Vivaldi, the Red Priest

Amazingly sloppily written and directed TV film that consists of random episodes, edited into a seemingly coherent narrative and nothing much more. Poor handsome Steven Cree has hard time remembering which way up the violin needs to be held and can't do much to save the mishmash. Most of the musical scenes are an embarrassment to watch and underlines the writer/director's total ignorance of musical procedures. The make-up and hair of the actors, most of whom seem to be under sedation after having memorized their lines phonetically, seem to be done by a team from a school theatre. Every single scene is overly brightly lit and lacks an ounce of mood or emotion. Sadly not a good film at all.

I found this film on YouTube as it seems to be unavailable elsewhere. How on earth has it achieved an IMDb rating of 6.8? As the star himself (Steven Cree) has gone on record as saying, it is one of the worst films ever made, and he's not wrong. I've given it a generous 2 star rating for the costumes, the sets, the locations, and of course the music. The main problems which sink this production are the terrible script, the amateurish acting, and above all the dreadful artless editing. Shots are edited back and forth randomly at a frenetic pace presumably in a desperate attempt to breathe some life into the film. A total misfire.