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

I enjoy European history a great deal, but when my European history class tried to find a good modern European history movie this year, all we could think of was a bunch of war movies. Obviously, there is a lot more to modern Europe than watching snipers creep around Stalingrad and other such things.

In "Sunshine," I found an answer to my search. It is undoubtedly the best historical portrait of Europe from the late 19th-mid 20th century that I have ever come across. It does an EXCELLENT job of showing the emotions and realities of the progressions of Europe during this time. Since it is in Hungary, we are exposed to monarchy, fascism, and communism, all of which are portrayed vividly.

As if the history was not enough, the movie is wonderful in other ways as well. Ralph Fiennes has the opportunity to showcase an amazing range of emotions and personalities in this movie, as he plays three different characters. It was also pure genius on the part of the movie staff to cast a real life mother and daughter to play the same woman at various stages of her life.

Great movie, I highly recommend it.

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'.

We just rented the DVD of this, without any prior knowledge of the story, and took it just on the strength of the major players. It was very beautifully filmed, and the entire cast was believable. Fiennes gave a stellar performance as three members of the family. The history of the terrible times and the emotional traumas was heart breaking. We are old enough to remember much of wartimes portrayed, and can only feel great pain in seeing what is happening in this year 2002, during a time when our present administration is "saber-rattling" and trying to convince the public that war is the only answer. After viewing this we looked into Maltin's latest 2003 movie guide, and were aghast at his first sentence:"Ambitious, but trite, rambling soap opera chronicaling a Hungarian Jewish family over three generations". This is like saying "Gone with the Wind" is about a silly girl who makes a gown out of draperies!!

Ok, this is my third comment about a Ralph Fiennes movie in just under a week...five days to be precise. If there ever was a role on this earth that he could not play, I haven't seen it yet...or putting it simply, such a role has never been written. Ralph Fiennes is extraordinary as all three characters that he plays in this film. Characters who are completely different from one another, with different ideals and different beliefs. His dialogue delivery, his expressions, everything is marvellous. His eyes say it all. This role should've given him an Oscar nomination. When he smiles, you smile, when he cries, you cry. He is just a brilliant, brilliant actor.

The movie was very interesting, though very depressing at times. It gave some interesting views on the treatment of the Jews during World War II and the progression of Fienne's character from one generation to the next and how the current situation of the world in each character's time contributed to his thinking and views of the world.

Supported by an exceptional cast... Rosemary Harris, Rachel Weisz (I wanted her role to be a little longer), Jennifer Ehle, William Hurt. Very good movie. Highly recommended. ****/*****