ComposerMaurice Jarre
Additional InformationDirector Istvan Szabo's SUNSHINE is an epic tale that follows the Hungarian Jewish family the Sonnenscheins through five generations spanning more than 100 years, from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, exploring the history, politics, world wars, social diaspora, and economic shifts that influence and change them during that period.<BR>Beginning with Emmanuel Sonnenschein, who builds a business around the family product (a Taste of Sunshine tonic), the film follows the lineage from his son Ignaz (Ralph Fiennes), a political conservative loyal to the Hungarian Republic, to Ignaz's son Adam (also played by Fiennes), an olympic fencer who is victimized by the Nazi genocide, to Adam's son Ivan (Fiennes again), a member of the Hungarian communist regime who manages to divorce himself from it and be free. Through these transitions, it is Valerie (played by both Jennifer Ehle and her real-life mother, Rosemary Harris), the cousin and wife of Ignaz, who becomes mother to Adam and grandmother to Ivan, supplying moral support, a family backbone, and photographs: a signature snapshot technique is used in the film to round out each major chapter or event. A beautiful film with easy transitions, dramatic scenery and costumes, and admirable performances, SUNSHINE's themes of family, history, and Hungarian pride resonate far beyond the big screen.
ReviewsVariety - ...[There is] care and emotion in every frame of SUNSHINE..., Entertainment Weekly - "...Never less than engrossing....Ehle glows..." -- Rating: B+, New York Times - ...[The film] follows in the footsteps of movies like Visconti's LEOPARD and Bertolucci's 1900, epics that aspired to match the sprawl and capaciousness of classic novels..., Los Angeles Times - ...It is a superb period re-creation and boasts a formidable international cast....Absorbing and illuminating in regard to the eras it spans..., Box Office - ...[SUNSHINE has] substance and intelligence..., USA Today - ...SUNSHINE opens with thunder: an impressively staged explosion that says we just dare you to snooze through this three-hour story...
ScreenwriterIstvan Szabo, Israel Horovitz
Sound sourceDolby Digital 5.1
EditorDominique Fortin, Michel Arcand