I liked this film a lot, though I can see how others would find it over-melodramatic, and a few plot points contrived. Let's get the negatives out of the way: Two sisters, one so grumpy, one so sweet? Too much object throwing? A predictable just-in-the-nick-of-time moment? Perhaps. But the heart of the story, a largely true one verified by narrative accounts, is a compelling story not just about the mysteries of the past (yes, the Holocaust, an endlessly rich subject if you're not sick of it as some are), but a relationship between sisters, the ambition of the younger and the angst of the older.
The ambitious sister wants to be a classical composer, which in 1977, when the film is set, is no easy task for a woman. The resulting exceptional score - by three composers including the "real-life" sister - truly carries this film well beyond the commonplace.
Flawed but absolutely worth seeing.
The ambitious sister wants to be a classical composer, which in 1977, when the film is set, is no easy task for a woman. The resulting exceptional score - by three composers including the "real-life" sister - truly carries this film well beyond the commonplace.
Flawed but absolutely worth seeing.