An American Rhapsody

Plot

A true story based on the life story of writer/director Eva Gardos, this film depicts the personal odyssey of a family's escape from Communist Hungary. One night, Margaret (Nastassja Kinski) and Peter (Tony Goldwyn) arrange to escape Hungary with their eldest daughter in tow, forcing them to leave behind their youngest, Suzanne, in the care of Margaret's mother. When the mother is separated from the young child, she goes to live in a peaceful Eastern European countryside with a loving man and woman who raise her until age six, where Suzanne is sent for by her birth parents, now living in America. She finds the adjustment difficult and does not fully comprehend that Margaret and Peter are her parents, but she is willing to stay, and if she feels the same way in several years, Peter has agreed to give her a ticket back to Hungary. Later, as a rebellious teenager (played by Scarlett Johansson), with Margaret becoming a highly overprotective mother, she takes her father up on his offer to go back and reconnect with those who raised her as a child. While in Hungary, she has a change of heart , however, and discovers her true identity. The feature also co-stars Mae Whitman, Emmy Rossum, and Larisa Oleynik. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Review

While An American Rhapsody too often plays as a well-made television feature, the film is imbued with enough attention to detail and unfettered affection by writer/director Eva Gardos to be a memorable account of displacement and assimilation. The first half of the film is especially strong, effectively detailing the family dynamic of its central story, and succinctly illustrating the struggle of a youngster's unforeseen culture clash. The film goes flat in its second half, however, where the characters experience unexplained emotional changes; Scarlet Johansson's performance as the older Suzanne lacks focus and fails to convince the audience that she is a genuinely rebellious sort. Still, the personal nature of the story is well realized and the film's earnest depiction of its events is actually a credit. Rhapsody never attempts to be too sprawling or too epic, which gives it an appealing quaintness. The film opened the 2001 Nantucket Film Festival. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Cast

• Nastassja Kinski - Margit
• Scarlett Johansson - Suzanne
• Tony Goldwyn - Peter
• Agnes Banfalvy - Helen

Zsuzsa Czinkoczi - Teri; Mae Whitman; Lisa Jane Persky; Colleen Camp; Larisa Oleynik; Eva Soreny; Kata Dobo

Credit

Patricia Foulkrod - Co-producer, Beatrix Aruna Pasztor - Costume Designer, Vanessa Vogel - Costume Designer, Eva Gardos - Director, Margie Goodspeed - Editor, Tony Thatcher - Executive Producer, Eric Sandys - Executive Producer, Jay Firestone - Executive Producer, Cliff Eidelman - Composer (Music Score), Alex Tavoularis - Production Designer, Elemer Ragalyi - Cinematographer, Colleen Camp - Producer, Bonnie Timmermann - Producer, Peter Kardos - Sound/Sound Designer, Eva Gardos - Screenwriter

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