User reviews

By the beautiful novel by Paolo Maurensig. It is the story of a Steiner violin and of his young owner Jeno Varga. It's a romantic drama filmed in Praha. Wonderful good music by Claude Debussy... I really enjoyed this film. Oh, by the way, Paolo Maurensig is from Udine, my town, in Italy...

Another Italian film featuring poetry and drama by means of a very nice photography, an intriguing plot, the usual involving soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (Once upon a time in America), intense playing by Melanie Thierry (wonderful) and Hans Matheson.

Definitely to be seen.

I just saw this film at the Newport Beach Film Festival (CA, USA) and it really moved me. I decided to see it because Gabriel Byrne was in it, but I found a lot more to enjoy. Namely the three young actors chosen to play Jeno, Sophie, and David. They were fantastic, especially Hans Matheson (Jeno). I was captivated by each of them, by how well they conveyed love, fear, joy, and sadness throughout the film, often with just the expressions on their faces. Ennio Morricone provided his usual elegant score behind it all. And the scenery was beautiful, in a very Eastern European crumbly building kind of way.

Anyone who appreciates good music and good film should keep an eye out for this one. There are some minor plot flaws, some of the scenes border on schmaltzy, and they definitely shoot for the tear ducts at the end, but it's still worth watching.

I saw this movie with a large group of Jewish Film Festival Patrons and the

overall impression of everyone I spoke to was overwhelmingly positive.

Regardless of age or gender, this film touches and makes one feel truly moved. The performances were outstanding throughout the film. The actor who

portrayed Jeno Varga was inspirational. The actor who played Sofie Levy was

luminously beautiful. The film itself was filled with interesting plot twists and a interesting "mystery." The culmination was fulfilling and inspirational. The film also had great cinematography. While this was not a "perfect" film and one

could point out "flaws" in the ages or some details of the film, none of that distracts from this WONDERFUL film. For ANYONE (Jew, non-Jew, male,

female, young or old) wanting to see a genuinely touching and inspirational film about music, life, love, and a bit of everything, see Canone Inverso, a really delightful film.

...but not more. few great virtues - from photography to few performances, especially Hans Matheson - but the fog of soap opera kills many good points. short, it is unconvincing. one of romantic stories, dramatic, interesting but lost in pink water of a sort of too sweet fairy tale. and only problem remains its potential. sacrificed by director for a sort of easy story for large, large public. the good things - Mr Tognazzi gives chance to live to few scenes who transforms the film in a good memory. sure, a beautiful film. but it could be a real good film. it deserves that.

Fabio Cianchetti's photography, Hans Matheson's passion and Ennio Morricone's music can't save this one... Sloppy direction and impossible age differences riddle this entangled plot and, eventually sink it. What remains is Beautiful locations in Czeck Republic, a few well handled minor roles (Giordano, Prodan and Pappalardo), and the conviction that music and love are twins. What Mr. Maurensig the author of the original, fine Novel thought of this cinematic spaghetti is a mystery.... we have our opinion. Nonetheless, if you are at a loss for cinema viewing and are a lover of pretty faces and Violin music... well, maybe "Canone Inverso" by director/actor(?!) Ricky Tognazzi, son-it appears of the great Ugo Tognazzi, will suit you quite nicely!

The film is captivating, inspiring, and touching. The cinematography and sound track are awesome! It has an intriguing plot with good character development. The acting is superb. Hans Matheson definitely stole the screen with his character portrayal and good looks. He is the most handsome and captivating man! It's a shame that US audiences are not familiar with the movie at all.

I consider it one of the best movies in the history of Italian cinema. The book is very beautiful and the Director Ricky Tognazzi as been able to trasform the book in a masterpiece of cinema. You can feel love beetwen the man and the woman, and beetween friends and brothers, you can feel love for music. It's very dramatic and intense. Hans Matheson is the best actor, but Melanie Thierry is so a loving woman. All actors are very clever. It's a film that moves people towards love. Love is the centre of existence. This film is for all lovers.

I saw this movie at the East Bay Jewish Film Festival in March. The Director of the festival commented while introducing the film that a) it was one of the best movies he had ever seen (which, you always say to yourself OK, prove it) and b) that unfortunately the movie company that made it, went bankrupt, so he had gotten extremely lucky and found the movie in a European used DVD movie bin. So, don't go looking for it on your favorite streaming service or library. You won't find it. That said, when the movie finished, I just sat there. I realized, as had everyone that had seen it in my row, that we had seen one hell of a movie. Not only a great love story, but wonderful music. You can listen to some of the music on YouTube, but if you are lucky enough to find it somewhere, don't miss it. Forget what some people have said, Oh..............its not in Czech or Italian, doesn't matter. 10/10 for me

Saw this at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2000, and this was the worst European movie I saw this year. It has a ridiculous plot, silly twists, English actors who portray in English characters that would speak Czech and German shot somewhere in the Czech Republic. The only time someone speaks the language they should is when a German soldier is shouting "get away from here!"... Has subtle yet very strange gay-erotic undertones - and that is between two characters that end up being brothers! - very uninspiring acting and very badly written characters. Some actors do not look their character's age and if you really try and create the geneology of this broken family - you would come to some very strange conclusions (I refer you to the fact that Jeno's mother has a second child when he is about 20 yet she looks not a day over 25, Sophie looks like 13 years old but married to a guy over 40 and Jeno meets her when he is about 18, Costanza was born in a concentration camp (?!) and in 1974 looks like 21 instead of over 30 and so on). This is an example of what happens when good talents try to create a film that would sell "internationally", i.e. will be sold under the American distribution system. You get a horrible muddled plot spoken i the wrong language and shot in the best/worst way Italian manure can be shot in. It is artistically for the ignorant who won't even notice that the Cannon Inverso is not truly an inversed canon.. Now how dumn is that?! Avoid unless you want to see beautiful shooting locations. The music is OK but gets the standard not-more-than-2-minutes-a-piece-please attitude. A shame to the amazing legacy of Italian film making.

This was a tightly directed movie keeping the storyline in tact through the whole story. Characters couldn't have been better. The locations were interesting. In all, one of the best movies of the year, if not the best.

It was a really good movie, it would have been amazing if it hadn't been for the ending. I think it was resolved way too easily and simply. Everything was really good, but unfortunately they didn't know when to make it come to an end.

My compliments to the actors, they did a really good job. If you still haven't seen this movie, take a chance to do so, you can't miss it!

I have seen this movie for the third time just now. It is the most beautiful film I have ever seen. It's so joyous, real, emotional, romantic. It's people being people, falling in love, playing their music, laughing. I will never forget it, and it is now my favorite movie. I would recommend it to anyone I know! I love the end, which did not leave me unsatisfied at all! The actors did a wonderful job conveying their characters. While watching it, I forget that it is a movie and I am not really there! The score is gorgeous, I will never get over this movie. Am now eager to read the book! Fantastic film.

I expected to see a simple plotted movie based just on a romantic love story. I was wrong. Beautiful plot, extremely well balanced between drama, poetry, musical vibrations, imagery and strong ecstatic emotions. My eyes, my ears, my skin were completely raped from the beginning to the end. The movie also discloses unusual parental relations teaching some lessons. I was pretty moved by the unlettered stepfather going beyond his poor origins and believes and granting his son the way to reach his dreams. My compliments to all: play writers, director, actors and music composers (included Debussy :-)). They have done an excellent work!