Like a Hungarian would, I wept all the through the film. Eva Gardos masterfully captured the pain of having to leave your own country, whether as adults or as a child. She crafted a wonderfully paced, written, acted and directed film. If her goal was to create a sense of longing for a bygone home, she hit a home run.I met Eva in Budapest in the late 1990s, when she was editing Andy Vajna's triumphant producing return to Hungary, "A Miniszter félrelép" (aka "Out of Order"). She let me read the screenplay of Hungarian Rhapsody as she was developing it for production. I liked the story, and imagined it coming to life on the screen. Almost a decade later, I finally got a chance to see the film. She stayed true to her story, and delivered an emotionally powerful personal film.I must admit that I am a Hungarian by paternal parentage, and thus very biased. 'Au contraire,' I am also a filmmaker, and can sometimes be critical. However, I can honestly say that Eva has created a film with universal emotional resonance.I truly hope that she continues to make such powerful films.

I am not an avid movie watcher, so I had never seen this until my daughter checked it out of the video store. From the very first scene until the final credits, I was mesmerized. There was not a single scene that I did not find captivating. At the end I was sobbing like a baby.I think that a quality necessary to make a story this gripping is that it has all the elements that are common to the human experience - but with circumstances that make everything exaggerated. It is easy to identify with what these characters are going through, but at the same time, the situation is so unique as to stimulate the imagination and cause the viewer to see the world through different eyes. The story is both familiar and strange at the same time.The acting was outstanding, especially the performance of the little girl who played Suzanne at age 6. It amazes me that a child so young could pull off a performance with this kind of depth and insight. I also loved the couple who played her foster parents - the foster father was just oozing with personality and character. The actors who played Peter and Margit did a first rate job as well.I really wish I could find out more about the true story this was based on. My only criticism of the movie was that so many questions were left unanswered...Did the grandmother ever see Margit again? Did Suzanne ever again visit her Hungarian foster parents after her trip to Budapest at age 15? Did the culmination of this story really solve the family's relationship issues for good? Did Margit ever have the courage to return to Hungary and face the ghosts of her past? My daughter says that the mark of a good story is that it leaves you wanting more - so that must mean that this is a really good story. After seeing it forthe first time, I watched the video 4 times before letting my daughter return it. I hope Eva Gardos writes a book about her life someday. I would be willing to read a detailed account of her experiences. What a yarn! Whew!

I was totally absorbed when I watched the movie about 2 months ago, i watched 2 time in a row. It was really moving, and I guess if you really watch it carefully, and understand all the stories in the movie, you would probably fall into tears at some moments. So basically the girl was growing in her home country where her parents escaped to the US because of the political/war reason. But when the girl was warmly greeted in the US airport when she was five years old, she had very serious homesickness. She thought of her foster parents in Hungary very often until she was grown up to 15. and quite understandably, her dad promised her to send her back to her foster parents if she still felt uncomfortable until she was aged. this was a trip to remember, but the director obviously was in a rush, so even though she was quite happy with her foster parents when she was in Hungary, she left again, and went back to her parents in the US. I still did not understand why the girl desired to get back even she had set up some links in the US. and surprisingly she got back soon after she met her grandmom in Hungary. But i like her foster parents so much and their brilliant performance lightened the movie a lot and especially her foster mother, who was really sincere in the film. But the worst one in the movie would be Scarllett Johanson, i saw some other movies of hers. but i did not like any of them. Her voice was bad, and her performance was totally disappointing to me.

Let me preface this review, by saying that this is indeed my first review, so a certain sense of rustiness will be noticed.With that out of the way, lets get to the meat of the topic. Being of Hungarian origin, it was hard to overlook certain shortcomings with regards to the use of language and music. There are certain situations where i thought the use of the Hungarian language would have been more forceful and certainly more emotionally satisfying, as opposed to using English. And while the movie was made with American audiences in mind, nevertheless, this type of small movie should be able to get away with the use of subtitles all the way through. As far as the music was concerned, it was not even of Hungarian origin in most cases. Considering the title used the word rhapsody, there would have been scope for the use of genuine Hungarian music.The director's stated ambition - in the audio commentary - was to portray all the characters in a sympathetic light, so that we - the audience - do not feel more emotional attachment towards one set of parents over the other. Well, maybe it is me, but I did feel more sympathetic towards one set of parents than the other. Which makes the ending all the more less satisfying and somewhat rushed. As if, somebody said, but we need a feel good ending. If only life would be so simple.On the positive side, the performance of the 6 year old Susannah or Zsuzsi, is quite remarkable. To have such a range of emotions displayed by a child of that age is simply unique. The look of the movie is also well thought out, with the use of the black and white at the beginning and later reverting to full colour.Ultimately, it is a movie that will satisfy the general American audience, but for those that have personal experiences similar to those in the film, will find the whole experience somewhat wasted. The potential was there.... my score is 3/10