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"Tolerance
Sees the Light of Day in 'Sunshine'"
by Scott Mantz
"Sunshine"
Ralph Fiennes, Rosemary Harris
Directed by Istvan Szabo
In director
Istvan Szabo's mammoth 3 hour epic "Sunshine," members of the Sonnenschein
family raise a toast to celebrate the dawn of the 20th century,
a time they optimistically see as brewing with racial tolerance
and unlimited possibilities. They had no clue that the worst was
yet to come, with unprecedented evil lurking right around the proverbial
corner. Over the course of three generations, the Sonnenscheins
struggled to find their place in a society that had no place for
their Jewish heritage. They hid from their faith in order to gain
acceptance and become respected Hungarian citizens, but it was only
a matter of time before they realized that they had to accept themselves.
"Sunshine" labors long and hard to map out the plight of the Sonnenscheins,
and the result is an engrossing and powerful film of epic proportions.
Ignatz Sonnenschein
(which stands for "Sunshine" in English) is a Hungarian lawyer in
Budapest at the turn of the century. When his faith becomes a stumbling
block to his career, he changes his name in order to become a well
respected member of the Republic. He is deeply affected by the death
of his father and Hungary's surrender during World War I, and he
eventually succumbs to a prolonged illness. His son, Adam, is a
skilled fencer who goes on to win a Gold Medal at the 1936 Olympic
Games in Munich, but his victory and his family's recent conversion
to Catholicism will not help him escape from the horrors of the
Holocaust. In later years, his son, Ivan, will serve as an inquisitor
under the new Stalinist regime, but he ultimately becomes the first
Sonnenschein in decades to finally embrace his true ethnic background.
After appearing
in intense period pieces like "The English Patient" and "The End
of the Affair," Ralph Fiennes puts in not one, but three, tour-de-force
performances as the interlinking descendants who are as defined
by their similarities as they are by their differences. They all
share a crippling loyalty to the regimes that refuse to accept them
for who they are. Ignatz is the career-bound attorney who gets so
wrapped up in his work that he loses sight of his family. Adam is
the most confident of the three, with his arrogance and passion
for life supplemented by his ignorance to his true faith. He is
tortured by the Nazis and dies defending an identity that is just
a facade. Ivan is bruised and scarred after surviving the Concentration
Camps, and he now vents his rage by serving under the Communist
regime.
By changing
their name from Sonnenschein to Sors, and by changing their religion
from Judaism to Catholicism, the family did what they had to do
to survive. The tragedy is that by running away, they wind up digging
themselves into a deeper grave. Ignatz is clearly driven by his
dedication to the Republic as long as it suits him, even though
many of his countrymen are dying in poverty. Adam thinks that he
can shield his family behind his shiny Gold Medal, but he fails
to acknowledge the fact that they are all in grave danger. It is
the last of the descendants, Ivan, who finally realizes, by accident,
his true heritage. For the first time in decades, a Sonnenschein
is able to walk down the street, proud of who he really is.
Jennifer Ehle
provides the real sunshine in the film as the only family member
to live through the tragic events that befall her. Her sweet-natured
performance is supplemented by a strength and vibrancy that helps
her remain optimistic in the face of unbeatable odds. Ehle's real-life
mother Rosemary Harris plays Valerie in her later years, adding
even more credibility to the role. William Hurt shows up in a brief,
but powerful, role as an Auschwitz survivor who ironically meets
his fate at the hands of the Communist Party he now serves. James
Frain plays the young Gustave with jealous intensity as he secretly
pursues his brother's wife, while Rachel Weisz gives a powerful
performance as the only member of the family who's wise enough to
see the writing on the Nazi-infested walls.
It took some
time, but the Sonnenscheins finally saw the light. If we have learned
anything over the last 100 years, it's that tolerance must be accepted
and embraced. We must be able to learn from the mistakes and persecution
that we've inflicted on our brothers, but more importantly, we must
also be proud of who we are. Now that we are at the dawn of another
new century, maybe the sun will finally shine down on a world where
opportunities are not limited by race, sex, color, or religion.
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