Movie · 1999 · Drama, History, Romance, War · 3h 1m · R · English
Curator score: 6.1/10 (16.5K ratings)
In a time of revolution, in a family torn by tradition, one man was consumed by love.
Overview
The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.1/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Metacritic: 71
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
István Szabó
Production
Téléfilm Canada, Channel Four Films, Dor Film, Alliance Atlantis, Serendipity Point Films, Eurimages
Cast
Ralph Fiennes, Rosemary Harris, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Ehle, Deborah Kara Unger, William Hurt, Molly Parker, James Frain, David de Keyser, John Neville, Miriam Margolyes, Rüdiger Vogler, Mark Strong, Bill Paterson, Trevor Peacock, Hanns Zischler, Mari Törőcsik, Katja Studt, Péter Andorai, Buddy Elias
Curator Review
Verdict
An ambitious, emotionally sweeping historical drama that traces one Hungarian Jewish family across the upheavals of the 20th century. It’s long and sometimes overstuffed, but the performances, scope, and moral complexity make it rewarding for viewers who like serious prestige epics.
Best for
historical epics
family sagas
Holocaust and postwar European history
performance-driven dramas
films about identity and assimilation
Skip if
you want a tight, fast-moving narrative
you dislike long runtimes and generational storytelling
you prefer intimate character studies over broad historical canvases
you are looking for a straightforward wartime survival drama
Overview
Sunshine is the kind of large-scale historical drama that tries to contain an entire century inside one family story. It moves from assimilation and ambition to persecution, compromise, and reinvention, using the Sonnenschein family as a lens on Hungarian and European history. The film’s reach is impressive, and its emotional ideas are often stronger than its structural elegance.
Worth noting
Ralph Fiennes gives the movie much of its force by playing multiple generations with distinct shades of vanity, vulnerability, and self-deception. The supporting cast, especially Rosemary Harris and Rachel Weisz, helps anchor the film’s more melodramatic turns. At its best, the movie feels like a tragic family chronicle about identity being reshaped by politics, class, and survival.
Bottom line
It is also undeniably long, and some viewers will feel the sprawl in the later sections. But if you respond to ambitious, old-school prestige filmmaking with big historical themes and a serious moral appetite, Sunshine has enough sweep and intelligence to justify the journey.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Lara Pop (5★) · 52 likes
Ralph Fiennes as a sadistic Nazi officer in Schindler's List and Ralph Fiennes as a Hungarian Jewish man in Sunshine. Mind = blown. The man is incredible.
maneleeo (4★) · 48 likes
A film that definitely makes you feel the lenght. The last 40 minutes are hard in a sense, mostly because the momentum is gradually lost. However, and even if it feels messy at times, it's a film that I will think about a lot I think. Ralph Fiennes was sensational here, and this testament of the life of jewish people in Eastern Europe will make your mind wander into places you wouldn't normally go to. There are many films dealing… more A film that definitely makes you feel the lenght. The last 40 minutes are hard in a sense, mostly because the momentum is gradually lost. However, and even if it feels messy at times, it's a film that I will think about a lot I think. Ralph Fiennes was sensational here, and this testament of the life of jewish people in Eastern Europe will make your mind wander into places you wouldn't normally go to. There are many films dealing… more
Deaner50 (3★) · 39 likes
The film is way too long. I think it was trying to hard for a academy award. It needed to be cut down.
The film follows five generations of a Hungarian Jewish family. Ralph Fiennes plays three generations of characters. He has 3 different or 4 different love interests in the movie. The acting is very good. The cast supporting Fiennes is Rachel Weisz, Molly Parker, Deborah Kara Unger and Rosemary Harris. Rosemary Harris played Aunt May in the Spider… more The film is way too long. I think it was trying to hard for a academy award. It needed to be cut down.
The film follows five generations of a Hungarian Jewish family. Ralph Fiennes plays three generations of characters. He has 3 different or 4 different love interests in the movie. The acting is very good. The cast supporting Fiennes is Rachel Weisz, Molly Parker, Deborah Kara Unger and Rosemary Harris. Rosemary Harris played Aunt May in the Spider… more
Ferenc Varga (4★) · 35 likes
Uránia nagyterem, pont két sorral Jesse Eisenberg mögött ülve, akinek állítólag ez az egyik kedvenc filmje és akinek a kedvéért odarendeltek egy tolmácsot, hogy a fülébe fordítsa a vetítés utáni beszélgetést (Gyárfás Dorka Vs. Szabó István & Robert Lantos).
Ez a film egy hatalmas vállalás és már az is óriási csoda, hogy nem lett kurvabéna, mert ezt a koncepciót nyolcszáz módon lehetett volna elbaszni, de Szabó megtalálta az egyik módot, ahogy működött.
Az mikor fog feltűnni egy illetékesnek, hogy az Uránia nagyvászna már nem alkalmas arra, hogy filmeket vetítsenek rá, mert ilyen baszomnagy csíkok vannak rajta?!
1970 · Drama, History · 1h 35m · R · Curator 6.3/10 (17.8K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A refined, tragic portrait of a Jewish family insulated by privilege until history breaks in.
A tense wartime drama about survival, compromise, and the ethics of adaptation under pressure.
Topics
historical drama, family saga, epic scope, Jewish history, European cinema, identity crisis, melodrama, political upheaval, period piece, prestige drama