When great-grandpa Sonnenschein (the name means "sunshine") bottled the cure-all elixir "A Taste Of Sunshine," he established a family fortune and assumed his sons would continue the business. But...

When great-grandpa Sonnenschein (the name means "sunshine") bottled the cure-all elixir "A Taste Of Sunshine," he established a family fortune and assumed his sons would continue the business. But great-grandpa's sons -- and family members to come -- had very different hopes and dreams. Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient) plays not one, but three roles in this compelling and acclaimed epic about a Jewish family caught up in the upheavals and false hopes of the war-swept 20th century. A distinguished cast joins Fiennes, including Jennifer Ehle as free-spirited young Valerie, Rosemary Harris (Ehle's real-life mother) as the Valerie of later years, and William Hurt as a war survivor whose new post as a communist official gives him power over his former enemies.