CANADA/FILE: RALPH FIENNES STARS IN FILM "SUNSHINE" ABOUT THREE GENERATIONS OF A HUNGARIAN FAMILY

Record ID: 389537

  • Title: CANADA/FILE: RALPH FIENNES STARS IN FILM "SUNSHINE" ABOUT THREE GENERATIONS OF A HUNGARIAN FAMILY
  • Date: 13th September 1999
  • Summary: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, (SEPTEMBER 13, 1999) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) ISTVAN SZABO SAYING OF THE FILM, Autobiographical? No. It's not true. I am younger, thank God, I am younger so I was born later than everybody in this film. But, personal? Yes. One hundred percent personal because this is the story, those are the emotions I wanted to tell. But all of my fil
  • Embargoed: 28th September 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA AND FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: Canada
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7HSWAYASI36TJVBPY9BVKX6NG
  • Story Text: Oscar-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes does triple duty in the new film from Hungarian director Istvan Szabo called "Sunshine." He plays three men from three different generations of the same Hungarian family.
    Although Szabo denies "Sunshine" is autobiographical, he does admit that it's a highly personal film for him since it details more than 100 years of history of his native country of Hungary.
    At the heart of Szabo's film is the Jewish Sonnenschien family, whose rise and fall, loves and losses, and triumphs and tragedies unfold against a backdrop of political turmoil and war, including the Holocaust and its aftermath.
    The film is told in three parts, each focusing on a different family member in separate generations. Ralph Fiennes plays all three men: first a powerful turn-of-the-century Hungarian judge, then his son, a dashing Olympic fencer, and finally, his son, a politician forced to deal with the aftermath of the Holocaust and the rise of communism.
    Szabo decided to cast one actor in the three roles in order to provide a sense of continuity in the three-hour film.
    However, he didn't rely on makeup effects to differentiate between them. Instead, he and Fiennes created subtle differences in speech, fashion, and behavior.
    The cast was rounded out by over 150 actors from England, Germany, Canada, America and Hungary, with many of them playing parts assigned to two actors covering characters at different ages. The cast includes Rosemary Harris, Rachel Weisz, Molly Parker, Miriam Margolyes and William Hurt.
    The film is at once highly emotional and intimate yet also sweeping and epic, covering three generations over 150 years of history. Fiennes believes it's a chance for Americans and Western Europeans to learn about a part of Eastern Europe that until recently was closed to them.
    Following its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September, "Sunshine" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, June 9.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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