Music Box 1989

Michael J. Laszlo, Michael Rooker, a Hungarian immigrant, stands in a courtroom where his US citizenship could be revoked after being accused of war crimes during World War II. Laszlo insists it is mistaken identity, and the case becomes a test of truth, memory, and power. His daughter, Ann Talbot, Jessica Lange, a Chicago defense attorney, commits to defending her father in a fight that could reveal more than personal guilt.

The prosecution, led by Jack Burke of the Office of Special Investigations, asserts that Laszlo is Mishka, the former commander of an Arrow Cross death squad who oversaw a brutal campaign during the Siege of Budapest. Witnesses describe a long history of torture, rape, and murder of Jews, Roma, and others, and an authenticated Arrow Cross identification card bearing Laszlo’s photograph and the name, “Laszlo Miklos,” seems to seal the charge. Laszlo contends that this is a frame-up by Hungary’s Communist government and its secret police, the ÁVO, and possibly retaliation for a protest he once led against a US tour of a Hungarian dance troupe.

A crucial thread comes from a Soviet defector who explains a chilling technique: forged documents used by the KGB to frame anti-Communists in the West, a method reportedly shared with every secret police service in the Soviet bloc. This revelation, coupled with questions about witness reliability under a police state, casts doubt on Burke’s case. Burke plans to call a witness to testify that Laszlo is Mishka, but the infirm witness cannot travel to Budapest. Ann, Burke, and Judge Irwin Silver travel to Hungary to pursue the lead, while Laszlo refuses to return, fearing Communist retaliation.

Before travel, Ann’s legal assistant hints that Tibor Zoldan—a fellow Hungarian immigrant with a possible link to Laszlo—may have been blackmailing him. In Budapest, a mysterious man who claims to be Laszlo’s friend leaves Ann a folder of documents. The following day, after damning testimony, Ann unveils documents—past affidavits in which witnesses identified three different men as Mishka. Judge Irwin Silver promptly dismisses the prosecution’s case. Burke, defeated but determined, urges that the victims’ truth not be forgotten and suggests a pilgrimage to the Danube bridge where Mishka had thrown victims into the river; Ann reacts with anger to that suggestion.

On the ride back to her hotel, the taxi passes Széchenyi Lánchíd, the bridge associated with Mishka’s executions. Back in Chicago, Ann visits Magda Zoldan, Tibor’s sister, who implores her to retrieve Tibor’s pawned items and sends Tibor’s wallet to Chicago. Ann notices a photo within Tibor’s pawned music box—a young Laszlo in an Arrow Cross uniform, torturing and murdering Jews. The revelation sickens Ann, and she confronts Laszlo, accusing him of being Mishka and of killing Tibor. Laszlo protests that the Communists have poisoned Ann against him.

In the climax, Ann declares that neither she nor her son will ever know him again, while Laszlo insists Mikey will never believe her. He goes outside to play with his grandson, as Ann drafts a letter to Burke enclosing Tibor’s photographs and negatives. When news of Laszlo’s suspected war crimes hits the headlines, Ann speaks with Mikey about his grandfather, forcing a painful reckoning with a family’s past and the possibility that guilt may reach across generations.