An American Rhapsody (2001)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Éva Gárdos

Writer:

Éva Gárdos (written by)

Release Date:

16 November 2001 (Greece)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

One family struggles for survival, for justice, for freedom.

Plot:

A young Hungarian girl struggles to find her place in the world when she's reunited with her parents in the USA years after she was left behind during their plight from the communist country in the 1950s.

Plot Keywords:

USA | 1950s | Budapest Hungary | Growing Up | Budapest

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Scarlett Johansson	...	Suzanne - at 15
Nastassja Kinski	...	Margit
Raffaella Bánsági	...	Suzanne - Infant
Tony Goldwyn	...	Peter
Ágnes Bánfalvy	...	Helen (as Ági Bánfalvy)
Zoltán Seress	...	George
Klaudia Szabó	...	Maria - at 4
Zsolt Zágoni	...	Russian Soldier
András Szöke	...	Istvan
Erzsi Pásztor	...	Ilus
Carlos Laszlo Weiner	...	Boy on Train
Bori Kereszturi	...	Suzanne - at 3 (as Boru Keresztúri)
Péter Kálloy Molnár	...	AVO Officer (as Péter Kállóy Molnár)
Zsuzsa Czinkóczi	...	Teri
Balázs Galkó	...	Jeno

Also Known As:

Amerikai rapszódia (Hungary)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violent content and thematic material.

Runtime:

106 min | Argentina:122 min

Country:

USA | Hungary

Language:

English | Hungarian

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Australia:PG | France:U | Iceland:L | Italy:T | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38019) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Fireworks Pictures

Trivia:

Éva Gárdos met actress Colleen Camp on the set of Apocalypse Now (1979), when she was a casting director for the film. During shooting breaks, Éva told Colleen her true story of her childhood as a Hungarian émigré and Colleen encouraged her to turn it into a film. Colleen Camp would ultimately help produce the film, and played a small role in it as a neighborhood housewife.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the airport in Budapest the sign on the building says "Budapest Ferihegy 1". In the 60s there was only one airport terminal in Budapest therefore it was not numbered.

Soundtrack:

Jaj Istenem

This is a story of love

This is a story of love, under the background of the cold war. When Suzanne reached adolescent age, she was in crisis of her identity, and she traveled to Hungary. During the trip she knew how much selfless love she had from the adopting parents, grand mother and particularly her own mother to whom she was defiant. Knowing that she was loved, she could overcome the crisis. I recall the days of my daughter's crisis in the same age with Suzanne. Though the film has historic locale of Hungary in the cold war, what the film portrays is something universal which has strong power to make people empathize. Scarlett Johansson acted Suzanne in her adolescent age very well. But the adopting parents were most impressive. If I loved my daughter his way she would not have a crisis.