Music Box (1989)

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writer (WGA):

Joe Eszterhas (written by)

Release Date:

January 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

As a lawyer all she wanted was the truth. As a daughter all she wanted was his innocence. How well do you really know your father?

Plot:

A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.

Plot Keywords:

Execution | Budapest | Collaboration With Nazis | Communism | Torture

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jessica Lange	...	Ann Talbot
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Mike Laszlo
Frederic Forrest	...	Jack Burke
Donald Moffat	...	Harry Talbot
Lukas Haas	...	Mikey Talbot
Cheryl Lynn Bruce	...	Georgine Wheeler
Mari Töröcsik	...	Magda Zoldan
J.S. Block	...	Judge Silver
Sol Frieder	...	Istvan Boday
Michael Rooker	...	Karchy Laszlo
Elzbieta Czyzewska	...	Melinda Kalman
Magda Szekely Marburg	...	Judit Hollo
Felix Shuman	...	James Nathanson
Michael Shillo	...	Geza Vamos
George Pusep	...	Vladimir Kostav

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hungarian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-10 | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Carolco Pictures

Trivia:

Both Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau wanted to play the father (Michael Laszlo) and were in contact with director 'Costa-Gavras' . He picked Armin Mueller-Stahl for the part, who a couple of years earlier had said he would love to work with Costa-Gavras after seeing his movie Missing (1982) at the theater.

Quotes:

Mack Jones: What do we know about our parents?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blonde Poison: The Making of 'Basic Instinct' (2001) (V)

Absorbing!

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.