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Sunshine

starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rosemary Harris, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Ehle, Deborah Kara Unger
directed by: István Szabó

: Sunshine
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780792169956
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0792169956
Label: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Paramount
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 08, 2001
Running Time: 181 minutes
Sales Rank: 19122
Studio: Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: 1999



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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
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



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - 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 ... Read More


Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - Very little payoff
Although this movie is beautifully filmed, I felt disappointed in the end and wished that I hadn't spent ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - What an experience!
Even though this film is three hours long, it was so powerful and engrossing that the time flew by in the ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Very Touching
The scenes in the concentration camp are so haunting and beautifully done, they have stayed with me for years. ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - 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 ... Read More

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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.