Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo has the distinction of being the only person from his country to receive an Oscar (for his 1981 work "Mephisto").
His reputation as a filmmaker has always been tinged with political overtones. That reputation was reconfirmed with "Sunshine (1999)," a tragic tale of Hungarian Jews trying, and ultimately failing, to assimilate themselves in Nazi Germany. But his most recent Japanese release, "Being Julia," concentrates only on the romantic and personal.
Based on a Somerset Maugham novella that Szabo says is a "must-read for anyone connected with acting, no matter how old or young," the movie is set in 1930s London. The director believes its message still holds and continues to intrigue because it reveals so much about the acting profession and the nature of actors: "In many ways, nothing really matters to the actor/actress except their assumed roles. Acting isn't their second nature, but their first. Which, of course, is what makes them so fascinating."