Andras Stohl Movies

A man discovers it doesn't hurt to have a cool car if he wants to meet women in this comedy. Janos (Andras Stohl) is young, good-looking, and a well-to-do businessman, but his love life is not making him very happy; the only women he meets are vacuous and more interested in his money than in himself. One afternoon, Janos is tooling around in his new BMW when he accidentally runs into Vera (Eszter Ondori), an attractive young woman on rollerblades. Immediately smitten, Janos tells her that he's just won a special contest in which she's won the use of the car for a month -- and he'll be her driver. Very happily she accepts the offer, but before long, Janos realizes that he'll have to do a lot of double talking to conceal his real identity and explain his absence to his staff. Meseauto is a remake of the 1935 Hungarian feature of the same title, which starred Ella Gombaszogi. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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

This low-budget Hungarian drama looks at a Budapest bar over a year, capturing life among the bar's regulars -- a gangster, a jealous husband, a lonely middle-aged woman, a womanizer, and a trio of attractive young women. Apart from opening and closing shots of the bar's exterior, the entire film is set inside the bar. Each of the brief interior scenes is introduced with an explanatory title, revealing something about to occur, and these scenes are all filmed with the camera in a fixed position, aimed at a single table where the key regulars gather. Espresso received "Best Screenplay" and "Best First Film" honors at the 1998 Hungarian Film Awards. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Irony abounds in this Hungarian drama that chronicles the situation in the Balkans. The story begins in 1914 as Pal Utrius, an adolescent, is drafted into the military. Just before he leaves, he makes love to his sister. His letters to her provide the framework for his tumultuous inner thoughts. He can hardly bear the rough, rigorous military training. He gets out after an appendix operation. Unfortunately the medics used unsterilized instruments and he dies from infection. At the end of the film, the beginning of World War II is depicted. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi