An American Rhapsody

To avoid imprisonment and persecution by Stalin's Communist regime, a Hungarian family of wealth and stature flees its native country in pursuit of America's freedom in this emotional autobiography by Eva Gardos. The character of the writer/director, played remarkably by Kelly Endresz-Banlaki and Scarlett Johansson at different ages, was left behind in Budapest as an infant while her biological family was smuggled overseas. After six years of persistence and determination by the new American citizens to be reunited with their abandoned child, their daughter is torn from her adoptive parents and familiar surroundings on a quaint Hungarian countryside and forced to adapt to her new life on the fast-paced suburban California streets. The sudden upheaval and extreme culture shock create a defiant and depressed teen with the need to discover her true family and home. This heart-wrenching story and the captivating performances, including those by Nastassja Kinski and Tony Goldwyn, supersede the film's minor inconsistencies and rushed ending to create a genuine rhapsody of any kind.