much better than it works as entertainment.