Sunshine

Name: Sunshine
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War
Released: June 9, 2000
Duration: 181 min
Rating: 71
Cast: Ralph Fiennes

2000

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critics

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 18 Ratings

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8.6

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8.6	User Score Universal acclaim based on 18 Ratings

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SUNSHINE

Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Classics | Release Date: June 9, 2000

Starring: Ralph Fiennes

Summary: The story of three generations of scions during the tragic and turbulent history of Hungary in the 20th century. Fiennes plays all three leads.

Director: István Szabó

Genre(s): Drama, History, Romance, War

Rating: R

Runtime: 181 min

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Awards & Rankings

84	#84 Best Movie of 2000

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

San Francisco Chronicle - Mick LaSalle

From the outside, Sunshine sounds like the most boring film on Earth. In fact, it's glorious. Read full review

Washington Post - Stephen Hunter

It's a brilliant, profound movie, but it's almost no fun at all. Read full review

L.A. Weekly - F. X. Feeney

What makes Sunshine unique, what rewards a first viewing and lives in the mind long thereafter, is that Szabo has attempted to place Judaism and Christianity on a continuum that is both historically truthful and highly personal. Read full review

Christian Science Monitor - David Sterritt

The filmmaking is uninspired and Fiennes inexplicably plays three different characters with exactly the same acting style. Read full review

Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas

It is a superb period re-creation and boasts a formidable international cast.... It is nevertheless absorbing and illuminating in regard to the eras its spans but is also pretty wearying by the time it starts winding down. Read full review

San Francisco Examiner - Wesley Morris

Szabo doesn't bring the film to its senses until just past the halfway point. Read full review

Dallas Observer - Jean Oppenheimer

That this mess should come from the hand of Istvan Szabo, the brilliant Hungarian director of "Mephisto" and "Colonel Redl," is the real shocker. Read full review

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User Reviews

ElliottH.

Jun 4, 2006

A complex terrific movie. Long movies (3 hours) tend to be something special-especially good or especially bad. This one is especially good. If the movie can capture your interest and attention for 3 hours, it has an advantage shorter movies can't match. As you invest your time, you A complex terrific movie. Long movies (3 hours) tend to be something special-especially good or especially bad. This one is especially good. If the movie can capture your interest and attention for 3 hours, it has an advantage shorter movies can't match. As you invest your time, you begin to care for the characters in a way beyond criticism. When I start reacting viscerally to a movie it gets a 10 from me.… Expand

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MaybeJustNotHungarianEnough

May 17, 2007

When the film depicts political events and their effects on individuals, it's gripping. William Hurt is devastatingly convincing as the post-war Nazi hunger who falls victim to the zealous machine of retribution that he helps to build. (He is all the more convincing for his When the film depicts political events and their effects on individuals, it's gripping. William Hurt is devastatingly convincing as the post-war Nazi hunger who falls victim to the zealous machine of retribution that he helps to build. (He is all the more convincing for his matter-of-fact American accent -- none of the 'mid-Atlantic' neutrality which is supposed to make the characters sound authentically European -- because it serves to remind North American viewers that they are just as prone to the ideological madness that overtook Central Europe.) My problem with the film is that much of the personal drama, especially the ebb and flow of romance, is less convincing. We never really seem to understand why characters fall in and out of love with each other; it's as though there just isn't time, for all the length of the film. What was the first sign that Ignatz's brother is also in love with his cousin/sister-in-law? Seemingly, it just happens. Why does she then leave Ignatz? If he really was so cold and rational, didn't she get an inkling of this before they married? Rachel Weizz's character seems to be in the film just to be another temptress, as though her suddenly appearing to declare her passion for her brother-in-law is supposed to move us all. The whole sub-plot seems to be thrown into the film like a gaudy extra sweater in a stuffed suitcase. One also doesn't understand the youngest son's love interest, except that the director seemed to believe that any decent Hungarian has to have his head turned by a sultry blonde. We know so little of their feelings that we agree when she complains that he only wants to lift her skirt in some wood. Still, there will be many viewers who will disagree with me, and they should find (and find the time to enjoy) this moving and ultimately inspiring film.… Expand

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Lizd

May 17, 2007

A tough movie to watch because of the constant barrage of gratuitous ex and violence. Good story though--good acting. Very good cinematography. Many wonderful moments.

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