O Violino Vermelho

What can you say about a film that covers three centuries, people from all stations of society, and several European countries and Canada. Ambitious is a good start. This film was very well crafted and at about one hundred forty minutes was too short for me. The story follows a red violin, an inanimate object, although at times it seemed alive to me, thru three centuries and the influences good and ill that it has on its possessors. It does ever seem to be owned. Each of its possessors lives a life of passion and turmoil. The violin's birth is during turmoil and during its life it buried, shot, and almost burned. The writing which includes this parallel between the violin and its possessor , five somewhat independent segments that mell and converge in the final scenes, and a story told by tarot cards make for an extremely unique experience. Add to that the musical score, scenery, the varied languages and cultures and you have a great offering. The performances were all strong, but I thought Jason Flemyng as Lord Frederick Pope stood out. To say his character was eccentric and maybe a little over the top is justifiable but I'm sure that was intended. English nobility has always been known for its idiosyncrasies. The ending has incongruous feel with the remainder of the film but is satisfactory and I can not suggest a better one. Great entertainment! Three and a half stars!!!

The mystique of violin making has always intrigued me so this film was a big attraction for me going in, and I wasn't disappointed for one second!

OK, first of all, the obvious things that make it special: reality, craft, acting, scoring, and cinematography! It takes only a few seconds to know that this gem did NOT emanate from the money grubbers in Hokeywood California as one more way to titillate teenagers with sex, violence, and computer generated special effects with a subliminal message that sells products. Nope! This film was made by film makers who understand the power of a story well told, and REAL cinema.

Cutting back and forth repeatedly between the present and various disparate periods and places from the past, THE RED VIOLIN forces the viewer to pay attention and most of all... THINK!

The Red Violin is NOT the subject here but a catalyst to stimulate thought about human behavior and how different societies have related to art as we move through the centuries.

The casting was (on the whole) excellent though the choice of Samuel L. Jackson as a learned expert in ancient instruments was not convincing for me personally. And, the NON-ending which is more of a comment on human habits of acquisition than human nobility, was just not what I considered a definitive ending. (Maybe that was the point! "Everything continues endlessly...")

If you go to movies as an excuse to nibble away on munchies and get titillation, well, this one's NOT for you. BUT, if you have the patience to watch and think simultaneously as a great story unfolds, then SEE this film immediately!

Literally spanning centuries to unfold its mesmerizing tale, The Red Violin traces the unbelievable history of an acoustically flawless masterpiece crafted in the late 1600s by an Italian master. Co-screenwriters Francois Girard (who directed) and Don McKellar (who acts in the film) structure the movie around a wealth of richly detailed locales, including Vienna, China, and Oxford, and provide a unique modern-day Montreal framework which intertwines with the often tragic history of the instrument to provide the narrative with a rather unique element of mystery. The late-19th century English section shows the film at its most baroque, but each of the finely tuned tales reaches for some truth about music, life, love, and passion -- and that is commendable. Music lovers take note: the sounds that come out of the crimson treasure throughout the course of its journey are utterly thrilling and inspiring.

I had never heard of this movie until I heard about it on the radio. I listen to classical music, and the staion was praising Joshua Bell (an ohio native) on his perfomance of the music. I was curious and saw it when it came on video. not only did i fall in love with the movie itself, but also the music. it was soothing, passionate, and brutal all at the same time. Many people I have talked to have said that Le Violon Rouge was just some crappy indie movie. However, the music is as beautiful as the plot. The storyline and the way it was presented in the form of different people who wanted the violin for different reasons was not so much genius, but different and fitting.

The Red Violin is the saga of spirit and soul as they press onward through time. The adventure begins with Anna, a young woman whose only child brings about her untimely death. A gift of a violin to be given to the babe becomes host to Anna's spirit. The Red Violin narrowly escapes the grips of greed, ignorance, and vengeful lust as she is passed from hand to hand of those who would have her. She wanders about the globe until at last she is exonerated by the one man who knows the truth that she holds within her wooden belly.

In spite of the death and despair, the film is truly positive. It teaches us to appreciate people from all walks of life. From the violin maker of the 16th century who made the Red Violin for the bittersweet arrival of his baby son, we travel through time with the violin to the Chinese Communist Party who spelled out certain death to any instrument that may threaten the ideals of the collective. In our travels, we learn the dark and sordid side to each person, but we also learn that to create a shadow there must be light. That light, or hope, that the people shed is what gives the violin her vitality and will to survive.

A truly magnificent film, The Red Violin inspired me to recollect my own past I shared with my aged upright piano; the certain spiritual vibrations I felt while playing a ragtime melody. Suddenly, memories came rushing back to me tenfold. I recalled the times as a young girl I would listen as my father played his rendition of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. Wiping a tear from my eye, I remembered how long ago that truly was; how my piano shaped and molded me, as I shaped and molded it. I am left wondering where my beloved piano is now. Who is influencing his instrumental life? In the end, what stories will he have to tell, and will they be of me

Take the journey of the Red Violin. Visit other lands and other times. Feel the strings of life against your fingers; the bow of spirit in your palm. Rest your chin against the weathered wood of wisdom. Listen closely and hear the music that is the gentle rhythm of time and change. See the film to learn about music; to learn about history; to learn the boundless raptures of the spirit. Perhaps, as I, you will learn just a little more about yourself.