Director Eva Gardos has made a film about what its like to be a person that doesn't belong to any culture. "An American Rhapsody" is set in the 1950's through the 60's, and goes from the turbulent laden Hungary to the prosperous but cold America. As the story usually goes: the characters in this film come to America to find a better life, and end up finding that to some extent. Although, adapting to the American culture is not always automatic.
At the screening I attended, the director told the audience that this is a personal film, and she basically wrote it (between her freelance editing jobs) from her own experience. This is a story worth telling.
Both in the film and in real life, Eva's parents left Hungry fearing the harsh communist government (the exact details are murky), but they had to leave Eva (called Susie in the film) behind with her grandmother, who, before being jailed, handed her off to a kindly peasant couple. In the film, young Susie grew up in a modest but warm environment, a bond forms between Susie and her foster parents. Eventually Susie's well off American parents enlist the aid of Red Cross to help her come back to the states. Once there, the film centers around this mal-complacent girl and her struggle for identity. Parents Peter and Margit, well played by Tony Goldwin and Nastassja Kinski, are nice people too, but the connection was not the same. The film jumps ten years later to a teenage Susie (this time played by a precautious Scarlett Johansson) who inevitably becomes a rebel. Susie is a child of a different kind of revolution, and by doing usual adolescent stuff like drinking, smoking, shooting up her room with a shotgun, and making out with local boys; her strict mother is displeased by Susie's indifference. Mother feels she should respect her newfound freedom and Susie just wants a sense of home. Margit doesn't quite know how to handle her daughter, and apparently Peter is working too hard to be around. It is then that Susie makes the life changing decision to go back to Budapest Hungary in effort to find a sense of actualization. The longwinded synopsis I just gave takes around 130 minutes screen time, the third act is a brief and unsatisfying fifteen.
It is obvious that this was a personal film for Gardos, and the basic storytelling skills are present. But in the end we are never invited into the characters hearts and minds. For the simple reason that Susie goes back to Hungary, she undergoes a this pivotal transformation, but this means nothing because all the film does is tell us that she changed. Susie may understand the transformation but we don't, and the film doesn't earn its sappy and abrupt conclusion. The sentiments in this film are nice and all, but after recently seeing a comprehensive and heartfelt film called `Sunshine,' I was spoiled by that films prolonged storytelling magic and rich gimmickry. That similarly themed tale of doom and family in communist Hungary didn't just pay off for one generation of fully developed characters, but three! I was lost in Sunshine's complex web of duty, love, and inevitable failure. By raising some worthwhile family related themes, "An American Rhapsody" started off quite well, and the acting (especially by Johansson) is first rate, but unlike "Sunshine," the film cant pay off with any resonating emotional cadence. By asking us to fill in the blanks as to why character arcs in this film go from point A to point B, the director/writer Eva Gardos is essentially forcing the audience to do her homework for her.
Grade: C
At the screening I attended, the director told the audience that this is a personal film, and she basically wrote it (between her freelance editing jobs) from her own experience. This is a story worth telling.
Both in the film and in real life, Eva's parents left Hungry fearing the harsh communist government (the exact details are murky), but they had to leave Eva (called Susie in the film) behind with her grandmother, who, before being jailed, handed her off to a kindly peasant couple. In the film, young Susie grew up in a modest but warm environment, a bond forms between Susie and her foster parents. Eventually Susie's well off American parents enlist the aid of Red Cross to help her come back to the states. Once there, the film centers around this mal-complacent girl and her struggle for identity. Parents Peter and Margit, well played by Tony Goldwin and Nastassja Kinski, are nice people too, but the connection was not the same. The film jumps ten years later to a teenage Susie (this time played by a precautious Scarlett Johansson) who inevitably becomes a rebel. Susie is a child of a different kind of revolution, and by doing usual adolescent stuff like drinking, smoking, shooting up her room with a shotgun, and making out with local boys; her strict mother is displeased by Susie's indifference. Mother feels she should respect her newfound freedom and Susie just wants a sense of home. Margit doesn't quite know how to handle her daughter, and apparently Peter is working too hard to be around. It is then that Susie makes the life changing decision to go back to Budapest Hungary in effort to find a sense of actualization. The longwinded synopsis I just gave takes around 130 minutes screen time, the third act is a brief and unsatisfying fifteen.
It is obvious that this was a personal film for Gardos, and the basic storytelling skills are present. But in the end we are never invited into the characters hearts and minds. For the simple reason that Susie goes back to Hungary, she undergoes a this pivotal transformation, but this means nothing because all the film does is tell us that she changed. Susie may understand the transformation but we don't, and the film doesn't earn its sappy and abrupt conclusion. The sentiments in this film are nice and all, but after recently seeing a comprehensive and heartfelt film called `Sunshine,' I was spoiled by that films prolonged storytelling magic and rich gimmickry. That similarly themed tale of doom and family in communist Hungary didn't just pay off for one generation of fully developed characters, but three! I was lost in Sunshine's complex web of duty, love, and inevitable failure. By raising some worthwhile family related themes, "An American Rhapsody" started off quite well, and the acting (especially by Johansson) is first rate, but unlike "Sunshine," the film cant pay off with any resonating emotional cadence. By asking us to fill in the blanks as to why character arcs in this film go from point A to point B, the director/writer Eva Gardos is essentially forcing the audience to do her homework for her.
Grade: C