Great film
Added 10/23/2009
I highly recommend this film to anyone. Terrific acting by Jessica Lange. Very powerful film regarding the holocaust in Budapest. Interesting how Jessica Lange deals with her father and her family in light of what she has learned about her Dad's actions during the holocuast in Hungary. I recommend this to anyone who wants to view history and Ms.Lange's great acting. Others are also good actors.
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Remembrance of things past and horrific
Added 1/26/2009
"The Music Box" was a slow yet suspenseful build-up, and when the climax came, it packed such a wallop, making it one of the most memorable human dramas that I've watched. Jessica Lange [in an Oscar-nominated performance]plays a successful criminal defense attorney who finds herself defending her Hungarian immigrant father, Michael Laszlo [Armin Muehller-Stahl in a powerful role] who is accused of lying about his world war II activities to get into the US and become a citizen. Specifically, he is accused of being Mischa, a member of the Arrow Cross, a far-right pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic national socialist party who committed crimes against humanity during WW II, especially against the Jewish populace of Hungary.
Michael's daughter [Lange] refuses to believe the accusations and builds up a strong defense for her father, even though her composure is seen being shaken during some of the harrowing testimonies by Holocaust survivors [and also a Gentile woman who was gang-raped by "Mischa" and his fellow Arrow Cross goons]. Her faith in her father is so strong that she refuses to accept any evidence proving the contrary, even when the evidence stares her right in the face [produced by her industrious secretary]. It is only when she goes to Hungary to hear the testimony of a witness who is terminally ill that she begins to have serious doubts, and she returns to the US with a pawn ticket that may hold the key to the entire drama.
The suspense is built up very credibly - even as Lange scores point after point against the prosecution, the viewer gets the sense that the defence may be winning, but is it really the truth that is being represented, and who exactly is getting justice - the victims of Mischa or Michael Laszlo, the accused? And the final scene between father and daughter is poignant, harrowing and horrific all at the same time.
This is a multi-layered movie - of a daughter's unwavering love for her father, of a man running away from and not facing a tainted past, of the lack of repentance, the power of memory decades after the war, and of justice being served in a most ironic manner.
The performances by the key players all deserve accolades - Lange as the defendant's daughter is compelling, Muehller-Stahl as the father is stoic and unwavering, and Frederic Forrest as the Prosecutor Jack Burke is credible in his performance. Even the brief appearances by the actors portraying the survivors are memorable - each testimony felt real and was painful to hear. All in all, "The Music Box" is a well-directed and credibly acted movie that packs a punch for the message it delivers.
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Another Jagged Edge
Added 12/27/2008
A lawyer (Jessica Lange) defends her father against charges that he is a Nazi war criminal and in the process learns more about his past than she would care to know.
If you've seen "The Jagged Edge", then you really don't need to see "The Music Box". Both films were written by Joe Eszterhas and he essentially uses the same plot for both. In both cases a lawyer is defending someone whom she is emotionally involved with and in both cases Eszterhas keeps spinning the story so that we are never certain as to whether the client is guilty or innocent. Both are very good films (although "The Jagged Edge" has the better ending) and I highly recommend that you see at least one of them, it's just that if you've seen one, the other isn't going to provide any new insights.
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A Complex Exploration of Loyalties & Ethics
Added 8/31/2008
While the specific story is about Nazis, Jessica Lange's portrayal of a daughter struggling to maintain her high opinion of her father in the face of mounting dark evidence does justice to such a terrible dilemma. This is a truly remarkable, if disturbing, film.
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FANTASTIC!
Added 6/4/2008
An exciting, nail biting, hearting breaking movie. One of Jessic Lange's best! A Must See!!!
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