Sunshine

This historical epic/family drama from the master of Hungarian cinema, Istvan Szabo (Mephisto, 1981; Being Julia, 2004) is a wonderful and memorable film that has been overlooked, underrated and sadly under-seen.

This is a moving and always engrossing drama about one Jewish-Hungarian family that rises and falls throughout the 20th century. Ralph Fiennes is outstanding as the grandfather, the father and the grandson. All three - complex and tragic characters, victims of their times, politics and wars. I think it was a brilliant idea to cast one actor as a face of three generations of one family. If ever anyone attempts to adapt Marquez's "One Hundreds Years of Solitude", that's how it should be done, IMO.

"Sunshine" is three hours long but never for a minute had I felt it was too long or it was losing its power. It is a serious, thought-provoking film which is also a superb work of art.

9.5/10

This is a moving drama about one Jewish-Hungarian family who rises and falls throughout the 20th century. Ralph Fiennes is outstanding as the grandfather, the father and the grandson. First, the Sonnenschein (meaning 'sunshine' in German) family reaches the top of society and then the second generation decides to change their surname into 'Sors', in order to fit in the new society, but when the Second World War breaks out and Adam Sors (Ralph Fiennes), the son, the renowned fencer and Olympic medalist is caught in the Holocaust, he insists on defending his very own identity and human dignity and becomes a martyr...I will never forget that scene in which Adam Sors refuses to compromise and eventually is punished to be frozen to death.

After the war, Ivan Sors (also Ralph Fiennes), the grandson, returns to his family and as the ending approaches, he changes his family name back to Sonnenschein, which is a significant move, once again embracing his family's true heritage.

This is a long film, but I never found it too lengthy. I was profoundly touched by it and I was happy to spend a couple of hours seeing this superb piece of work. Serious and heavy though it is, however, this movie is true to reality and really thought provoking. If you are not generally put off by serious stuff or am interested in the Holocaust and the Jewish struggle, then this great film is for you. I also recommend 'The Pianist' and 'Schindler's List'.

One of the best films I've seen in many years. Long by current standards, but my interest/involvement never lagged for a moment. It works on many levels, all of which examine and ultimately show the futility of assimilation, given how unstable and unreliable is any governmental structure with which one attempts to identify. Effort to assimilate across generations in Hungary becomes increasingly demanding as the lived world becomes ever more dehumanizing and brutal. Fiennes has never been better in cross-generational roles, and others excellent as well. But a woman is the censor and conscience across time.

Now I am sorry that I missed to see this film on a big movie screen. Beautiful cinematography, great story and excellent performances. During watching the movie, being Hungarian, I kept asking myself: A complete, intriguing story - but is it as appealing to people from other countries, particularly outside Europe as it is for me to watch my country's history throughout the 19th and 20th century? I was pleasantly surprised and flattered that people from Colombia or New Zealand have found interest in the history of this small nation although, considering the length of it as well as the fact that this tale is limited to follow a story of one small country, I can understand the reviewers who found it boring. But then again the fact that the story is being taken place in Hungary is only one side of the coin and the rest of the strong messages can be applied to any people in any nations.

`Sunshine' is a forceful and wonderful film that follows four generations of a Jewish Hungarian family through seventy tumultuous years of Hungarian history. The story is extremely well done with rich finely etched characters. The screenplay is better suited for a miniseries than a three hour film simply because there is so much material to cover. Three hours is both too long and too short; the story is emotionally exhausting making it too long for one sitting, yet the total length is not long enough to do the subject matter justice.

Hungarian Writer/Director Istvan Szabo captures Hungary's turbulent transition from empire to fascist state to soviet satellite weaving the history of the times into the lives of this extraordinary family. He puts a human face on the historical facts giving us a disturbingly real look at what it might have been like to live through it, especially from the Jewish perspective.

Despite a whirlwind pace that requires years to be spanned in minutes, Szabo manages to conjure deep and insightful character studies of the members of each generation. His period renderings are exquisite from costumes to props to locations. This is a wonderfully textured presentation with history layered over the human stories, addressing the many indignities suffered by Jews in Hungary during the period, and the many concessions made to merely stay alive. It is a story that contains both triumph and tragedy, presented with amazing candor.

Ralph Fiennes gives three incredible performances as the grandfather, father and son of the patriarchy. Szabo has endured criticism for casting the same actor in three roles, but in this case it is an excellent choice. Fiennes is a versatile artist and personalizes three radically different characters, slipping on their personalities like a glove. He loses himself in each, rendering them all passionately but appropriately based on the motivations established in Szabo's careful character development. With Szabo's guidance, it is clear that Fiennes has an inherent understanding of the psyche of his three characters and plays them with believable nuance.

Two different actresses play Valerie and each is splendid. Jennifer Ehle plays the young Valerie and endows her with ardor and vivacity. She establishes Valerie as the strongest continuing character in the film, providing linkage between the past and the present. In another stroke of casting brilliance, Szabo selects Ehle's real life mother, Rosemary Harris as the elder Valerie. The clear resemblance linked with Harris' magnetic performance adds fullness to Valerie's later years. William Hurt and James Frain lead an ensemble of strong supporting actors that give the film great intensity and depth of talent.

This thoughtful and emotionally provocative character study is engrossing and compelling. I rated it a 9/10 only because I wish Szabo would have gone deeper and divided it into two or three installments. On a dramatic and artistic level, this film is first rate.