MUSIC BOX
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: One of 1989's better films concerns a successful and occasionally unscrupulous lawyer defending her own father against a charge that he collaborated with Nazis and committed war crimes in the Hungarian police during World War II. What made the film powerful was not the question of guilt or innocence but the family relationships under stress. Rating: high +2.
It looks as if most of the distinguished films of 1989 waited until year end to be released. In the case of MUSIC BOX it seems to have been a miscalculation, because the latest from political filmmaker Costa-Gavras is getting a very lukewarm reception from critics. And that is understandable, since the story is predictable. Nonetheless, I found myself liking the film. In spite of the fact that I knew what was going to happen, I was anxious to see how it was going to happen and how the main characters would react when it did.
Jessica Lange plays successful lawyer Ann Talbot. She is brought up short, however, when extradition proceedings are brought against her father for Holocaust atrocities and he insists on having his own daughter defend him at the hearing. Her job is made all the more difficult by the opposing counsel's apparent over-anxiousness to make an effective case against her father. But what is most disturbing is that as she learns more and more of the sadistic war crimes committed by the man her father is accused of being, she is better able to visualize her father as being the man described. She notices circumstantial similarities. She eventually has to decide if she really wants to fight to save her father.
Costa-Gavras, of course, always has a political message in his films, usually at least a bit left of center. In this case, much of the political message centers around Talbot's father-in-law, who helped find sanctuary for Nazis after the war in an attempt to use them against Communist governments.
The music was provided by Philippe Sarde and, being made up mostly of Hungarian violin music, adds a touch of Eastern European atmosphere to the film. This will not be considered one of the best Costa-Gavras films but I have to say I found it worthwhile. I give it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
[The next paragraph will contain spoilers.]
I find what I liked about the film was not the suspense of whether Talbot's father was guilty. There was never any doubt in my mind that he was guilty. (Well, not much anyway.) I knew that eventually Talbot was going to have to see her father for what he was. When she did she was going to have to make a choice between decency and family loyalty. It was that conflict that I was looking for and I wanted to see how Talbot would react. Lange plays that conflict very well. In a sense, this story is an expansion of the relationship of Adam Kelno and his son in QB VII.
Mark R. Leeper
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