Sunshine

This boy, my great-grandfather, Emmanuel Sonnenschein,

was only 12 years old when he left his village in the Austro-Hungarian empire.

He had to find work to support his mother and a brother

because his father, the village tavern keeper,

died during an explosion in his distillery.

Sammy! Emmanuel?

The tavern keeper was much loved in his village.

His tonic, distilled from local herbs,

helped many of his neighbors back to health.

The secret recipe for the tonic,

written in a black, clothbound book, was found amidst the rubble.

The black notebook hidden in the lining of his coat

was my great-grandfather's inheritance.

Emmanuel found a job in a Budapest distillery

where he worked endless hours.

By the age of 25, he had built his own house and distillery.

He brewed the herbal tonic, following his father's recipe.

He called it Taste of Sunshine, using our family name.

"Sonnenschein" means sunshine.

Emmanuel soon married Rose Deutsch.

They had two sons,

my great uncle, Gustave, and Ignatz, my grandfather.

Taste of Sunshine was an instant success.

When Emmanuel's younger brother died,

Emmanuel and Rose adopted the brother's orphaned daughter,

Valerie, my grandmother.

Good night, darling.

Sweet dreams.

You'll wake up in the morning happy, healthy and smiling.

God bless. Good night.

One, two, three.

Gustave!

One, two, three.

My grandmother Valerie was raised

as if she were Ignatz and Gustave's sister.

Valerie developed a passion for the world's newest miracle, photography.

Ignatz decided to study law, Gustave, medicine.

None of Emmanuel's children had any interest in taking up the family business.

My great-grandfather didn't mind.

He was proud of his children and their ambitions.

Here, everybody.

Try moving away from the tree.

Wait. Up. Go, go, move back a little bit.

Move back.

A little bit further.

Now... Now to your right. Just a little bit.

Yes. Stop.

Don't move.

My little sister, I love you very much.

I love you very much as well.

I love you differently from the way I love Gustave and Father and Mother.

I love you differently too.

Your little sister misses you terribly when you're away at school.

Hmm.

So I'm glad you're home.

I shall have to get back to Vienna soon.

Take me with you. I will.

You didn't plant them?

They just blossomed by themselves?

Yes, they did. This morning.

Mr. Sonnenschein, this is a miracle!

Really a miracle.

Could someone please move that chair?

Oh!

Where are they?

Probably off somewhere kissing.

Gustave!

What are you saying?

I suggest looking in the museum gardens.

They tend to go in there.

Sorry we're late. Sorry.

There's too much salt in this soup.

Then the cook must be in love.

You must have made the soup then.

What do you mean by that, Gustave?

You and Ignatz kissing in the museum garden yesterday,

and Tuesday... Have you gone mad?

Please don't cry, Rose. I beg you.

Come with me...

Now.

I forbid you.

Almighty God is great in nature and the laws of nature,

and those laws forbid marriage between brother and sister.

But we're not brother and sister. We are cousins.

I had a cousin that I loved.

Sarah Bettelheim.

Our grandfather forbade us to marry.

He said there was a curse on the marriage between people of the same blood.

I love Valerie. I want to marry her.

"Want" is not a word for us, Ignatz.

God wants. We wish for.

We must obey what God wants of us.

I did.

God wants us to live without power and lust,

two things that bring us to destroy other people and then to destroy us.

And in return, he gives us knowledge,

the ability to read and interpret...

And he gives us family love.

I love you. I'll always love you because you're my sister.

I'll never abandon you as your brother.

Don't love me out of duty.

Ignatz, your mother raised me out of duty.

Yes, but you'll get married, and you'll have children.

We'll always be friends. Don't give me up so quickly.

You give into them like a good little boy.

I must leave.

I'll write to you.

No, don't write to me

unless you intend to tell me you love me and not your sister.

"But, darling, I'm in a dreadful state.

"I can't stop hearing what you said to me.

"When you went back to Vienna, I cried and vomited all afternoon.

"I can't help feeling that you've had enough of me,

"that you find me ugly and stupid and...

"I have to see you. I have to speak to you.

"I have to know if you've really stopped loving me...

"Or if you're just obeying our parents.

"Why would you want to love me as a sister?

"I would move mountains for you.

"I'm in love with you."

In Vienna, Ignatz reread Valerie's letter a dozen times,

but kept his promise to his father

and never replied to his cousin.

Ignatz threw himself into his studies,

but lay awake each night dreaming only of Valerie.

Mr. Sonnenschein, a Miss Sonnenschein is here to see you.

You may leave your umbrella here.

When I'm lying in your arms, I feel like I've come home.

Like I've finally come home.

I have to pee.

So do I.

When he finished his studies, Ignatz returned to Budapest and his family.

For Emmanuel, my grandfather Ignatz was the greatest achievement of his life.

Whoa.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Dr. Ignatz Sonnenschein,

Doctor of Law in the Austro-Hungarian empire and kingdom of Hungary,

who has graciously come home to live with us.

Hurry up, son. Your mother's waiting.

We ask almighty God to bestow his blessing on you, my son.

We also remember with gratitude my dear father

who perished in a tragic fire,

but left us with knowledge that has enabled the Sonnenschein family

to progress from village tavern keepers to city lawyers.

We are grateful to almighty God

for having spared us my father's recipe book for his herbal tonic.

And now, dear Mrs. Sonnenschein,

you first.

Last night I dreamt we lost the recipe.

What happened, father? My goodness.

I stood on a boat, drifting.

You were all with me.

The boat began rocking from side to side

and I sat in the middle, just steadying the boat.

An enormous wave washed over us

and the family's recipe book was lost.

It was only a dream, Papa. Mmm-hmm.

Please, God, may we always go on singing.

I invoke the right for the first night.

Shh.

Don't be frightened.

We're already doomed to hell. We might as well enjoy it.

Success came quickly to my grandfather.

He became a judge, fulfilling a childhood dream.

In the name of the Emperor,

I hereby call this trial to order.

When you sit in judgment of people, never forget who you are.

And to help you remember,

this was your grandfather's watch.

It's the watch of a village tavern keeper.

Now it's yours.

And this is for your desk.

"Take nothing on trust.

"See everything for yourself.

"This is your father's advice."

What?

I was wondering how it would be making love with a district court judge.

You're judging a judge? Your verdict, please.

The judge is a hard man.