Music Box

Plot synopsis:
Chicago defense attorney Anne Talbot learns that her father, Hungarian immigrant Michael J. Laszlo, is in danger of having his U.S. citizenship revoked. The reasons are that he stands accused of war crimes. He insists that it is a case of mistaken identity. Against the advice of her former father-in-law, corporate attorney Harry Talbot, Anne resolves to defend her father in court. One of her reasons is how deeply her son, Mikey, loves and admires his grandfather.
According to prosecuting attorney Jack Burke of the Office of Special Investigations, Michael Laszlo is not, as he claims, a simple political refugee, regular churchgoer, and family man. Rather, he is "Mishka," the former commander of an Arrow Cross death squad. During the Siege of Budapest, Mishka's unit sadistically tortured and murdered scores of Hungarian Jews, Gypsies, and their Gentile protectors. To Anne, these allegations are absurd. The loving single father who raised her could not possibly have committed such crimes.
Preparing for her father's denaturalization hearing in the midst of a media circus puts enormous stress on Anne. Heartbroken and sickened, Anne tells her father that her research into The Holocaust in Hungary has made her feel, "ashamed to be Hungarian." Her father lovingly replies, "You're American."
Later, Jack Burke tells Anne that her father has no conscience, zero empathy, and that his love for his family is a façade. An enraged Anne replies by accusing Burke of murdering his recently deceased wife.
Meanwhile, her father's accounts reveal large payments to a fellow Hungarian immigrant named Tibor Zoldan. Her father claims these were loans to help a destitute friend and which he was unable to repay before his death.
As the hearing unfolds before a Jewish judge named Irwin Silver, the crimes of Mishka's unit are described in grisly testimony by the few who survived contact with them. All the witnesses identify Anne's father as the man who tortured them. Equally damning is an Arrow Cross identification card that bears his photograph and the name, "Laszlo Miklos". An FBI agent initially confirms its authenticity. Her father claims that this is all a frame-up by Hungary's Communist Government and its secret police, the ÁVO. He says that it is retaliation for his protest against the U.S. tour of a Hungarian ballet troupe several years earlier.
Anne locates a Soviet defector who testifies about the KGB's forgery of such documents to frame anti-Communists in the West. The defector further explains that this technique was shared with every secret police in the Soviet Bloc. He explains that the Hungarian ÁVO was "very interested" in this tactic. This revelation, combined with Anne's questioning the reliability of witnesses who still live under a police state, throws Burke's case into serious doubt.
Burke then announces that there is a witness who can testify that Michael Laszlo is "Mishka." Due to his medical problems, however, he is incapable of leaving Budapest. Anne, Burke, and Judge Silver travel to Hungary. Anne's father refuses, claiming that the Communists will assassinate him if he returns. Before her departure, Anne's legal assistant brings more details about Tibor Zoldan, who died in a hit-and-run car accident. She further declares, "It feels like Tibor Zoldan was blackmailing your father." She gives Anne the address of Tibor's sister Magda.
At her Budapest hotel, Anne is visited by an ÁVO agent who claims to be a friend of her father. He leaves a box with a hidden folder of documents. The next day, after hearing the damning testimony of the witness, Anne produces the documents — signed affidavits in which the witness identified three completely different men as "Mishka."
Despite the pleading of Burke and the witness, Judge Silver dismisses the Prosecution's case. A devastated Burke tells Anne that, while it is too late to save the victims, he thinks that it is important to remember what happened to them. He accuses Anne of living in a fantasy world and urges her to visit the bridge where Mishka threw his victims into the Danube River. At the time, the Red Army was storming Berlin, the Second World War was effectively over, and Hungarians were still massacring their Jewish countrymen. An infuriated Anne screams, "Some Hungarians! Not my father!"
Anne directs her cab-driver to take her to the bridge instead of the airport. After looking down at the river, Anne travels to the apartment of Magda Zoldan. Saying she knew Tibor, Anne is welcomed warmly. Magda mentions that the only thing she has of Tibor's is his wallet, sent to her by the Chicago Police Department. She produces from it a pawn shop ticket. Saying that she has little else to remember her brother, Magda implores Anne to retrieve whatever Tibor pawned and mail it to her. Before leaving, a horrified Anne realizes that, like Mishka, Tibor was a member of the Arrow Cross.
Back in Chicago, Anne visits the pawn shop and retrieves Tibor's music box. Anne winds it up and watches it go, taken in by its charm. Then, Anne sobs inconsolably as the music box dispenses a set of black-and-white photographs. They depict her youthful father in an Arrow Cross uniform -- sadistically torturing and murdering Jewish men, women, and children.
At Mikey's birthday party, Anne confronts her father, accusing him of being Mishka and of running down Tibor Zoldan with his car. With bottomless self-pity, her father laments that the ÁVO has poisoned his daughter against him. Visibly sickened, Anne asks her father why he can not just tell her the truth.
In the film's climax, Anne tells her father that she does not ever want herself or Mikey to ever see him again. Her father calmly explains that Mikey will never believe her. As Anne watches in silent horror, "Mishka" goes out to play with his grandson.
Anne is then seen typing a letter to Jack Burke, saying that she went to the Danube. She encloses Tibor Zoldan's photographs and negatives in the envelope.
Anne picks up a newspaper with a front-page headline: "Mike Laszlo: War Criminal! Justice Department Releases Atrocity Photos." The film fades out as Anne shows the newspaper to her son.

Tags: horror

Review:
I was astounded in reading the comments on these films to see people saying that Armin Muehler-Stall's character is flat and empty.Also, those that say his angry outbursts are not threatening.My father is a Hungarian immigrant who I have wondered where he has a similar "true story".
Additionally, I found Jessica Lange's performance COMPLETELY believeable as someone raised under such strong expectations and often silent or restrained about true expressions of emotion or fear.That's my two cents.
The movie is supposed to have been inspired by the real-life case of John Demjanjuk, an Ohio resident accused of war crimes at Treblinka and Sobibor, extradited to Israel for trial in the mid 80's.
Lawyer Ann Talbot's Hungarian-born father is accused of war crimes, her ex-father-in-law is somewhat scornful towards the inviolability of the Holocaust, and even had drinks with "those monsters" when the West used ex-Nazis as spies against Communism.
Specially the testimony of one Mr. Bodai is awesome, that of man so much ravaged by horror that his delivery is almost a monotone, with little emotional difference between responding a "yes" and a "no".But it is Jessica Lange that outshines everyone else in performance, may be one of her best ever..
Excellent performances by Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jessica Lange (and even Michael Rooker in a thankless role) make "The Music Box" well-worth seeing (and seeing again).
Ann Talbot (Lange) accuses the US prosecutor (Frederick Forest) of letting the Hungarian government dictate his case, and the US does seem to rely entirely on Hungarian evidence, never bothering to look for any evidence west of Budapest.
But because of the great performances by the actors, it ends up as a deeply moving experience.And at the very center, Jessica Lange does a tremendous job as the lawyer and daughter of a Hungarian war criminal - or is he?
She does it with no glamour, but alone her incredible personality.Most of the other actors does a great job as well, and the only reason for not voting it in top is, that the plot is not too convincing - but it first became obvious some time after I watched the film, simply because of the fine acting.I voted 9/10..
In the movie Costa-Gavras does have a strong opinion about the case, but in real life the all-important question "guilty or not guilty" was never answered properly.A good movie, too good to stay in the cinemas for a long time..
The movie focuses on two universal questions-do we actually know people we believe we do,including close ones,and does productive and outwardly respected life erase or diminish a past of hineous and sadistic crimes.
I find the acting in the movie,including in the supporting roles,powerful.The courtroom scenes,with victims confronting a Hungarian ex SS man,deeply moving,and far from any cliche.
The performances in this film are uniformly excellent, from Jessica Lange doing perhaps her best work as a  loyal daughter and efficient lawyer who comes to doubt the innocence of her father to Armin Mueller-Stahl as the father who continues to protest his innocence and demand her loyalty no matter what is revealed to Frederick Forrest as the obnoxious prosecuting attorney who nonetheless may be on the side of what is right.
Greek director Costa Gavras is the one that gave us such strong and impressive films as "Z" (based on the kidnapping and murder of CIA agent Dan Mitrione by pro-Cuban Tupamaro's urban guerrilla in Ururguay in the late 60's) and "Missing" (about the disappearance of a young American citizen during General Pinochet's military government in Chile in the 70's).
No doubt the man liked to enter compromising and complex movies.In "Music Box" he delivers a sort of court film drama about a lawyer in Chicago that defends her father when he is accused of being a war criminal in his youth as a member of the Hungarian branch of the German SS troops.
Jesicca Lange renders one of the best performances of her career and so does Armin Mueller-Stahl in the main roles both most convincing.With no major bumps along its 2 hours run, "Music Box" is an enjoyable and highly recommendable product in its genre.
Armin Mueller Stahl performs also very well in this movie drama, although his role is more limited than Lange's............
Jessica Lange is very good as Ann Talbot, a lawyer who takes up the task of defending her father (Armin Mueller-Stahl) against charges of Nazi war crimes.
Lukas Haas, giving an exceptionally bright-eyed and intelligent performance, plays Ann's 12-year-old son, who believes unquestioningly that his beloved grandfather is innocent.Roger Ebert wrote that the father, while very well-played by Mueller-Stahl, does not devote enough time to helping us to understand his character, but I don't know that any film could do that for such a person.
Mueller-Stahl and the script at least offer suggestions and let our imaginations do the rest.I found this film, scripted by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Costa-Gavras, to be a quietly effective courtroom thriller (even though the idea of a lawyer defending her own father in this situation requires a high suspension of disbelief) and found the central drama of a woman discovering her father is, or at least was, a monster to be moving..
But, in answer, the film serves no real purpose except to force audiences to wait 130 minutes for Jessica Lange to find out what should have been obvious from the start, that her father is a brutal, sadistic ex-Nazi war criminal.
Lange portrays a lawyer defending her dad in court, but because the question of a possible conflict of interest is never raised it's difficult to put much faith in what follows, mostly repetitive testimony and surprise witnesses (plus a scenic detour from Chicago to Budapest).
All the airtight evidence against him won't shake Lange's illogical conviction that her old man is innocent, but hack screenwriter Joe Eszterhas makes a fatal mistake for any mystery scenario by letting the audience know more than his characters on screen.
I am not a movie buff...Just happened to be "in the house" this time of year because of allergies, turned the TV on and watched most of it remaining ...Will try and see again...I had never seen the movie, so came here to find out more about it...Am not familiar with the Producer everyone mentions, but feel this movie was well done...Held my attention and would like to see again...I love coming here to see what others thought about a movie and they often give me some of the details I didn't catch...Still things about this one I didn't pick up or understand..As to the ending, made me wonder, was the evidence enough to convict or could he not be tried again???.
It's about a Chicago lawyer (Jessica Lange) having to defend her Hungarian immigrant father (Armin Mueller-Stahl), charged with collaborating with the Nazis.
A well-made, interesting and thought-provoking film on two main subjects - the specific subject of recriminations against war criminals detected in their old age (and given the times in which we live, a subject which will always be topical, if from more recent wars) and the wider, more general topic of how well we know our own parents - after all we weren't around when they did their growing up and of course only know the settled down, usually loving and caring mother or father from our childhood onwards.The film straddles a difficult line of time's witness into the past of war criminals, in particular the depiction of the anguished recollections of the physically and even more so, emotionally scarred witnesses of the perpetrator's horrific deeds - brutal rape and murder, as ever, prominent, if that's the right word, amongst them, against the conventional suspenseful requirements of a mainstream Hollywood thriller.
Whilst I'm not sure the balance struck is always quite right - some of the scenes come off as if straight from a contemporary TV legal drama and the device of the fortuitous "reveal" twist which finally decides the guilt of the apparent loving father and grandfather "Papa Mishka", seems a little too pat, but the whole is elevated by the careful pacing of the movie, fine cinematography and in particular quality ensemble acting.Jessica Lange has the difficult task of carrying the movie - we pretty much see the events unfold from her point of view, starting with her incredulous denunciation of the initial accusation but moving on eventually to a reluctant concession that her doting father could be the monster outlined in court, under the weight of ever more convincing testimony, especially that of an elderly Hungarian woman recounting her horrific rape at the hands of Mishka and his secret police elite.In the end, a film to make the viewer pause and reflect on their own relationships with those they love and whether they/we would ever cover up their misdemeanours at the expense of truth and justice.
There's little doubt here that Lange does the right thing in belatedly exposing her father's guilt, even after his official acquittal, although that's perhaps easy when the parent in question is/was so obviously a monster.
Jessica Lange is excellent in a very difficult role, as is the man playing her father, I found him very believable in his portrayal.
She's in disbelief when her Hungarian immigrant father Mike Laszlo (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is accused of war crimes and threatened with deportation.
A lawyer (Jessica Lange) defends her father (Armin Mueller-Stahl) accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.Roger Ebert gave the film a lukewarm 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 "Nazism 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." He is right, but I do not think this takes away from the film.
The story unfolds in a satisfying and well narrated way, and we identify with Lange's character as wanting to believe (in the face of all evidence) her father is innocent.
The film features amazing performances by Lange and Mueller-Stahl, and the bitter resolution of the daughter disowning her father, and having to explain to her little boy (who loves his grandfather) is heart-wrenching but never sentimental.
Ann Talbot (Jessica Lange) faces this problem when her father Michael Lazlo (Armin Mueller-Stahl)is being charged with war crimes during World War II in Hungary.
The look on Ann's face says it all: her father had betrayed her and that he is truly a monster.Costa-Gavras's direction and the screenplay by Joe Eszterhas is wonderful (The ultimate irony being that what happened to Ann would soon happen to Eszterhas, when he found out after the film's release that his own father was accused of war crimes).
Beyond the superb acting of Lange and her supporting cast, however, the importance of this production is that it focuses on the little known truth that other European nationalities, in this case quite a lot of Hungarians, participated in the persecution of the Jews during and even long before the Nazi domination of Europe.
In this movie, SPOILER: the father of the character played by Lange curried the favor of US authorities by being a rabid anti-communist who went out of his way to demonstrate at cultural events sponsored by the Soviet Union.
(You'll just have to see it, trust me.)Lange seems to effortlessly tune us in to all the nooks and crannies of Ann's personality, which in turn makes us riveted in the emotional scenes of the film because we feel like we're seeing an actual person who we know and care about in such dramatic circumstances.
Armin Mueller-Stahl lends credible support as Laszlo, but this is Jessica's show pretty much all the way; we don't really know him at all as a character because the script gives him little to do, probably in an effort to make us not really know whether he's guilty or not -- until the end, of course.
Frederic Forrest has the best moments apart from Lange as the prosecuting attorney who often resorts to typical arrogant machismo or petulance to prove 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 a small-group-of-people-working-together-to .
Kudos to the casting director.See it if you're looking for a solid courtroom drama with standout performances, or if you're a fan of Lange, who gets to speak some Hungarian in the film as well -- impressive job again, Jessica!
Jessica Lange is a lawyer, whose beloved father is Armin Mueller - Stahl.
This is one of Jessica Lange's best parts and one of Costa-Gavras 's finest achievements.I have a tendency to prefer his American works to his French ones such as "Z" and "l'aveu".Lange portrays a brilliant lawyer,but unlike so much Hollywood trial stuff,she has got something to lose in this case:she has got to defend her father ,accused of high crimes during WW2.Besides, "High crimes" starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman stole its screenplay from "Music Box".The movie has a terrifying dramatic progression.At the beginning of the movie,we side with the father ,but,little by little,doubt worms its way into us.Absorbing from start to finish,I recommend this film to anyone who is sick and tired of these trivial trials where the actors overact..
Jessica lange is absolutely flawless as Ann Talbot, as is Armin Mueller-Stahl as Michael Laszlo.
You can pretty much guess what is to come after the first 10 minutes.Just to repeat the plot for no reason: Jessica Lange plays a Hungarian-American who happens to be a lawyer, which comes in handy, when her father, a seemingly benign, good man, is accused of war atrocities.The crimes he is accused of, are absolutely disgusting.
However, after the visit to Hungary and the too neat discovery of the pictures of Mishka Laszlo in the music box, i just could not believe that the movie was going to go in the direction it actually went.What we actually see is a movie about a daughter who betrays his own father, sends him to prison, compromises the life of her own family, destroys her own reputation and stains the future of her only son.
Not at any time the old Nazi Criminal is questioned by her daughter as to his motives, as she never tries to understand what drove the old man to commit those atrocities 40 years ago.
The daughter's behavior is unrealistic, and it makes you wonder who is the actual monster.The movie is an effective courtroom drama, with a good plot, good script, and excellent actors.
Jessica Lange plays well the daughter, and Armin Mueller Stahl is excellent, as usual, in his role of ambiguous Nazi criminal.
The movie shows very well that the old man indeed took care of his family, and shows great affection and love for her daughter, son and grandson.
I give it a three only because Jessica Lange and Armin Stahl are great actors..
Costa-Gavras's USA production MUSIC BOX is a slow-burn holocaust introspection set in Chicago during the 1980s, where a divorced attorney Anne Talbot (Lange), decides to defend her father Michael J.
Laszlo (Mueller-Stahl), who is a Hungarian immigrant and is accused of war crimes during WWII, only to discover things that will shatter her entire belief system.Simply deeming the case as a mistaken identity, Anne has firm belief in her father, who flees to America as a refugee after the war, gets married and then raises Anne and her brother Karchy (Rooker) alone after the early death of their mother, he is such a loving father figure, being greatly admired by Anne's son, his grandson Mikey (Haas), so there are high hopes that justice will prevail in Anne's side, especially set side by side with the aggressive prosecutor Jack Burke (Forrest) from the Office of Special Investigations.Over a half of the picture is a standard court drama, where key witness affirmatively recalls all the horrifying atrocities Mishka - Michael's original name - has done as a commander of an Arrow Cross death squad, the scale has been slowly but surely tipped in Anne's conscience, it is extremely hard for anyone to come to terms with such a painful realisation - your amiable old man was once an extreme racist and a ruthless killer, the flagrant crime he has committed is beyond any sane person's widest imagination.
So is Frederic Forrest, shouts out the most important message about what new generations should do towards the holocaust, he is in no intention to persecute an old man, the entire case is a reminder that we should never forget why and how these tragedies happened, to remember, for generations and generations, so we have a good chance not repeating it in the future, since human beings always make the same mistake, again and again.Loosely based on writer Joe Eszterhas' personal story, MUSIC BOX is a formally rigorous (the hurried do-the-right-thing finale), politically clear-minded, and courageously adamant (to fault the ugly side of humanity) melodrama, gravely needs a re-introduction to the new generations of audience since the subject matter is ever so timeless and important, two thumbs up to Costa- Gavras and his crew..
Standout performances by the likes of Jessica Lange, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Frederic Forrest and others do not compensate for a rather sloppy film.
Red-headed Lange is a US lawyer who slowly realizes that her father (Mueller-Stahl) may very well be a WWII war criminal.
The great part of this film is that, Gavras also tells a story of anti-communist organization during the cold war.