Sunshine
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Movie Reviews of Sunshine
Movie Review: Mystified
Summary: 5 Stars
I am totally mystified by those reviewers who pan the film for trivial issues such as accents, lack of gray hairs etc. I don't believe these people paid attention to a wonderful film that never was promoted in the US. Having just left Budapest, I feel the nature of the city and Hungarian cultural were accurately displayed. Hungary is atypical of Europe. Its language, history, and culture are derivative from sources other than all the rest of eastern Europe. They are unique and the film is excellent at pointing this out.
The criticism that the communist were portrayed as worse than the Nazi is correct, however, for anyone who has been to Budapest, you know this to be true. The Hungarians were not defeated by the Nazi's, they chose Germany. They've watch their country parceled out to other nations for twice choosing the German side in thr two world wars. The communists allowed the country and most notably Budapest to decay slowly over time. The proud Hungarians are only beginning to restore the their heritage. Sunshine poignantly shows the neglect and the price the Hungarians (all Hungarians) paid.
This was a character piece, not a history lesson, suspense, or mystery. The acting was superb on all levels. Fiennes clearly provdes his best performance since The English Patient. Szabo can't be faulted for injecting a certain amount of passion for Hungary into the film.
Finally, the cinematagraphy keeps perfect tune with the tempo of the film. I didn't realize it was a three hour film. I only regretted that it came to an end, a generation too soon.
Movie Review: Sunshine is . . brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Rarely does a movie have nearly too many characters and push three hours . . but then again, some of the finest films to grace the screen have such qualities. And Sunshine is one of these films. Sunshine's strength does not lie primarily, as one might think at first glance, in its unflinching portrayal of the defining trials and tribulations of Jewish Hungary throughout of the 20th Century. Rather, the film convinces with its portrayal of universal human yearnings that, for all their variances and inflections through time, resonate in a single, achingly human voice, just as Ralph Fiennes himself plays the protagonist from each of the three generations of the family depicted in the film.
I was surprised to learn that some think that this movie seeks to propound such asinine positions as 'Jews should not assimilate,' or that the language of 'freedom' or 'security' should be embraced, or discarded. While Sunshine's tale is grounded in the legacy of a people historically marginalized, it behooves us to appreciate not only the unique character of the persons and culture portrayed, but also of the undeniable similarity of the same to all those who may but watch their actions on a screen.
Rarely have such eternal themes such as love, sex, ambition, justice, and compassion been illuminated in so vast a manner, and yet, simulaneously, with such coherence and vibrance. Sunshine is not a film to be missed, but rather, one to be cherished.
Movie Review: A Hungarian Jewish Family Dilemma - Assimilate or Exterminate
Summary: 5 Stars
The movie Sunshine follows three generations of a Jewish family in the first half of 20th century Hungary. It tracks the family's loves, successes, secrets and tragedies as they struggle to continue living traditionally as their jewish forefathers did in a place and time of mounting dislike and
distrust of the jews.
Sunshine is a story that needed to be told. It seems to be part fact and part fiction in telling the struggle of Hungary as a nation through the eyes of one family. It highlights the see-saw relationship of the Hungarian government with their Jewish citizens through both world wars and a revolution.
For any people who's national government has been reluctant to impart equal citizenship to them based on religious and cultural reasons or institutes laws that limit their freedom and protection, this movie is a reminder that others have shared and continue to suffer the same injustice. At a time when Hungary was in bed with Hitler's Germany, Hungarian jews suffered.
I believe the final message in Sunshine is to love and cherish family. To appreciate the family sacrifices of past generations that helped mold you into a righteously loving individual and hold strong to whatever faith you practice so that in the end you can die knowing you lived a truthful and fear-free life. Above all, Know Thyself!
Movie Review: Simply Brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Few films made recently attempt to engage the viewer in epic themes, and Sunshine does so brilliantly. This is a history lesson, a study in modern politics and an examination of ethnic sociology fitted very compactly into a "brief" framework of three hours. The director has carefully composed a stunning recreation of Hungary's first 50 years in the 20th century. Using three generations of a single family, the story that unfolds is one of dignity and triumph of the human spirit in the best and worst of times. I am not Jewish, but I found this approach to the Jewish crisis in eastern Europe to have universal application. The Szonnensheim family's internal turmoil and external trials depict, in part or in whole, the problems all of us must face as family members, members of a community, and as citizens responsible for the government we elect. This is a well constructed film, in terms of scope, pace and artistic element. The photography and sets create perfectly a sense of time, place and mood. Performances by Fiennes, Ehle and Harris are flawless. I had not seen Jennifer Ehle before, and found her to be an incredible talent of intelligence and sensuality. Because of their fine work, Sunshine comes across as an intimate and personal tale, despite the epic structure. This movie is rightfully compared with David Lean's best work.Movie Review: Real values you have to find for yourself
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful film as it shows the hypocracies of life. To be tortured by the Hungarian Fascists just to turn into a Communist torturer of the former torturers makes perfect sense to me. This IS HISTORY. There are plenty of cases of people who started as Communists turned into Nazis and ended up "Democrats". Now, I call this the instinct of survival which in turn is very human...I would recommend this highly to any teacher or person interested in the period of history between 1890s to 1960s. This film may be able to explain - as much as a movie can do that, of course - why people do certain things at a certain time.
Because they want to survive in times of trouble and most people would not have the guts to stand up against totalitarian ideas. I wonder whether I would have the guts myself.
Buy it, it is worth it. Fine performance by Ralph Fiennes.
A last thing: it is certainly not a movie that would doubt the value of every single political idea. No, it just sends out the message that if you look for a sense of life and values therin, do not look into politics or political ideas. For that, you need to open your eyes and look around for yourself.