István Szabó’s work made in a Hungarian-Austrian-Canadian-German coproduction is a broad vision of the 20th century told through the story of a Hungarian Jewish family. In the movie, the director depicts history from the viewpoint of individuals, members of the Sonnenschein family. The grandfather, Ignác, as magistrate of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, is prepared to sacrifice his identity in order to assimilate. The fate of his son, the Olympic fencing champion Ádám, is entwined with the darkest days of the fascists, and his grandson, Iván, with that of the communist regime. By the end of the century, Iván has found his way back to the family traditions.
“I am extremely happy that a beautiful, restored version of Sunshine has been completed. But there is a story behind this that I wouldn’t like to be forgotten. In 1991, the National Film Archive became a public collection. This helped in the realization that saving Hungarian film history depends on restoration. The technical development of restoration, the thirst for professional knowledge shown by the staff of the archive, the introduction of digital techniques (with the restoration of Hyppolit, the Butler/Hyppolit, a lakáj in 2008) were all opportunities to bring old films back onto the screen and give them visibility. Yet the most important, and most difficult work in all this was a change in attitude, the recognition that the archive’s most fundamental mission is keeping Hungarian film collecting alive and promoting this. It is thanks to this that Hungarian films can once again be seen, in high quality, on TV broadcasts, for example. It is a great joy for me, personally, that Sunshine is one of these restored films, thanks to a surviving Canadian dub copy, staff of NFI Film Archive and Filmlabor, the work of Lajos Koltai and the determination of producer Robert Lantos,” said István Szabó.
Sunshine’s director of photography was Lajos Koltai, its lead actors international stars such as Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Ehle, Rosemary Harris and Rachel Weisz, its producers András Hámori and Robert Lantos. After the film’s world premiere in 1999 at the Toronto International Film Festival, it won three European Film Awards for best screenplay, best actor and best cinematographer, and it was screened in cinemas across the globe.
The film’s restoration in 4K resolution, which the public can see for the first time at Cannes, was achieved through the dedicated efforts of experts from the National Film Institute Hungary and cinematographer Lajos Koltai over the past few months.
This is the eighth time – after Miklós Jancsó’s The Round-Up (Szegénylegények), Károly Makk’s Love (Szerelem), Zoltán Fábri’s Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta), Péter Bacsó’s The Witness (A tanú), Sándor Sára’s Upthrown Stone (Feldobott kő), Márta Mészáros’s Diary for My Children (Napló gyermekeimnek), Elek Judit’s The Lady from Constantinople (Sziget a szárazföldön) – that a Hungarian film has been invited into the selection showing iconic classics of the 78th Cannes Festival starting on 13 May.
Sunshine (A napfény íze, colour Hungarian-Austrian-Canadian-German drama, 181 minutes, 1999)
Director: István Szabó
Screenwriters: Israel Horovitz, István Szabó
Cinematographer: Lajos Koltai
Music: Maurice Jarre
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Ehle
World premiere: Toronto International Film Festival, 1999
