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Movies / On DVD / Gloomy Sunday
Gloomy Sunday

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Gloomy Sunday (2003)

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Reviews Counted: 64

Fresh: 54

Rotten:10

Average Rating: 7/10

Consensus: Gloomy Sunday is beautiful, well-acted, and every bit as downcast as its title.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Nov 7, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $223,827

Synopsis: Set in pre-World War II Budapest, GLOOMY SUNDAY is a romantic melodrama that evokes the haunting melody of the same name, fabled to have caused over one hundred suicides in the 1930s. Before the... Set in pre-World War II Budapest, GLOOMY SUNDAY is a romantic melodrama that evokes the haunting melody of the same name, fabled to have caused over one hundred suicides in the 1930s. Before the dark days of the war, Laszlo (Joachim Krol), a Jewish restaurant owner, enjoys a successful business while happily living with his lover and the restaurant's sultry hostess, Ilona (Erika Marozsan). When they decide to hire a restaurant pianist they meet Andras (Stefano Dionisi), a brooding composer who quickly captures the heart of Ilona. However, her love for Andras does not diminish her feelings for Laszlo and the trio embark on an agreed-upon ménage-ŕ-trois that seems to be successful, at least on the surface. Andras's passionate love for Ilona inspires him to write "Gloomy Sunday" which becomes an overnight sensation and the restaurant's signature song. Ilona's beauty captures the heart of a third suitor, Hans Wieck (Ben Becker), a German customer who becomes a corrupt SS officer after the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Hans' friendship is a strategic necessity as the trio struggles to keep the restaurant open and Laszlo free from persecution while the threat of war looms. [More]

Starring: Joachim Krol, Stefano Dionisi, Ben Becker, Erica Marozsan

Starring: Joachim Krol, Stefano Dionisi, Ben Becker, Erica Marozsan, Andras Balint

Director: Rolf Schubel

Director: Rolf Schubel
Screenwriter: Rolf Schubel, Ruth Toma
Producer: Richard Schops
Studio: Menemsha

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Release:

Sep 12, 2006

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Gloomy Sunday
  • Gloomy Sunday, winner of major German film awards and an art-house favorite that ran 70 weeks in Boston, hits all the right notes with its poignant, glowingly shot tale set in Budapest during the Holocaust and, like Schindler's List and The Pianist, filled with the passion and pain of that tragic era. The song itself ? recorded by Billie Holliday and other greats ? is the stuff of legend, reportedly having a fateful real-life impact similar to that shown on screen. But it's love's power that is ultimately at the heart of this acclaimed film. And from the opening scene to the deft twist ending, that power is extraordinary.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
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    Reviews for Gloomy Sunday

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    With the Hungarian song "Gloomy Sunday" as its thematic centerpiece, this personalized story of Budapest during World War II becomes a satisfying romantic drama about four divergently different people.

    Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
    05/13/09
    Cole Smithey
    ColeSmithey.com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
    04/29/09
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Cinema Crazed

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
    08/07/08
    Mark Halverson
    Sacramento News & Review
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    07/28/08
    Derek Elley
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Undoubtedly deserves to be added to the ranks of the best Holocaust films ever made.

    Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics | comment Comment
    05/02/07
    Kam Williams
    Princeton Town Topics

    It's old-fashioned, sometimes accomplished, syrupy and, at its intermittent best, absorbing.

    Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
    04/20/07
    Shawn Levy
    Oregonian

    Like many European films, GLOOMY SUNDAY has crisp cinematography and gorgeous production design, not to mention that hauntingly melancholic titular tune. The principal actors, for the most part, are attractive and talented. The movie apes the traditi

    Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    01/11/07
    Ted Murphy
    Murphy's Movie Reviews

    This strange movie has a hard time balancing all these elements, but the film's enormous passion overcomes its more obvious melodrama.

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    10/05/06
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid

    It's hard to say which is more ravishing and alluring in the movie, Ms. Marozsan or the celebrated song.

    Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
    09/10/06
    John J. Puccio
    DVDTown.com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    06/24/06
    Time Out
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
    07/21/05
    Houston Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    05/13/05
    Apollo Guide
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It's intelligent, well-acted and beautifully photographed.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
    05/12/05
    Richard Nilsen
    Arizona Republic
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A smoothly crafted, intermittently charming film . . . the dips and turns are predictable and the tense scenes surrounding unhinged or scheming Nazis have been done before.

    Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
    05/06/05
    Brian Gibson
    Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

    It's a film worth seeking out, a good fit for a rainy Saturday or any other less-than-bright day of the week.

    Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
    04/18/05
    Eric D. Snider
    EricDSnider.com

    This is the kind of material you expect to find in a Lifetime cable-channel movie.

    Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
    04/15/05
    Jeff Vice
    Deseret News, Salt Lake City

    It's a cracking good yarn, well-told and impeccably acted, especially by Król.

    Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
    04/14/05
    Mary-Liz Shaw
    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    A superior soap opera not unlike what Douglas Sirk might have churned out in the 1950s.

    Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
    12/03/04
    Joe Baltake
    Sacramento Bee

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    05/02/04
    Marrit Ingman
    Austin Chronicle

    This film is both enchanting and sad, with the Holocaust as a background element that eventually moves to the front of the storyline with painful inevitability.

    Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
    04/29/04
    Lori Hoffman
    Atlantic City Weekly
     
     
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