User Reviews

"Music Box" poses an interesting dilemma: If your parent was guilty of a horrific crime, will you do everything to defend that parent? 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. Despite pleas from her co-workers, friends and even the prosecuting attorney (Frederic Forrest), Ann pushes on to defend her father. But as the trial progresses and the witnesses testify, Ann begins to have serious doubts as to her father's doubts.

The most heartbreaking scene is when Ann finds out just how horrible her father truly is. When she retrieves a music box that was left in a pawn shop by a now deceased friend, she finds the proof of her father's guilt. 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). However, the brilliant work of Lange and Mueller-Stahl is excellent. The viewer is Ann, wanting to believe the innocent of her father, but are incredibly hurt when you find out the truth.

An amazing film. I found myself hoping against hope that the accusations of murder against the Hungarian immigrant was false, and the slow realisation that he was actually a cold-blooded murderer (or had been) was devastating. 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. We go with her on the roller-coaster ride of the courtroom trial, and as each sobbing victim comes to the pedestal, her confidence fades and fades. 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. Costa-Gavras at his best.

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 should have been nominated for and won the Oscar as early as 1989 for this film. 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. Nazi sympathizers and material supporters were to be found in practically all countries of Europe, including Great Britain where prominent industrialists and even members of the Royal Family were known to promote that odious ideology. After all, England, was the first 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-Nazi organizations that actively facilitated the deportation and extermination of the Jews.

After Germany's defeat, many Nazi criminals fled to countries all over the world including the United States. Some of them even posed as Jewish refugees. 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. He wasn't play acting as indeed Nazis and their sympathizers were logically anti-communist. His motive, however, was to avoid being repatriated to Hungary where he was wanted for war crimes.

*May Be Spoilers*

Jessica Lange has always been one of my top favorite actresses. Apart from being beautiful, she has the ability to make even dull characters seem vibrant, due to the fact that she usually just seems so fresh, unstudied, flexible. When you pair her up with a more demanding role or intriguing character, the results can be even better. Case in point is the part she plays in "Music Box": Ann Talbot, a single mother of one who happens to be an attorney. She is a woman who smiles or laughs when she's nervous or embarassed, always seems to be searching and scanning people's faces with her eyes, mentally interpreting everything they say and forming quick decisions and rebuttals. She also can "sneak up on you and clobber you", like in the brilliant, deceptive dinner conversation with Frederic Forrest that turns ugly. (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 . . .-type plot. Technically well made and never dull, often rewarding, but that's due to the acting. I suspect with lesser actors involved it could have been rather bland. 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!

My rating: 8/10

Costa - Gavros has never been afraid to voice his political views, come what may. This includes indicting the U.S. Government in MISSING for collusion in the behavior of the Pinochet regime's killing an American citizen. He also has spoken harshly about Greece's junta in Z and other governments. In MUSIC BOX he looks at the issue of open collaboration in Eastern Europe by right wing governments from 1938 to 1945 with the Axis governments of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Hitler at his death in April 1945, and the trial of his leading minions and cut-throats in the immediate post-war years, did a favor of sorts for their allies in Hungary, Roumania, and other Eastern European states (as well as Western European states) who gleefully assisted in the Holacaust for their own reasons. Hungary was able to prevent the liquidation of the Jews there until 1944, due to the reign of the anti-Semitic but careful "Regent" Admiral Horthy. Horthy was unwilling to shed blood, as he was aware that Germany might not win the war and not be able to rubber stamp such a massacre in the future. But in September 1944 Horthy's regime was shattered when S.S. Colonel Otto Skorzeny kidnapped Horthy's son as a bargaining chip. Horthy basically retired from office, and a more pro-Nazi regime came in. It only lasted until the Russians came in the following March, but most of the Hungarian Jewish community ended up in the death camps. Several thousand were rescued thanks to the work of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenburg.

Hungary's newly installed Communist Government quickly tried and executed the leading Hungarian fascists (Horthy was imprisoned until he died). The Hungarians had had a pretty sophisticated and successful capitalist society in the inter-war period. They did not take kindly to the Communist regime, and in 1956 they revolted (see the film THE JOURNEY). That revolt was smashed due to western indifference. Hungary did not try it again, but as the decades slid by it practiced more and more capitalism - and closer ties to the west. When the iron curtain finally collapsed, Hungary was very quick to reemerge as a "western" style country (with the "Czech Republic").

But the fall of the Soviet empire also released tons of material for the West to read, not only about Communist collaborators, but also Nazi collaborators. The problem was that the west had to consider if the attacks on "Nazi collaborators" were honest reporting or attempts to smear innocent people.

That is the theme of this Costa Gavros film. Jessica Lange is a lawyer, whose beloved father is Armin Mueller - Stahl. He was a refugee from Hungary who came to the United States in the late 1940s, under the wing of Donald Moffat, a Army intelligence officer. Moffat's son married Lange, and they had a child, before the father died. Mueller - Stahl has grown close to the boy, and Lange is happy about this.

Then, one day, charges are filed against Mueller - Stahl by the Federal Government's prosecutor (Frederick Forrest) that Mueller - Stahl was an active, high ranking Hungarian Fascist who assisted the Nazis in the murder of Hungarian Jews. Lange is angry at this and becomes her father's attorney. Unfortunately as the case progresses, more and more documentation turns up that forces Lange to re-evaluate her father. She fights as long as possible - aided by the questionable people who supply the "proof". But as it builds, the facade of kindness and love by her father cracks. Mueller - Stahl has repeatedly appeared in films showing a lovely restraint in his acting. Look at his work as the immigrant to America in AVALON. But here he is playing against his normal type - when he finally shows Lange his basic repellent manner and fury he is chilling. He basically tells her to keep her thoughts to herself, or he'll take her kid away from her.

But even more chilling is Donald Moffat. He apparently found that saving Mueller - Stahl from a deserved trip to the gallows was quite useful for his own career in military intelligence. He certainly did well in that sphere. But it helps him immensely that he either does not care about the fate of the Jews, or that he openly questions the Holacaust (in one scene he even tries to start indoctrinating doubt into Lange's son, who is his grandson too). That such a character did so well in our country is a bitter pill to swallow, and yet it probably is not far from the truth in many cases.

The oscar-nominated performance from Jessica Lange is not the only outstanding element of this important social drama that deals with war crimes from a time other than World War II. Attorney Lange has the most difficult case of her career, defending her own father (Armin Mueller-Stahl) about something that she is sure he is innocent of. He has been accused of being guilty out some of the most inhumane treatment of humanity, and even though it looks like the evidence is stacked up against him, she proceeds with a very strong case, and as evidence against him and in his favor is revealed, the viewer will be unsure of what the final revelation will be. One thing is certain however, if he is indeed innocent of these crimes, the person who perpetuate adem is one of the most evil beings of the 20th Century, as the evidence of what occurred to the victims who testify as well as others unable to that what is revealed is indeed the truth no matter who was responsible.

Just kept me going and guessing for the second time, and having seen this 30 years ago, I had forgotten the outcome. That is the great thing about revisiting films like this is that a second viewing can be a rediscovery as well as the emergence of a forgotten memory. At first, Lange seems to has an easy assignment because all she is doing is cross-examining witnesses and objecting, but eventually, the case begins to impact her very much and that's where her brilliance comes out. Donald Moffat, Frederic Forrest and Lukas Haas (as her son who is very close to his grandfather) all deliver excellent performances, and the supporting players may have the viewer in tears at times. Tales of wartime torture and rape and downright evil are horrifying to listen to, and at one point, a woman is heard sobbing in the courtroom.

Excellent location filming goes from Chicago to Budapest, the stunning ancient locations there exquisite to look at. That's where everything begins to come together and where this Rises to near excellence. Director Costas Gavras adds another modern classic to his credits. Armin Mueller-Stahl has a very difficult assignment. If he is innocent, he must have sympathy throughout. If he is guilty, the viewer must have been feel guilty for having sympathy before all is revealed. Lange once again reveals why she was one of the top stars of the 1980's, underplaying most of her role, being commanding and a shirt of herself in court and never doubting what she is there to do. Other stars would have chewed the scenery where she basically comes off very realistic as an attorney fighting to defend her client and learn the truth regardless of his relationship to her.

Contary to popular opinion, I think that the second Costa Gavras - Joe Eszterhas collaboration is inferior to their first ("Betrayed", 1988). The two films are very similar thematically, but "Betrayed" chose to reveal the secrets of Tom Berenger's character early, which actually worked in its favor, as it allowed it to focus on other things. "Music Box" tries to sustain the "did he or didn't he?" question until the end, but the answer is plainly obvious from the start. And Gavras' direction lacks style: the film has a peculiarly bland and uncinematic look. But some of the material is still powerful, and the performances are top-notch. **1/2 out of 4.