Sunshine

Sunshine (1999) is István Szabó's three-generation historical epic, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Ralph Fiennes plays a grandfather, his son and his grandson — three men from one Hungarian Jewish family.

The story runs across the whole twentieth century, from the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the rubble after the war. The grandfather builds a name and a fortune. His son wins Olympic fencing gold and drops the family faith to keep climbing. The grandson lives through what comes next. Each generation shortens the surname, hides where it came from, and bends toward whatever regime holds power. Rachel Weisz, William Hurt, Jennifer Ehle and Rosemary Harris fill out the family.

At three hours the film takes its time, and that is the point — Szabó tracks how fear and compromise pass down a bloodline like an heirloom. The hardest stretch is watching privilege bought through denial fail to protect anyone. If big, novelistic European cinema is your thing, settle in. Stream Sunshine (1999) online on iFILM.