By Ted Murphy
Story
In the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ignatz Sonnenschein (Fiennes
with beard) deals with anti-Semitism and a rocky marriage to his
cousin/adopted sister (Jennifer
Ehle). In World War II-era Hungary, Ignatz’ son Adam (Fiennes with
mustache) deals with anti-Semitism and romantic overtures from his
brother’s hottie wife (Rachel Weisz). In Communist postwar Hungary,
Adam’s son Ivan (Fiennes clean-shaven) deals with anti-Semitism and an
affair with a married comrade (Deborah Kara Unger). Get it? Things never
really change!
Acting
Fiennes can be a ferocious presence onscreen, as he demonstrates in
isolated moments such as an electrifying bit when the usually
unemotional Ignatz suddenly explodes in anger at Harris’ character. For
the most part, however, the melodramatic dialogue ("Give me the salt,
damn you!") is more than even he or expert supporting players such as
Miriam Margolyes ("Romeo + Juliet") and James Frain ("Hilary and
Jackie") can sell. Oh, and why are the Hollywood imports Unger and
William Hurt doing British accents?
Direction
Hungarian director Istvan Szabo’s soap opera-ish treatment of the
material would be hard enough to take in a standard-length feature, but
this sucker clocks in at a butt-punishing three hours. With its
sputtering storyline and routine visual approach, the film certainly
provides no competition to Vittorio De Sica’s similarly themed 1971
masterpiece "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis." As Fiennes vehicles go,
this one is closer to the laughably bad "The Avengers" than "Schindler’s
List."