Sunshine (1999)

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?

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.

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.