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Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Admirable film.

A Masterpiece!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I saw this film in a French synchronized version(how I "dislike" this!!)But I know now that I must add this one to my DVD-collection!I recognized the acting of Scarlett again as in The Horse Whisperer, and I was happy to see Natassja acting again in a decent movie. But the performance of Raffaella Banragi was absolutely great!!I'm also grateful that I discovered the music of Marta Sebestyen! Question: does anyone know where the black and white pictures came from (the occupation and terror of the Russians-the hangings and Russian soldiers in the streets),or which historical documentary or National Geographicfilm? Would be great if anyone out there would have the answer! Thank you Girls and Boys!!

Margit (Nastassia Kinski) and Peter (Tony Goldwyn) live in Hungary during the early fifties. As Peter relates, a good deal of his friends have been sent to prison, for no good reasons, and his publishing business shut down. In addition, Margit experienced a traumatic loss which changed her forever. Therefore, they make plans to escape from communist Budapest and immigrate to America. They plan to take their two daughters along but a last minute, horrendous glitch makes it necessary for them to leave their one year old daughter, Suzanne, behind and in the care of a peasant farm couple in the Hungarian countryside. Climbing under barbed wire and around spotlights, they make their escape with their older daughter. Yet, understandably, when they make it to Los Angeles, Margit and Peter never stop writing letters to government officials, in order to secure the immigration of their little lost girl. Suzanne, meanwhile, loves her adoptive parents and simple home. Yet, when she is six, Suzanne is torn away from the only mother and father she knows and sent to America to meet and live with her blood relatives. After such turmoil for everyone, will happiness follow? This is one great movie that will have you crying at the beginning, the middle, and the end. It is based on a heartbreaking true story and it is certainty that any viewer will be tremendously moved by its happenings. The cast is stupendous, with Kinski and Goldwyn doing a wonderful job as the brave but sorrowful parents. Scarlett Johanssen plays Suzanne as she ages, and she is terrific, but so is the little lady who plays the younger version left behind in Hungary. Then, too, the settings, costumes, cinematography, script and direction are all top notch. In summary, no one who loves motion pictures should really miss this film. It has a story that grabs the viewer by the heart and never, ever lets go.

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.

1st watched 7/25/2004 - out of 10 (Dir-Eva Gardos): Heartfelt story of Hungarian immigrant family's trek to the U.S without their baby and the trials that came after this to reunite the whole family. This is definitely a story written from a point of view that understands all the feelings that came with this situation. I'm curious whether the writer/director 'Eva Gardos' was either one of the ones involved or was very close to the family. I digress, anyway, this is a well-done portrait of these lives and one of the few films that doesn't have a bias towards the Hungarian way of live as opposed to the American way of life. What seems to be most important is a feeling of closure felt by the child which she reaches at the end of the film. When the parents left Hungary, the child became a well-loved foster child and then was stolen by the real grandmother and sent to America to be a part of her real family. The discovery of the child's real upbringing is most important and this is where the story goes from here. Unique slow-moving feature film with an uplifting final message with well-done portrayals from the main characters but some very bad acting from subordinate players that doesn't deter from the story.