The Sonata

Very reminiscent of old Hammer horror films, with superb locations, quality performances from virtually all of the cast, superb music scoring and a really well orchestrated atmosphere of dread and suspense reminiscent of The Devil Rides Out and it was proceeding so well until the end and the last 10 minutes of the movie just fizzled and burned out like a damp squib.

It had all the ingredients too, including a well paced and original story but what could have been a really great horror-thriller was spoiled by the rushed ending and brief CGI - such a shame but it is still well above average and beats most of the recent horror drivel that has been coming out of the film studios recently so a fair 6.5/10 from me!

An interesting case for me - an unlikely indie I saw on the local big screen on Halloween eve, it was shown here because the movie is shot almost entirely in the country I live in (Latvia), mainly in the 19th century Cesvaine Palace, where I've also been. I was very intrigued upon hearing about it - I had no idea there was such a project. It's hard to understand how much bias I possess criticizing "The Sonata", but it was indeed quite enjoyable.

"The Sonata" starts off with a pretty cool POV style intro and the late Rutger Hauer himself, the first half of the movie we spend mostly listening to a lot of story building dialogue, getting to know the archaic but decent characters, and also enjoying decent original score that's almost a character itself. The atmosphere feels gothic, misty, at times spooky and at times like its reaching for something but not quite achieving it. All the performances are commendable, I especially enjoyed the one by Simon Abkarian. The second half is the better half, things start to escalate more, atmosphere gets more dense, there are one or two actually good jumpscares and a somewhat lacking but acceptable climax. Cinematography's fine for the most part, the main location is utilised competently & effectively, even the cgi used managed to not cross the line of cheese.

The story as a whole is nothing new really, it might make you reminisce about better interpretations of the same thing, but with a pinch of occult themes, a splash of cleverly included music "The Sonata" offers a decent entertainment for anyone who enjoys ghost stories, paranormal horror, gothic mood pieces and classical music. As for me, the additional value was to see places & nature that's very familiar to me get used in probably the biggest horror movie ever filmed in this small country. My rating: 6/10.

A brilliant young violinist inherits the music of her estranged father, a mysterious composer, but it leads her down the path to darkness ...

Curious case of an ordinary tale with extraordinary potential. I was looking forward to a cinematic treatment of an evil phenomenon in music, but it didn't go there in the end, although I do think the idea was covered in the score.

Instead, we get a traditional story with a puzzle in the symbolologicaltastic manner of Dan Brown - clever, but not enlightening, and nothing that couldn't have been dealt with in a 60m TV episode.

The performances are good, with an odd difference in height between the two leads. There is material for the actors to get their teeth into, but the characters remain fairly simple, despite the dark past of family estrangement (the mother's story wasn't followed up) and alcoholism. I'm also thinking of the housekeeper, who really just shows up for exposition - in a film noir or in David Lynch she would serve several purposes at once and deepen our unease, focus the drama.

The cinematography is quality. Not so sure about the direction, and certainly the editing and story line are a bit plain. The opening scene is effective, but had the feel of a first person POV sequence in an old video game. The choice of location at the old mansion was way over the top, immediately raising all sorts of irrelevant questions - it's not Dracula's Castle!

The evil phenomenon in the music is the Devil's interval, which the lush score hits repeatedly - that unresolved discord made familiar through so many genres of disturbing music, and I hoped the story would somehow turn on this. Hard to say how to do it without ending up as '60s psychedelia, but I think it would need a shift of perception, a shift in the story-telling itself, to provide an interval in reality through which we slide down to Hell. Ahem. You know what I mean. But not this time.

Overall: Good production, but lack of depth in the story.

This movie will not stimulate your brain nor will it scare you. However, it was very atmospheric and moved at a nice pace. It started off quite good then for some reason, took a nose dive about half way through. The protagonist was also somewhat unlikeable and we never really get to know her in order to like her better. I found myself not really caring what happens to any of the characters. It started off well, but needed more character development and more of a story. The ending was overly simplistic. But I can't say it was boring.

The photography in this film is quite marvellous, as well as the atmosphere and, certainly, the music. The story is a bit lacking and it's been poorly executed. Overall, it was enjoyable, if one doesn't ask questions or even tries not to think. It had a promise of being an outstanding movie, but turned out weak.