Rating: 
Summary: The story of us
Review: My great grandfather was one of the biggest rabbis in Liady, Byelorussia. My grandfather was a loyal salesman during Bolshevik sunrise. My mother was married first time to NKVD officer. My father was a professor of Soviet and European literature. He was exiled in 1949 during Stalinism for being "cosmopolitan" and a Jew, and spent 15 years in Komi Republic. In 1977, I was detained at Moscow synagogue for being "pro-zionist". I was "in refuse" and later I left for the United States.The movie "Sunshine" is not about any specific Jewish family or Jewish story. It is about all of us, Jews and non-Jews. We all are seeking acceptance and security, at least most of us. Jewish theme is just a catalyst of this chemical reaction called "a human saga", I almost wrote "a human tragedy". All main male personages loyal to their escapists believes no mater what historic decorations they are involved in - imperia, communist republic, fascist dictatorship, again communist dictatorship. They try to assimilate and to be like a simple guy from across the street. However, there is no way to escape from ourselves, we are what we are - we want it or not. Istvan Szabo is a precise artist. He is meticulous in his accents, he is accurate in selecting the color palette, and he is "alive" in depicting his beloved characters. Szabo continues the tune of such great artist like Saul Below, Isaak Singer, Sholom Ash, and Sholom Aleichem. In the movie he makes one step further and widen the scope of humanistic realism started with his awards winning "Mefisto". If in "Mefisto" he leaves to us "judgment and sentencing" of the hero, this time Szabo makes one step further. Dieing great uncle of the hero, loyal communist who spent all his life trying to reach "justice for all" - communist version of Paradise with a simple wicked formula - Communism equal to Paradise minus G-d, asks the love of his life: "What that miserable life was about?" This question is the sentence. However, the movie is not about Szabo's disgust with fascists, communists or "simple common anti-Semites". It is about us. Despite the fact that the movie carries all necessary "Hollywood elements", it never dives below 5 star level of cinematography. It should be seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Commanding presence
Review: If you enjoy great female performances then you'll love this movie. Jennifer Ehle, who plays Valarie, is the star of this movie. Don't be deceived by the advertisements that tell about Mr. Feinnes. The true Sunshine of this show is Miss Ehle's performance. Whenever she is on-screen you will have no doubt as to the star. Unfortunately she does not last past the first 1 1/2 hrs. But then her mother, Rosemary Harris, comes on-screen to take over the role of during later years. You will not miss a thing. Ms. Harris looks very much the part and delivers the performace of her life. There is a great deal of time and events that happen during the nearly 100 years of the story. Rachel Weicz plays the adulturous sister-in-law to the hilt. I wish to compliment these 3 ladies especially for making the viewing of this film worth every minute.
Rating:
Summary: Sunshine
Review: Sunshine was an excellent look at Hungarian history of the 20th century. It takes place around a Jewish Hungarian family during both world wars, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and other important events of the past century. This movie had a great plot and was very well directed. I found the family in the movie to be very realistic in many aspects of their lives and traditions. I would recommend this movie to viewer everywhere based on its historical and dramatic aspects.
Rating:
Summary: A very subjective and gripping look back on the 20th century
Review: Having lived roughly half of the period covered by Szabó in his latest film at the location of the film, Hungary, I found his film very, very touching. He shows us the lives of three generations of Hungarian Jews - how the first Sonnenschein changes his name to sound Hungarian to get a position as a high ranking judge, how the second leaves his ancestors' religion to be accepted by the military officers' fencing club, how the third becomes a member of the political police in the 1950s to take revenge for killing much of his family during the war, only to find that, as a Jew, he is not wanted by that establishment, either. The film is a very pessimistic, dark, but, I am afraid, truthful account of that cruel century, the 20th.
Rating:
Summary: What a fantastic movie!
Review: This movie is a must-see!
It is a relativly long movie but you won't feel the length since it is very amusing and it absorbs all your attention so well that you barely notice the passage of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Fiennes shines, but Harris steals the show
Review: "Sunshine" is a three-hour lesson in modern Hungarian history, portraying the country as it goes from Empire to Fascist to Communist rule, all seen from the perspective of the Sonnenschein family ("sunshine" in Hungarian). Granted, some purists may take issue with the historical accuracy, but I am not a purist when it comes to this, so I can comment upon the film's other merits. Sprawling over three hours, this film is not for the short of attention. But for those more accustomed to films of this genre and length, "Sunshine" offers many golden moments that may pass you by if you aren't prepared to notice. Ralph Fiennes takes on not two but three roles, playing grandfather, father, and son. Other actors are more noted for their ability to transform themselves physically for a role, but Fiennes' talent in this category should not be underrated. Although his red-haired beauty endures, he manifests the melancholy of Ignatz Sors (the grandfather), the dashing athleticism of fencer Adam Sors (the father), and the awkwardness and conflict of Ivan Sors (the son) masterfully, making each character a physically different person. However, Fiennes' ability to morph is overshadowed by the subtle, emotionally resonant performance by the fine Rosemary Harris as the elder Valerie (Sors) Sonnenschein. In the midst of political turbulence, religious persecution, and the rise and fall of empires and regimes (as well as Fiennes' role-switching), Valerie remains the only constant, due to her unflinching sense of self. In a country that struggles to find its identity, Valerie always knows who she is, and for this reason, she endures. Jennifer Ehle (Harris's own daughter) is competent as the younger Valerie. She gets all of the highly emotional outbursts and confrontations with other characters, and gives Valerie an endearing vitality. But it is Harris's quiet dignity and sly confidence that makes her the more memorable. Just as Valerie is the pillar of the Sonnenschein family, Harris is the central pillar of the film itself.
Rating:
Summary: Anti-Semitism Illustrated Against a Backdrop of Assimilation
Review: "Sunshine" is mainly about four generations of a Jewish family in Hungary who try to assimilate into the Christian world around them in order to find social acceptance. Most of the characters -- except for Valerie (Jennifer Ehle/Rosemary Harris), an "adopted" daughter and thus an outsider -- are deluded into believing that such an assimilation is workable. Each generation finds out the hard way that Anti-Semitism is a core societal belief and whatever political faction is in power -- a liberal aristocracy, Naziism, or Communism -- Jews will continue to be outsiders and outcasts IF the country where they live regards them as scapegoats and pariahs. As the personal stories unfold in each generation, there is a wonderful progression that holds the tale together, as well as does Ralph Fiennes' three performances as a grandfather, father, and son. The great-grandfather (David De Peyser) is proud of his Jewish heritage, of his family name, Sonnenschein, and of his family business, that produces a wonderful liqueur called "Sunshine," which is what Sonnenschein means. His son (played by Ralph Fiennes in his first role), is a lawyer and judge, who changes his last name to something less Jewish and more Hungarian. He finds neither love, acceptance, or fullfillment personally or professionally as a result, and his life ends rather lonely and miserably. His son (Fiennes again) takes the assimilation a step further and becomes a Roman Catholic so that he can join the right club and pursue his career as a fencing master, ultimately winning an Olympic gold medal. The temporary adulation he receives makes him forget his heritage and his original religion completely. He is sadistically murdered at Auschwitz, sadly denying his Jewishness to the bitter end. It is the grandson, again played by Fiennes, who not only watches helplessly as his father is murdered, but ultimately, after the war is ended, embraces communism as a solution. But as Stalinist-type communism yet again focuses on Jews as a Zionist enemy, the grandson is forced to take part in the interrogation of an innocent Jewish communist, accused of Zionism (played by William Hurt), who is ultimately beaten to death. With the help and wisdom of his great-aunt Valerie, who nearing death reclaims the original family name, the grandson at last frees himself from the politics around him and willfully becomes an outcast. As a result, he achieves spiritual freedom. He also regains his pride and his Jewishness and legally changes his name back to Sonnenschein. Communism ends, and the sun does indeed shine once more. In most films, a central character grows and changes as the result of varied experiences. "Sunshine" just presents a wider canvas in which Ralph Fiennes must be reincarnated several times over in order to get his act together. It's no accident that the same actor plays three roles. It's intrinsic to the whole piece as we watch what is initially a spiritual regression -- with the first name change -- become a spiritual progression with the name change back again. Symbolism abounds as the actual recipe for the liqueur gets lost (just as the characters get lost), but by the end, the recipe is no longer needed.
Rating:
Summary: take my wife please
Review: A lighthearted romp through Hungarian history, "Sunshine" follows the trials and tribulations of three generations of the Sonnenshein family. Ralph Feinnes, in great comic form here, plays all three roles: Grampa, Pops and Junior. While the director was obviously thinking of structuring this movie along the lines of Alec Guinness's great "Kind Hearts and Coronets," in which Guinness played (I think) seven roles, many times "Sunshine" seems to have more in common with an Eddie Murphy film like "The Klumps." Be that as it may, the laughs keep coming when the recipe for the fabled health drink, which has brought the family fame and fortune, becomes lost. Add a few crazy women as love interests (including Deborah Kara Unger who seems ready to reprise her role in "Crash" here) and you've got the kind of film Mel Brooks used to make before "Blazing Saddles." "Sunshine" also has its serious side, as it is set against the backdrop of WWII and Stalin's pogroms. Still, in the tradition of Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" and Jerry Lewis's "The Day the Clown Cried," the serious undercurrent never gets in the way of some inspired sight gags, fabulous one-liners (listen carefully during the "pass the salt sequence") and general silliness.
Rating:
Summary: The goal is to prevail !
Review: The civilization does not suppress the barbarousness ; it improves it . This bitter thought of Voltaire is extraordinary appropriate for this film .
Once more Szabo shows all his over gifted powers in this genuine expression of the exquisite cinema art in this epic drama around a Budapest family struggled to survive the antiSemitIsm that permeates the successive generations . Magnificent job of recreating the details of the Ancient Austrian Hungarian Empire , nazi and Communist in Hungary .
Ralph Fiennes shows us once more why he is on of the best world actors in the world . he plays three different roles - father , son and grand son in that family .
This story has been told too many times before but you know what it happens when a genius finds a material ; he transforms it giving amazing results.
Rating:
Summary: What a fantastic movie!
Review: This movie is a must-see!
It is a relativly long movie but you won't feel the length since it is very amusing and it absorbs all your attention that you barely notice the passage of time.
|
