Sunshine (2000)

Although Sunshine was made by a Hungarian, István Szabó, and deals with the history of Hungary as refracted through three generations of a Jewish-Hungarian family, you might be more inclined to give it three hours of your own life if you approach it as a David Lean movie in spirit. It is an English-language picture, and Maurice Jarre's music recalls his score for Doctor Zhivago. Szabó emulates Lean's intimate-epic style of merging the sweep of history with the crystalline detailing of individual lives, so that the shape of destiny is glimpsed through personal moments that feel at once evanescent and eternal. His lighting cameraman, Lajos Koltai, is one of the handful of cinematographers equal to capturing these moments in lapidary images--cinematic sunshine of the highest order.

"Sunshine" is a literal translation of Sonnenschein, the family name of the central characters. And "destiny" is one meaning of Sors, the name three Sonnenschein offspring choose for themselves to better assimilate as subjects of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Two are brothers, Ignatz (Ralph Fiennes) and Gustave (James Frain); their sister (by adoption) Valerie (Jennifer Ehle) is really their cousin. Both men love her, and Ignatz rocks the ultratraditional family by taking her as his wife. Nevertheless, the Sonnenscheins and the Sors enter upon the 20th century in loving solidarity, grateful to live under a liberal and tolerant regime. That's all swept away by the Great War, the rise of Nazism, and its replacement, the new fascism of Stalinist Communism. Valerie survives them all--though she's played later on by Rosemary Harris, Ehle's own mother. For his part--or parts--Ralph Fiennes goes on to embody two later generations of Sonnenschein/Sors men, the proudly patriotic Adam and his son, the rudderless Ivan, whose guilt over being a compliant prisoner at Auschwitz leads him to buy into the passionate puritanism of the Stalinist purges. Fiennes rises to the awesome challenge of creating three utterly distinct characters who all share the same congenital weaknesses and aching potential for greatness.

This is a film of considerable beauty and sometimes shattering power. Even three hours is not enough to do justice to all the characters, all the wrenching turnarounds of history and political allegiance and rectitude. But the film is never less than gripping, and as an essay on "family values," it's well-nigh definitive. --Richard T. Jameson Amazon.com

It's a FIENNE'S Movie, but only for FIENNES.

This motion picture has the honor of being the longest film ever made, an achievement originally held by Chris Nolan's `Dark Knight' in 2008 and then broken by Sunshine in 2001.
This film was made for and will only appeal to fans of Ralph Fiennes. I cannot imagine any other reason to ever watch it, other than if maybe you needed to choose between having a root canal and watching something, like a certain movie. You know how sometimes people say, "I'd rather have a root canal than watch this." Well, this could be the film you were referring to having to choose between watching or having that painful dental procedure.
It's that much of a Ralph Fiennes Fan Movie.
December 23, 2008

Very little payoff

Although this movie is beautifully filmed, I felt disappointed in the end and wished that I hadn't spent three hours watching it. It is interesting from a historical point of view, but there is only one genuinely good character in this movie (the father) and he dies fairly close to the beginning. Other characters seem to change drastically with no explanation. You have to sit through a gruesome torture scene and several incredibly ridiculous sex scenes and to me, in the end, it just wasn't worth it. December 6, 2007

What an experience!

Even though this film is three hours long, it was so powerful and engrossing that the time flew by in the blink of an eye. Instead of wasting time setting up characters and a premise before really launching into the meat of the story, it pretty much begins immediately, drawing the viewer in right away as opposed to gradually building up more and more of an interest level. It also drew me in right away because I'm very interested in Hungarian history, and just love long epic films, particularly if they're also family sagas. I actually wish the film had been even longer, to tell even more of the story of the Sonnenschein/Sors family.

The film follows the lives of three generations of one family (actually four if you count the parents of the original three characters, Gustave, Valerie, and Ignatz) living in Hungary, over the course of about a hundred years. The historical authenticity, in areas such as costumes, archive film footage, and the household furnishings, is really good, though it's far more than just a mere costume picture. Through the generations, each of the three main characters (all played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) has to deal with his Jewishness, the changing world, his relationships with women, family ties, self-identity, and the constant presence of anti-Semitism, always in a new form. Ignatz, the first generation, deals by exceeding in school, becoming a high-profile judge, and changing his name, while feeling that he's safe under the supposed tolerant liberal rule of the monarchy; Adam, the second generation, deals by becoming a champion fencer as a means of fighting back against anti-Semitic schoolyard bullies, and becomes a Catholic in order to fully assimilate and be accepted by a society he believes would never betray him; and Ivan, the third generation, believes that becoming a Communist officer after WWII, helping to bring to justice the fascists who murdered almost all of his family, is the solution to anti-Semitism and a way in to wider society. In each generation, each character sees the system he believed in fail and eventually betray him, giving way to an entirely new system. Through it all, Ivan's grandmother Valerie is the rock holding it all together. She's the surviving witness left to so many decades of history, and, as she tells him, each time the new form of government promises to liberate the people and castigates the previous system as criminal, only to turn into such criminals themselves. The performance of the older Valerie (Rosemary Harris) is perhaps the most standout one in the film, even more powerful than Fiennes's triple role. And in the end, the lessons and ideals of all the previous generations come together in a final powerful lesson and message.

Overall, this is one fine amazing film that I'd highly recommend to anyone interested in history or who isn't scared away by any film that's more than two hours long. It's more than just an ordinary family saga, and who wouldn't benefit from a message like being true to yourself? November 12, 2007

Very Touching

The scenes in the concentration camp are so haunting and beautifully done, they have stayed with me for years. It's a wonderful story and I have watched it over and over. October 15, 2007

A Wannabe Classic with absolutely no soul

First of all, if you like your Epic Movies with a generous sprinkling of gratuitous sex scenes with lots of moaning and simulated climaxing, then this is the film for you. For a movie that so obviously aspires to be another "Schindler's List", this was the final nail in the coffin. I cannot believe the glowing reviews here - at best, this was like a two star TV Movie that started off as a miniseries but ended up becoming a full fledged motion picture. This may have worked for "Mulholland Drive" but it does not work here.

Ralph Fiennes is normally a great actor, but put him in a triple role here and watch a tragedy unfold. He does NOT come across as coherent or talented here - in fact the poor thing looks a little lost in the mess. I especially hated the WWII scenes where they had to torture the naked lead actor and till the very end he does not give up his dignity or honor (should be seen to be believed - this was unintentionally hilarious and I was laughing through it). When a poignant story in fact reduces you to giggles, I'm sorry, but its not worth watching.

Many people over the years have compared this to "Sophie's Choice", "Schindler's List", and "The English Patient". I have to ask them - have you been watching the same movie? Everyone has a very put-on fake accent in this film (remember Angelina Jolie's over the top accent in "Alexander"?) and go through the motions. I also had a problem with the tragic twists and turns every ten minutes through these movies, as if the director was begging us to empathize with these sad people and their tragic lives.

At best, this is like one of those History Channel specials about unsung war heroes and world figures. They should have made this three one-hour documentaries instead of a meaningless feature film, plus they should have cut out all the gory gag inducing sex scenes that had absolutely no place in a film of this 'stature'.

Two Stars. And most of those were for watching normally animated Ralph Fiennes phone in his presence. He looked empty and bored through all his three roles here. Highly overrated, boring, and disappointing, and not at all historically accurate. September 26, 2007

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