Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-24 18:26:32

Remembrance of things past and horrific

"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.

2012-05-23 20:37:24

Another Jagged Edge

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.

schappe1 2012-05-23 03:48:24

Powerful performances mask weaknesses and a lost opportunity

The performances in this film are uniformly excellent, from Jessica Langedoing perhaps her best work as a loyal daughter and efficient lawyer whocomes to doubt the innocence of her father to Armin Mueller-Stahl as thefather who continues to protest his innocence and demand her loyalty nomatter what is revealed to Frederick Forrest as the obnoxious prosecutingattorney who nonetheless may be on the side of what is right. The film doesan excellent job of manipulating emotions, (as a good film should). At firstyou feel the outrage that Forrest is attacking this close-knit family. Thenyou begin to feel the doubts that grow in the family as the evidence buildsup. Your heart and your mind are always just where they shouldbe.Unfortunately this shields some rather amazing plot devises and the failureto explore an even more interesting issue. The manner in which the decidingevidence comes into Lange's possession is quite incredible, as is the factthat it would still exist. The question of how people in differentcircumstances can be very different people is unexplored. The question ofhow memories can be altered to fit one's needs is alsountouched.The film has considerable power but does not bear up to close reflectionand is not as good a picture as it might have been. See "The Man In theGlass Booth" for something that goes beyond this.

2012-05-22 23:58:07

Great film

This review is from: Music Box (DVD) 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.

2012-05-19 09:25:11

WHAT WERE THE DISTRIBUTORS THINKING?

I own this film on Laserdisc. It is in WIDESCREEN 2:35 anamorphic presentation. I once saw a VHS version in full screen. Awful! In a world where widescreen and 16x9 are common even for the most dopiest of films that Hollywood puts out, didn't anyone have the sense to care about its original aspect ratio? Guess not.I did find a region 2 PAL DVD version from Spain that does offer it in WIDESCREEN; runs about $29 with shipping. I ordered it because it's unlikely this film will be redistributed here in widescreen anytime soon. Classic film with great performances.

LangSci 2012-05-18 14:02:33

Superb and "rivoting" just like the cover promised

I just finished watching this with my wife. The gut-wrenching detail is aslow-cooker of agony that is rivoting to experience. Not with specialeffects, but a mental crucible. Tugs on your ability to separate yourself completely from the storyline.Excellent movie I highly recommend. We were very impressed.Sobering adult fair. Not for casual viewing. Lange is fabulous andthoroughly convincing.

modalisorek 2012-05-17 07:01:50

A movie with a message

The movie focuses on two universal questions-do we actuallyknow people we believe we do,including close ones,and doesproductive and outwardly respected life erase or diminisha past of hineous and sadistic crimes.I find the acting in the movie,including in the supportingroles,powerful.The courtroom scenes,with victims confrontinga Hungarian ex SS man,deeply moving,and far from any cliche.worth noting is the senior lawyer,uttering his views aboutthe holocaust to his grandson.One wonders what it willtake to disrupt his aloof equanimity.I think that the movie has unique value,in light ofthe proliferation of the holocaust deniers,practitionersof historiographic hooliganism,by doing its part in tellingus what happened.

2012-05-16 19:09:16

Awesome movie! Full of Plot Twists and Turns!

Great movie for a rainy Sunday Afternoon. If you are into old-fashioned mysteries, this is the movie for you

2012-05-09 01:55:03

Tough to watch

This review is from: Music Box [VHS] (VHS Tape) If gritty and high strung drama is your bag, then The Music Box is a must see. I can remember the first time I saw it some five years ago. The ending left me all taut with the agony that Mrs. Talbot (Jessica Lange) must work through. The ultimate drama about the power of truth, hidden and revealed, the Music Box is a tense ride. Even the second time around.Lange gives one of her most intense performances as a first generation American and hot shot lawyer who must defend her father against charges of bestial war crimes committed some fifty years ago in the glowing embers of a dying Europe. To be precise, in the then fascist satellite state of Hungary, then in the grips of Hitler wannabe, Andras Szalasi and his vicious band of goons, the Arrow Cross.The ever professional Armin Mueller Stahl serves up a riveting performance as the refugee who sought American haven to hide his shameful secret. His character highlights the dark side of American immigration. People not only escaping poverty and prejudice, but justice and truth as well. Even Mr. Laszlo wants to believe that the American Dream can wipe his slate clean. But in vain, as his past closes in.All the while, Lange bravely struggles to protect her beloved papa, refusing to see what is before her face. Yet, little by little, as the witnesses build up their mountain of irrefutable evidence, tears and all, doubt begins to creep in. Finally, she travels to Hungary, where the truth begins to unravel......and she is forced into the most painful of decisions.....the truth or her love for her father......This film is quite cathartic and like the other Gravas masterwork, Missing, asks some difficult questions. Yet, unlike Missing, The Music Box gives us an answer. The truth shall set you free. And at great cost.Despite its occasional heavy handedness, the Music Box is a sterling little drama that will leave you purged and cleansed. Like all good drama should!

2012-05-08 16:54:16

Music Box

Ann Talbot a attorney whose affable Hungarian-immigrant father Michael Laszlo is arrested. He is threatened with deportation for lying about his activities during World War II; part of the charge is that Michael Laszlo was a Nazi collaborationist, guilty of wartime atrocities. Absolutely convinced that her father is being railroaded by a revenge-seeking Hungarian communist government, Ann handles Michael Laszlo's defense, expertly blowing huge holes in prosecuting attorney Jack Burke's case. But in doing her own research, Ann discovers that her father has spent a lifetime paying off a blackmailer. Excellent performances by Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jessica Lange and even Michael Rooker make "Music Box" well-worth seeing (and seeing again).

jcappy 2012-05-05 20:28:33

Exasperating

There's one big flaw in "Music Box:" Ann Talbot is too damned honest,sensitive, professionally competent, and self-directed to be amasochist or an embracer of sadism. The real Talbot could not be in thesame room with a Nazi, talk about sidle up, coddle, embrace, andjustify him for a period of weeks. Nor could she tolerate a couple ofhis obnoxious Daddy-is-Right, Family-First relatives. Daughter or not,sister or not, this is absolutely aggravating. And how is it that adaughter lawyer who is so reluctant to take the case in the firstplace, suddenly take it on without first knowing at least some of thedamning evidence associated with it? If this is mind boggling, the actual playing out of the script isnothing if not torment. Once again, Talbot is not someone who can beconvinced time and time again of the prosecution's testimony and yet ineach instant thwart it with some insufficient detail supplied by aquestionable source. The evidence is just far too grave for her to foolwith or manipulate. Yet, her convictions sway like a clock pendulum.I guess she was wound up in such a way as to satisfy the demands of aprolonged psycho-drama with a misshapen, contrived plot. And if she,the protagonist, is incredulous, then the plot works on othercharacters in a similar way, especially the judge, who is the rightactor with the wrong script, and is similarly exasperating--if at alower key. And there's the vacillating brother who is over-stereotypedinto the bargain.This has to be one of the most aggravating, falsely suspenseful goodfeature movies ever constructed. It drove me up the wall, and Iwondered what it would do to me were I Jewish. Only the possibility(not certainty) of Talbot's ending up inside her actual character keptme tuned in. Will the real Ann Talbot please stand up, I kept thinking.This said, the film does show strength: its coverage of the unspeakableatrocities, the torture rapes and murders of Hungarian Jews after thewar told in convincing and chillingly serious testimony is very rare ina mainstream film. Perhaps it was too convincing too convincing for themovie's plot but not for the audience. Some kudos too for the verysuccinct and effective ending. It came too late, but it did leave mewith a slightly better memory of "Music Box."

ragosaal 2012-05-05 09:38:13

Intense Court Drama

Greek director Costa Gavras is the one that gave us such strong andimpressive films as "Z" (based on the kidnapping and murder of CIAagent Dan Mitrione by pro-Cuban Tupamaro's urban guerrilla in Ururguayin the late 60's) and "Missing" (about the disappearance of a youngAmerican citizen during General Pinochet's military government in Chilein the 70's). No doubt the man liked to enter compromising and complexmovies.In "Music Box" he delivers a sort of court film drama about a lawyer inChicago that defends her father when he is accused of being a warcriminal in his youth as a member of the Hungarian branch of the GermanSS troops. Though perhaps sort of predictable, the film is intense andcatching right from the start. Jesicca Lange renders one of the bestperformances of her career and so does Armin Mueller-Stahl in the mainroles both most convincing.With no major bumps along its 2 hours run, "Music Box" is an enjoyableand highly recommendable product in its genre. Just for the record: in Argentina "Music Box" was renamed as "Mucho màsque un crimen" ("Much More than Just a Crime").

2012-05-05 06:33:17

MUSIC BOX-AN OLD FAVORITE WITH JESSICA LANGE

This review is from: Music Box (DVD) THE QUALITY OF THE VIDEO WAS GOOD.THE ACTINGAND THE MUSIC AND PLOT WERE JUST AS GOODAS I REMEMBERED FROM YEARS AGO.THANK YOU.

Lunar_Eclipse_Scoping 2012-05-04 08:01:29

"YOU HAVEN'T GOT A GRANDSON!"

*May Be Spoilers* Jessica Lange has always been one of my top favorite actresses. Apartfrom being beautiful, she has the ability to make even dull characters seemvibrant, due to the fact that she usually just seems so fresh, unstudied,flexible. When you pair her up with a more demanding role or intriguingcharacter, the results can be even better. Case in point is the part sheplays in "Music Box": Ann Talbot, a single mother of one who happens to bean attorney. She is a woman who smiles or laughs when she's nervous orembarassed, always seems to be searching and scanning people's faces withher eyes, mentally interpreting everything they say and forming quickdecisions and rebuttals. She also can "sneak up on you and clobber you",like in the brilliant, deceptive dinner conversation with Frederic Forrestthat turns ugly. (You'll just have to see it, trust me.)Lange seems to effortlessly tune us in to all the nooks and crannies ofAnn's personality, which in turn makes us riveted in the emotional scenes ofthe film because we feel like we're seeing an actual person who we know andcare about in such dramatic circumstances. Armin Mueller-Stahl lends credible support as Laszlo, but this is Jessica'sshow pretty much all the way; we don't really know him at all as a characterbecause the script gives him little to do, probably in an effort to make usnot really know whether he's guilty or not -- until the end, of course. Frederic Forrest has the best moments apart from Lange as the prosecutingattorney who often resorts to typical arrogant machismo or petulance toprove his points, although the character also feels somewhat one-sided.You can tell the film is Gravas's work, due to the political overtones and asmall-group-of-people-working-together-to . . .-type plot. Technically wellmade and never dull, often rewarding, but that's due to the acting. Isuspect with lesser actors involved it could have been rather bland. Kudosto the casting director.See it if you're looking for a solid courtroom drama with standoutperformances, or if you're a fan of Lange, who gets to speak some Hungarianin the film as well -- impressive job again, Jessica!My rating: 8/10

2012-05-04 11:26:18

Great Movie

The first time I saw this movie I first thought it was slow paced but loved the ending! Watching it over, there so much more to it and the scenery is awesome.

2012-05-03 22:18:10

Jessica Lange in her most brilliant performance...

This film is riveting. Every time I watch it, I am struck by the intensity of my emotional reaction. What daughter hasn't loved her father and wanted him to be her hero? In "The Music Box," a fifty year old secret turns a family into a battleground. A father is accused of the most horrible crimes imaginable. His devoted daughter runs to his rescue. The pacing and suspense are superb. Scene by scene we see witness after witness reveal a knowledge of this man that the daughter cannot fathom. They have the wrong man. The wrong man, she states with resolve. Her defense is that it is a case of mistaken identity.During his trial, she learns that her father has been having an affair with a neighbor for ten years. She realizes that her father is expert at keeping secrets. She is shocked that she never saw this aspect of his personality. Her secretary sees what the daughter cannot see. The secretary helps her find the courage she needs. Forrest Tucker, who is prosecuting her father, is compassionate, yet determined to see her father brought to justice. But the daughter is brighter and better at the law than her opponent. She wins legal point after legal point.Around all this emotional turmoil, we are once again reminded of the atrocities of World War II. We see the suffering and agony of the survivors of man's inhumanity against his human family.The ending of this film makes my heart pound for about the last twenty minutes. If you gloss over truth in your life and trade in rationalizations, you might not enjoy this film. It is a film for those who are willing to lose what appears to be valuable,in return for what is only valuable,the absolute and undeniable truth.

msemmett 2012-04-29 21:39:08

Qualified to speak on the performances

I was astounded in reading the comments on these films to see peoplesayingthat Armin Muehler-Stall's character is flat and empty.Also, those thatsayhis angry outbursts are not threatening.My father is a Hungarian immigrant who I have wondered where he has asimilar "true story". I can say from personal experience that Armin'sperformances are consistent with my father's outbursts and for mepersonallywere terrifying when seeing the movie.In terms of the generalization that the performance was "flat", there is acold, clinical, almost sociapathic sense to some elderly Hungarians.Additionally, I found Jessica Lange's performance COMPLETELY believeableassomeone raised under such strong expectations and often silent orrestrainedabout true expressions of emotion or fear.That's my two cents. DO NOT underestimate the ACCURACY of this film.

2012-04-29 11:34:03

Great movie with wonderful performances by supporting cast.

I just love this movie; Jessica Lange blows you away with her performance and the supporting cast, including Fredric Forrest, are terrific. I highly recommend this movie, it is part of my vast collection and I watch it frequently. The music/score is just right also.

Lee Eisenberg 2012-04-27 18:41:45

John Demjanjuk just died

John Demjanjuk's death a few days ago makes Costa-Gavras's "Music Box",based on the case of Demjanjuk, all the more significant. It's about aChicago lawyer (Jessica Lange) having to defend her Hungarian immigrantfather (Armin Mueller-Stahl), charged with collaborating with theNazis. He claims that it's a plot by Hungary's Soviet-backed governmentto target him. She believes him and uses the trial to call intoquestion the credibility of that government. But then there's a littletrip to Budapest required...Criticism of the movie is apparently that it too closely mirrors theplot of Gavras's previous movie "Betrayed", while not delving toodeeply into the characters. I didn't see that. What I saw is thequestion of how well we know our own families. I certainly found thecourtroom scenes intense, and in the end I recommend the movie. Alsostarring Frederic Forrest (Chef in "Apocalypse Now"), Lukas Haas (theboy in "Witness") and Michael Rooker.

Deusvolt 2012-04-27 16:51:56

A commendable film that exposes the fallacy of the Holocaust as the national crime of Germany alone when in truth all Europe should be indicted.

Jessica Lange should have been nominated for and won the Oscar as earlyas 1989 for this film. Beyond the superb acting of Lange and hersupporting cast, however, the importance of this production is that itfocuses on the little known truth that other European nationalities, inthis case quite a lot of Hungarians, participated in the persecution ofthe Jews during and even long before the Nazi domination of Europe.Nazi sympathizers and material supporters were to be found inpractically all countries of Europe, including Great Britain whereprominent industrialists and even members of the Royal Family wereknown to promote that odious ideology. After all, England, was thefirst European country to expel Jews by royal legal edict in 1290. And,during the holocaust years, we now know that Ukrainian, Croatian,Hungarian, Austrian and other European peoples had their own pro-Naziorganizations that actively facilitated the deportation andextermination of the Jews.After Germany's defeat, many Nazi criminals fled to countries all overthe world including the United States. Some of them even posed asJewish refugees. In this movie, SPOILER: the father of the characterplayed by Lange curried the favor of US authorities by being a rabidanti-communist who went out of his way to demonstrate at culturalevents sponsored by the Soviet Union. He wasn't play acting as indeedNazis and their sympathizers were logically anti-communist. His motive,however, was to avoid being repatriated to Hungary where he was wantedfor war crimes.