Posted: 08/08/2001

American Rhapsody

(2001)

by Hank Yuloff

Tender, insightful film from first-time writer/director Eva Gardos about war, losing your home, and learning how to deal with what life gives you.

It was post World War 2 on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. Stalin was able to turn his attention from the Germans to fighting those inside the East Bloc countries who didn’t thoroughly embrace a communistic way of life. People were disappearing into custody, jail, or “worse,” as the narration begins at the opening of An American Rhapsody. Hungary was a scary place to live in the 1950’s and Margit and Peter had found a way to be smuggled out.

This is where our story begins as the couple (Nastassja Kinski and Tony Goldwyn) take their 4-year-old child and head for the border. Their newborn baby will catch up with them in Vienna three days later, having been snuck out by a different method. They could not take little Suzanne because babies cry and might alert the machine gun carrying border guards to their presence.

If something had not gone wrong, we might not have a movie. Suzanne is not able to get out and her parents are forced to leave for America without her while swearing they will find a way to be reunited. Through many years of letter writing and diplomatic wrangling, the family is brought together in the early 60’s when Suzanne is just six years old.

An American Rhapsody is a very fulfilling “No Place Like Home” kind of movie but first you have to find out which country is home, and that is the struggle for a teenage Suzanne (Scarlett Johansson) as she remembers the country of her childhood while trying to fit in with her family in the United States. After many troubles between her and her mother, she takes a trip back to Hungary and discovers much about herself and her past.

Kinski (who has 9 film credits this year!) is clearly haunted by the horrors which confronted her in her native land but has a difficult time allowing herself to share them with her daughters. This causes the house to be filled with a more strained level of communication than normally exists between mothers and their daughters with the shadow of an evil hand of the State joining the hormone charged situation found in most households.

Rhapsody is a stunningly beautiful film. First time writer/director Eva Gardos is normally an editor and she clearly used her expertise in that area while planning how to shoot the film. The backdrop of Hungary is both breathtaking and stark as we see how people eked out an existence inside the faulty economic system. This is a movie you should see in a theater so you fully enjoy the photography. Acting kudos to Goldwyn, who plays a loving and understanding father and husband, being the rock that all in the family can hold on to. The authenticity of Goldwyn’s accent is amazing, although he is clearly not Hungarian (obviously, Hungarians may disagree with me, but for my American ears, he was convincing). I’d also give a nod to Kelly Endresz-Banlaki who plays Suzanne at age 6. She has a wonderfully expressive face and excellent range of emotions in Hungarian and English.

An American Rhapsody won’t be a summer blockbuster, but if you’re tired of tripe aimed at teenage angst from the waist down and want a serious and passionate story, go see An American Rhapsody.

Hank Yuloff is an entertainment industry entrepreneur living in Hollywood.

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