Music Box (film)
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| Music Box | |
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| Directed by | Costa-Gavras |
| Produced by | Irwin Winkler |
| Written by | Joe Eszterhas |
| Starring | Jessica Lange Armin Mueller-Stahl Frederic Forrest |
| Music by | Philippe Sarde |
| Cinematography | Patrick Blossier |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  December 22, 1989 |
| Running time | 124 min. |
| Language | English, Hungarian |
Music Box is a 1989 film that tells the story of a Hungarian-American immigrant who is accused of having been a war criminal. The plot revolves around his daughter, an attorney, who defends him, and her struggle to uncover the truth.
The movie was written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Costa-Gavras. It stars Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest, Donald Moffat and Lukas Haas. It is loosely based on the real life case of John Demjanjuk.
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[edit] Plot summary
Soon after the film begins, Anne learns that her father, Mike Laszlo, has been indicted for alleged war crimes during World War II. He insists that it is a case of mistaken identity. After some soul-searching and against the advice of both the prosecutor, Jack Burke, and her ex-father-in-law, Harry Talbot, Anne resolves to defend her father, partly at his urging and partly after seeing how much her son, Mikey, admires his grandfather.
According to the prosecution, Laszlo was not, as he claims, a simple office worker before he fled from his native Hungary after the war. Rather, it is alleged that he was "Mishka," leader of a squad of Arrowcross (Hungarian fascists), and a zealous Nazi, who killed Jews, Gypsies, and others unlucky enough to cross his path with psychopathic glee. To Ann Talbot, this account of her father’s past is absurd. The man she has known and loved all her life could not possibly be such a monster.
In light of the accusations, the community is torn. His supporters, who range from friends and family to those who deny the Holocaust, are pitted against those who believe in his guilt and seek to harass him. A photo of Mike Laszlo shielding his grandson from protesters works in his favor. At the same time, the trial puts a great deal of stress on Anne, and she begins to quarrel more with Burke, even going so far as to imply his guilt in the recent death of his wife. Meanwhile, digging into Laszlo's affairs reveals large payments to a Hungarian acquaintance named Tibor. Mike claims these were loans that the man hadn't had time to repay before his death.
As the trial unfolds, the guilt of "Mishka" is substantiated in gruesome testimony from those few that survived contact with him. As a result, the case pivots on an Arrowcross identification card that bears Laszlo's name. An expert from the FBI initially seemed to confirm its authenticity. Laszlo on the other hand, claims that this is a plot by Hungary's Communist government in revenge for his protest against and disruption of a Hungarian touring ballet troop some years earlier. With the help of Harry Talbot, Anne locates an ex-KGB operative who attests to the ability of the USSR to make forgeries and that such knowledge had been shared with the Hungarian government. This revelation, combined with Anne's throwing into question the reliability of any witness living under an oppressive communist government, again throws Laszlo's guilt into doubt.
At this impasse, Burke announces that there is a witness who can prove that Mike Laszlo and "Mishka" are the same person; due to his medical condition he is incapable of leaving Budapest. Anne, Burke, and the judge travel to Hungary, but Laszlo declines to go, claiming that the Hungarians will simply kill him and make it look like an accident. Before Anne leaves, her legal assistant brings more details about the man to whom Laszlo had made payments, revealing that Tibor had died in a hit-and-run car accident and that she believes he was blackmailing Laszlo. She gives Anne his sister's address in Hungary and urges Anne to seek the truth, but Anne shrugs her off.
The night she arrives in Budapest, Anne is visited by a stranger who claims to be a friend of her father. He chats with her for a while, then leaves a box with a hidden folder of documents. The next day at the hospital, after hearing some damning evidence from the witness, Anne produces these documents -- signed and sworn confessions previously made by the witness and stating that a completely different man was "Mishka." In light of this evidence, and despite protests from both Burke and the witness, the frustrated judge dismisses the case. Anne, elated, brushes off Burke's accusations that she is living in a fantasy world and begins her trip back home. Riding back to the hotel, she suddenly directs her driver to take her to the address she received from her assistant.
Introducing herself as someone who had known her brother, Tibor, Anne is welcomed warmly by his elderly sister. As they converse, the woman mentions that the only thing of Tibor's that she has is his wallet, sent from America. She produces from it a piece of paper that she does not understand. Anne informs her that it is a pawn shop ticket, and the woman implores her to retrieve whatever Tobor pawned and to send it to her, as she has so little by which to remember her brother. As soon as she returns to America, Anne retrieves the item, which turns out to be the titular music box. Anne winds it up and watches it go, taken by its charm. Then, the music box begins to dispense photos of a young Laszlo enjoying himself while holding Jews at gunpoint and in humiliating positions. Anne's father is guilty.
Anne goes to Mikey's birthday party, her first thought being to try and get him away from such a murderer. When her father walks into the room, she confronts him. Even in the face of the evidence, Laszlo continues to deny his guilt, chalking it up to a communist conspiracy. She calls him a monster, says that she never wants to see him again, and that she doesn't want him anywhere near Mikey. Laszlo retorts that his grandson would never believe such things about him, then goes directly out to play with him, to Anne's distress. Anne is then seen typing a letter to Jack Burke and enclosing the damning photos. Immediately afterwards, we see a close up of a newspaper, which Anne picks up from her doorstep, headlining the shocking revelations. The movie fades out as Anne comforts her son.
[edit] Production
This film marks the second collaboration between director Costa-Gavras and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas after 1988's Betrayed. Both Walter Matthau and Kirk Douglas were in talks with Costa-Gavras to play the part of Mike Laszlo. Ultimately Gavras selected Armin Mueller-Stahl, who had wanted to work with Gavras since being impressed by his work after seeing Missing. Mueller-Stahl, an East-German, had problems getting a visa to work it the US, as he was suspected of being a communist[1], ironic, given the fact that the character he ultimately portrayed was staunchly anti-communist.
Principal photography for the film started on location in Chicago, but for later scenes of the film the production was actually moved to Budapest, Hungary, as Gavras wanted authenticity in what he considered some of the key scenes.
[edit] Principal cast
- Jessica Lange ..... Ann Talbot
- Armin Mueller-Stahl ..... Mike Laszlo
- Frederic Forrest .... Jack Burke
- Donald Moffat ..... Harry Talbot
- Lukas Haas ..... Mikey Talbot
[edit] Critical reception
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a luke-warm two star review. Among his complaints were that the film was "not about guilt or innocence; it is a courtroom thriller, with all of the usual automatic devices like last-minute evidence and surprise witnesses" and that "Naziism is used only as a plot device, as a convenient way to make a man into a monster without having to spend much time convincing us of it." Foremost was his frustration that little attempt was made to understand Mike Laszlo, and that "the old man, who should be the central character if this movie took itself seriously, is only a pawn." [2]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone was even more critical of the film, doubting it existed for any purpose other than to get Jessica Lange an Oscar nomination, bluntly stating "real-life tragedy has been used to hype cheap melodrama. It's more than offensive; it's vile." [3]
Caryn James of the New York Times applauded Jessica Lange's performance, but had to admit that "Ms. Lange comes as close to inventing a character out of thin air as any screen actor can. Nothing in Joe Eszterhas's overblown script or in Costa-Gavras's simplistic direction begins to support it. In the end, not even Ms. Lange's profuse energy and intelligence can redeem the film's unremitting shallowness and mediocrity." James ultimately felt that Music Box "finally tells us nothing about wronged innocence or monstrous evil." [4]
All three reviewers commented on the plot similarities between Music Box and Betrayed, the 1988 collaboration between writer Joe Eszterhas and director Costa-Gavras, with the replacement of white supremacists with war criminals and the same predictable formula.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Golden Bear winner at the Berlin International Film Festival
- Academy Award for Best Actress- Jessica Lange (nominee)
- Golden Globe for Best Actress- Jessica Lange (nominee)
- Young Artist Award for best young actor in a motion picture- Lukas Haas(nominee)
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Music Box at the Internet Movie Database
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Rain Man |
Golden Bear winner 1990 tied with Larks on a String |
Succeeded by La Casa del sorriso |
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