the leading man is my tpye

Wonderful character development!

A different way of telling a story

There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

It's 1965, Zsuzsi Suzanne Sandor (Scarlett Johansson) is 15 and going back to Hungary. Back in the early 50s, her parents publisher Peter (Tony Goldwyn) and Margit (Nastassja Kinski) are in danger in the repressive Hungary and had to flee with their eldest daughter Maria. The plan was for baby Suzanne to be smuggled out to Vienna but Margit's mother has second thoughts about the dangerous plan. She gives Suzanne to a friend's parents to live with in the countryside. She herself is arrested by the police. Years later with the death of Stalin, she is released. Little Suzanne is sent to America with the tireless work of Margit. Suzanne thinks it's just going to be a visit and she would back for school and to her parents she had known all her life. She doesn't adjust well in America with her overprotective mother. As a teen, Suzanne grows up rebellious yearning to return to Hungary and her other parents.The chemistry between Johansson and Kinski is incredible. I'd rather have Scar Jo in more of the movie leaving much of her childhood as flashbacks. The simple linear storytelling is fine and has some great moments. There are compelling scenes like when little Zsuzsi gets lost in the uniformity of the suburbs. Johansson is just a great actress that it would serve the movie to have her throughout the whole film. Of course, the other way to do this movie is to make it about Margit rather than Suzanne. This has some very memorable moments but the switch from childhood to teenager is a little jarring.

Like a Hungarian would, I wept all the through the film. Eva Gardos masterfully captured the pain of having to leave your own country, whether as adults or as a child. She crafted a wonderfully paced, written, acted and directed film. If her goal was to create a sense of longing for a bygone home, she hit a home run.I met Eva in Budapest in the late 1990s, when she was editing Andy Vajna's triumphant producing return to Hungary, "A Miniszter félrelép" (aka "Out of Order"). She let me read the screenplay of Hungarian Rhapsody as she was developing it for production. I liked the story, and imagined it coming to life on the screen. Almost a decade later, I finally got a chance to see the film. She stayed true to her story, and delivered an emotionally powerful personal film.I must admit that I am a Hungarian by paternal parentage, and thus very biased. 'Au contraire,' I am also a filmmaker, and can sometimes be critical. However, I can honestly say that Eva has created a film with universal emotional resonance.I truly hope that she continues to make such powerful films.

I love this movie! Some of the things may not be of Hungarian nature, but I still rate it a 10! Kudos to all the actors! Bravo! Scarlett Johannson is a very talented actress in her own right, as is Tony Goldwyn and Natasha Kinski (forgive me if I spelled her name wrong). This movie made me fall in love with Budapest, as well as Hungary itself. I would love to go see it in person. And the storyline, well, I don't think I could have written it better myself. It's simply an awesome movie with awesome actors and I recommend this movie to anyone; it would make an excellent movie to watch in a World History class in schools or colleges.

I loved this movie, although I found it sad. The little girl who played Suzanne as a child was phenomenal! Her eyes and facial expressions spoke volumes. When she tearfully told her father "I want to go home" it broke my heart. I can certainly understand that the mother wanted her child back, but considering the trauma it caused the child, I wish there had been some easier way to make the transition from well loved little Hungarian country girl to homesick, confused, misunderstood, (albeit brave) American child in L.A. suburbia. It did seem as though the parents and grandmother displayed selfish reasons for uprooting the child, never considering what it would be like from the child's point of view. I couldn't help but think that Zsuzi would have grown up to be a delightful teenager had she been left with her foster parents. She simply did not have the wherewithal to deal with being uprooted and transplanted with no warning, no preparation. No six year old, not even any 16 year old or 40 year old, for that matter, could deal with emotional trauma of this magnitude. I was left wanting to know MUCH MORE about this family ... did they return to visit Hungary? Did they openly keep in touch with the foster parents? How did this emotional upheaval affect Suzanne as an adult? I want a sequel.