The story is about the personal struggle with a communist government just before WWII and a family's struggle to have their youngest child, Suzanne played by Scarlett Johansson, returned to them. Suzanne's mother, father and sister are secreted out of Hungary. Plans have been made to have her join them later because there are no infants allowed on this clandestine escape route. Suzanne's grandmother cares for her until she learns she is about to be arrested herself and she sends Suzanne away to be safe. There are two families that love Suzanne, one family is her own biological family and the other is the foster family that keeps her safe and loved in the countryside of Hungary for six years. While Suzanne's biological family is living the American dream in California and trying to locate her, she is being raised as a peasant child by two parents unable to have children of their own. Suzanne's grandmother has been imprisoned in Hungary and after she is released, she goes to visit the peasant family that has taken care of her beloved grandchild. She arranges for an overnight visit and immediately places Suzanne on a plane headed for the United States. No one has told Suzanne or the peasant family that Suzanne will not return. Once she is reunited with her family in California through the help of the American Red Cross, her inner struggle begins to take place. She doesn't feel as though she belongs in America and longs for her foster parents and lifestyle in Hungary. As she grows, Suzanne tests the limits of her family's love through drinking, disobedience and other forms of teen-age rebelling. Ten years later, she returns to Hungary to visit her foster family and grandmother and begins to understand the reasons for her family's abandonment. She also comes to understand where she belongs.
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The review of this Movie prepared by Jody T. Bixby