The Restless Hungarian

The film begins by providing both a historical and personal view of the Jewish diaspora at the outset of WWII. It explores the complex relationships the Restless Hungarian, Paul Weidlinger, had with his family and some of the most influential artists, architects and engineers in the latter half of the 20th century including Moholy-Nagy, Le Corbusier, Dubuffet and many others who greatly influenced modern day art and architecture. The film also details the engineering relationship Weidlinger had with the Rand Corporation and their efforts to design and build structures that would protect U. S. nuclear missiles. I highly recommend this historical and deeply personal film.

This film captures the uncertainty and disembodiment caused by abandonment; losing faith that one deserves a healthy relationship, making one's way alone in the world, and searching for connection. The story is told through Tom Weidlinger's quest to understand his father, Paul Weidlinger's, life and motivations. I was struck by both Tom and Paul's resilience under extreme adversity, their creativity in finding solutions, their dedications to their craft, their reach for beauty, and the dysfunction that wreaked havoc on the people around them. In addition, I gained an intimate insight into the culture and events that shaped the world leading up to World War II. The soaring glimpse of the Joy of Space through the images of the buildings that Paul brought to the world truly inspired me.

The documentary was, for me, a transformative experience. It is both personal and universal, touching key turning points in 20th century history as well as the hopes, fears and aspirations of the filmmakers family. There is also here a story of intergenerational healing - of reaching back into the suffering experienced by parents and grandparents and acknowledging those experiences in a way that they, themselves, could not articulate.

Do not watch this film is you are merely looking for entertainment. Do watch it if you are open to a profound experience. It is unlike any other film I have seen.

This film beautifully explores a grown-up child's discovery of his parents' past, a discovery that explains his own traumatic childhood experience as well as those of his parents. Weidlinger keeps us in suspense throughout as he peels back each layer of the onion allowing us to experience his revelations as if they were our own. This film touches the heart and will undoubtedly become a classic. A visual feature includes the documentarian's travels throughout the world of his father -- Hungary, Paris, Ecuador, Cape Cod, and Manhattan -- and dramatic re-enactments of family scenes that bring the past into even sharper focus.

Fathers-and-sons is a deep theme in literature and film, and Tom Weidlinger makes it new--exploring the ambiguity of his own relationship with his accomplished father, a man who neglected the home as most of that generation's fathers did, but whose impact on the next generation was perhaps greater as a result--the focus of fantasy and frustration--and even of political dismay at some of his and his generation's choices on issues of art and technology--especially the Bomb. Dorothy Dinnerstein writes about how fathers get off the hook as distant figures of fantasy while mothers bear the burden of a child's need for separation. But in this case, Tom doesn't let his father get away with it so easy. Love and accountability are a tough negotiation, and here Director/Son Weidlinger gives the Father uneasy justice. A complex and beautiful film.