sunshine be a european import set in hungary between 1880 and 1980 and it the epic story of hungarian jew and the sonnenschein family . this name literally translate to sunshine . the family have humble beginning and then be prosperous and become upwardly mobile and change it name and and hop to assimilate into hungarian society so successive generation can advance professionally . the story be tell through the eye of the eldest son in each of three generation while ralph fiennes play these three role . for those who miss the ww ii and the holocaust in europe and the sonnenschein approach to life doesn not work out very well . sunshine be be acclaim a an artistic success and but it be an opportunity miss . the story line and dominate by world history and be predictable and transparent while this be reinforce with voice cover narration and newsreel footage . the family plot lurch from one predictable event [ ie . the hapsburg and ww i and ww ii and fascism and communism and etc . ] to the next with little continuity and depth or detail . the jewish assimilation theme be unfocused and and important sub theme [ the ecret diary and family philosophy ] that could have give the family character and credibility be l ost until the very end . alternatively and the filmmaker provide generation continuity use common theme of incest or infidelity . ralph fiennes exhibit flash of brilliance but his performance be far from award win material . the 3 for 1 cast format be a viewer distraction and feel more like a cheap cinema gimmick than good theater . sunshine be basically hungarian history channel material . it have the look and feel of wind of war morph with forrest gump morph with something about sex .