''An American Rhapsody'' () is a 2001

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film written and directed by Éva Gárdos. Based on Gárdos' life story, the film tells the story of a 15-year-old girl from a Hungarian-American family. The film stars Nastassja Kinski,

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...

, Tony Goldwyn, and Mae Whitman.

Plot

In 1950, a Hungarian couple, Peter and Margit, are forced to flee from the oppressive

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

for the United States, taking along their eldest daughter Maria. Unfortunately, due to an unforeseen complication they leave behind their infant daughter, Suzanne, who is then raised by a kind foster couple. Five years later, Peter and Margit arrange for the

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to bring Suzanne to their new home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. There, the perplexed young girl is forced to accept her sudden change in home and country, which leads to a troubled upbringing. At age 15, Suzanne, rebellious and unsure of herself, tries to come to terms with her roots and decides to travel back to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, to unravel her past and to find her true identity.

Cast

* Nastassja Kinski as Margit Sandor *

as Suzanne Sandor (age 15) ** Kelly Endrész Banlaki as Suzanne (age 5–6) ** Raffaella Bánsági as Suzanne (infant) * Tony Goldwyn as Peter Sandor * Mae Whitman as Maria Sandor (age 10) ** Larisa Oleynik as Maria Sandor (age 18) * Ági Bánfalvy as Helen * Zoltán Seress as George * Zsuzsa Czinkóczi as Teri * Balázs Galkó as Jeno * Lisa Jane Persky as Patti * Colleen Camp as Dottie * Emmy Rossum as Sheila (age 15) * Éva Soreny as Eva * Kata Dobó as Claire * Jacqueline Steiger as Betty

Reception

''An American Rhapsody'' received mixed reviews, currently holding a 51/100 rating on

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gives the film a 56% approval rating based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 5.61/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though obviously a labor of love, ''American Rhapsody'' is an uneven, heavy-handed effort, particularly in the second half".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:American Rhapsody 2001 films 2001 biographical drama films 2001 independent films 2001 multilingual films 2000s American films 2000s coming-of-age drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s Hungarian-language films American biographical drama films American coming-of-age drama films American independent films American multilingual films Autobiographical films English-language Hungarian films Films about film directors and producers Films about immigration to the United States Films scored by Cliff Eidelman Films set in 1950 Films set in 1955 Films set in 1956 Films set in 1958 Films set in 1965 Films set in Hungary Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Budapest Films shot in Los Angeles Fireworks Entertainment films Hungarian-American history Hungarian biographical drama films Hungarian multilingual films Paramount Pictures films English-language biographical drama films English-language independent films