Most Holocaust participants never paid for their crimes due to Cold War. The Iron Curtain made archives, witnesses and evidence inaccessible for decades, many of the war criminals were deemed valuable assets by Cold War adversaries and, finally, when the things would actually get to the court, the proceedings were compromised by politics and propaganda. Those issues are explored in *Music Box*, 1989 courtroom drama directed by Costa-Gavras.
The protagonist is Anne Talbot (played by Jessica Lange), Chicago defence attorney whose father Mike Laszlo (played by Armin Mueller-Stahl) arrived in America as immigrant from Hungary after Second World War. Anne loves her father and considers him to be embodiment of American Dream – hard worker who spent decades in steel mill, raised family and became pillar of local community. The plot begins when US Justice Department discovers evidence that Laszlo is actually “Mishka”, notorious leader of fascist Arrow Cross militia which murdered Jews and Gypsies during Nazi occupation. Federal prosecutor Jack Burke (played by Frederic Forrest) wants Laszlo to be stripped of US citizenship, after which he would be deported to Hungary (then still under nominal Communist rule) and presumably executed for his heinous crimes. Annie, against the advice of her well-connected father-in-law Harry Talbot (played by Donald Moffat), decides to defend her father in court. Her strategy is simple – Laszlo was, like many Hungarian immigrants, ardent anti-Communist and Hungarian government fabricated evidence in order to silence him. Annie’s efforts seem to pay off and prosecution’s case begins to crumble, forcing Burke to make last-ditch effort to get deathbed testimony from old witness in Budapest. Annie is close to winning but there she finds some evidence that would make her question her father’s innocence.
Script by Joe Eszetrhas was inspired by real life case of John Demjanuk, Ukrainian immigrant accused of being “Ivan the Terrible”, notorious guard at Treblinka death camp. In an ironic twist of fate, Eszterhas’ real life matched his script; soon after the premiere screenwriter discovered that his father Istvan had been member of Arrow Cross and author of anti-Semitic propaganda. The film’s basic plot is, however, very much like the one used for previous two scripts by Eszterhas – *[Jagged Edge](https://peakd.com/hive-166847/@drax/film-review-jagged-edge-1985)* and *[Betrayed](https://peakd.com/hive-166847/@drax/film-review-betrayed-1988)* - in which capable professional woman refuses to believe that the man she is emotionally attached to could be a vile criminal. Film is directed by Costa-Gavras, French film maker known for political thrillers and dramas, and who also worked with Eszterhas on *Betrayed*. Costa-Gavras, known for his left-wing sympathies, was probably attracted to the issue of Nazi and fascist war criminals finding shelter in Cold War America. One scene in the film suggests that US government willingly turned to blind eye to the monsters escaping justice, seeing them as lesser evil than Soviet Communists. Costa-Gavras would, many years later, explore some of those issues even more explicitly in *Amen*.
Costa-Gavras is, whatever you might think of his politics, a very good director and *Music Box* is, from strictly technical standpoint, well-made. Film was shot at the very end of Cold War and Hungary, although nominally still part of East Bloc, provided not only authentic locations, but also local actors who do very good job. The best part of the cast is Jessica Lange in complex role that earned her nomination for Oscar for Best Actress. Armin Mueller-Stahl, an actor who was at the time well-established in German and European cinema, handles his first major Hollywood role well, but can’t overcome one-dimensionality of his character. The cast simply can’t overcome the flaws of the script, which is burdened by cliches and annoying theatricality of courtroom drama. One of those cliches is the ending, during which Annie almost miraculously finds incriminating evidence, and the epilogue, just like most of the film, is unnecessarily prolonged. American critics didn’t like the film, but the jury at the Berlin Film Festival, perhaps because of their own left-wing sympathies or in order to combat Western smugness over victory in Cold War, presented *Music Box* with Golden Bear.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
https://youtu.be/qcfMaMnr81E
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