Zoltan Gera Movies

The fortunes of a family of Hungarian Jews are followed over the course of nearly 150 years in this epic historical drama, with leading man Ralph Fiennes playing three different roles. The story begins in the late 18th century, as Aaron and Josefa Sonnenschein (the name means "Sunshine" in German) die in an explosion while making an herb tonic for sale in their village. Their son Emmanuel (David de Keyser), the only survivor of the tragedy, travels to Budapest, carrying the recipe for the medicine with him. He's able to parlay the formula into a successful business, and Emmanuel and his wife Rose (Miriam Margolyes) raise two sons, Ignatz (Ralph Fiennes), who becomes a successful lawyer, and hot-tempered Gustave (James Frain). The Sonnenscheins also make room in their home for Valerie (Jennifer Ehle), but Emmanuel and Rose become furious when Valerie becomes romantically involved with Ignatz. Eventually, Valerie and Ignatz raise two children, Istvan (Mark Strong) and Adam (Ralph Fiennes), and the family changes its name to Sors in hopes of avoiding the anti-Semitism sweeping Europe. In time, Adam goes so far as to convert to Catholicism, and he marries another Catholic, Hannah (Molly Parker). He soon begins an affair with his brother's wife, Greta (Rachel Weisz), who is unable to persuade Adam to leave as the Nazis rise to power. Adam and Hannah have only one son, Ivan, who is fated to watch his father die in a concentration camp; as Ivan grows to adulthood (now played by Ralph Fiennes), he swears revenge on the forces of fascism and embraces Communism. Ivan throws in his lot with Communist leader Andor Knorr (William Hurt), but a liaison with the wife of a party official (Deborah Kara Unger) leads Ivan to tragic consequences and a jail term. In time, Valarie and Gustave are reunited at the family's estate as the only two members of the Sonnenschein clan who survive to witness the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Hungarian director Istvan Szabo co-wrote Sunshine's original screenplay in collaboration with American playwright Israel Horovitz. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Stephen Rea stars as a relentless Russian investigator in this made-for-cable thriller. Based on an actual case, this taut film tells the story of Burakov (Rea), a Russian forensic pathologist assigned to track down a brutal serial killer who is targeting young drifters. The nature of the assignment takes its toll on Burakov's personal life, as he tracks the killer for years despite the red-tape and bureaucracy of the Soviet state. Nominated for several awards overall that year, Donald Sutherland won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for his co-starring role as Rea's supportive superior, Fetisov. The movie was filmed in Hungary. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

This feel-good movie, which offers American audiences spectacular views of Central European landscapes, uses gentle humor to tell the story of two common men who place themselves in an uncommon situation. Franco, a recently laid-off co-op stud farmer whose company jilted him out of his settlement money, returns to break into the main offices to look for proof that he was wronged. Instead he ends up stealing their prize bull Corinto with the thought of selling Corinto for a great profit in Hungary. Franco enlists the aid of his quiet friend Loris. Together the three set off on their obstacle-filled journey. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Award-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond made his directorial debut with this drama. Gabor (Michael York), a stage actor living in Eastern Europe, receives a message from his family -- his father Raphael (also played by York), a world-famous archeologist, has just died in Israel. Traveling to the Holy Land to attend the funeral, he meets Katherine (Liv Ullmann), the woman who was married to Raphael at the time of his death, as well as Abu (Babi Neeman), a director who was making a film about the scientist's life and career. Gabor bears a striking resemblance to his father -- so much so that Abu asks him to play Raphael in a small role in his film. Gabor agrees, but playing the role forces him to examine a part of his life that he's been trying to leave alone all these years, and he also finds that Katherine, struck by his resemblance to her late husband, has become strongly attracted to him. The Long Shadow was filmed in part in Hungary, where Zsigmond was born and lived up until fleeing the country in 1956 following the political unrest of the nation's Soviet takeover. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Brian Gibson's made-for-cable biography of the famed singer Josephine Baker stars Lynn Whitfield as the black American who found stardom and scandal as the toast of the Paris night-life during the 1920s and '30s. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

A 10-year-old Hungarian boy and his grandmother cope with the bloody Budapest uprising of 1956 that led to the Soviet takeover of the country. When the October battles begin, the boy and his family are forced to remain in their homes. The grandmother spends her days reading, and the boy is thrilled to be out of school. While they await the end of the curfew, many things befall the lad and his family. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A supposed window dresser is really a thief by natural inclination and he comes up with several ingenious schemes to make money. In one robbery, he and a few accomplices steal a statue from a church, sell it for an exorbitant sum to a few West German citizens, then cause the West Germans' car to crash -- whereupon the thieves take back the statue and set it up in the church again. In another robbery, some jewels from an antique shop are hidden in a special, trick place inside a wooden table that the thief had sold to the shop. Once the jewels are safe in the table, the thief buys the table back and he leaves the shop with the hidden jewels, no problem. Basically, this seems to be a do-it-yourself instruction kit for anyone with sticky fingers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

A group of landless Hungarian peasants accept work as migrant-laborers on a farm in northern Germany where the wages are good, and the wives and family are allowed to accompany them. Though it is in the midst of World War II, they are relatively well-off. However, they glimpse the treatment accorded to POWs and others who are not so gently treated, and at the conclusion of the year's harvest, they choose to return to Hungary and are quickly swept up in the tides of war. This film is part of a series of films by award-winning, well-respected director Zoltan Fabri who devoted much time and effort chronicling the struggle against fascism. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi