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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
The Red Violin
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 out of 4
| *Also starring: | Carlo Cecchi, Jean-Luc Bideau, Sylvia Chang, Colm Feore, Jason Flemyng, Irene Grazioli, Christoph Koncz |
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Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
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Francois Girard's stirring, sumptuous epic follows the
turbulent, if convoluted, journey of a legendary violin, famous for
its perfect acoustics and unusual reddish hue. Up for auction in
Canada, the stringed instrument has traveled around the globe for more
than 300 years when an American expert (Samuel L. Jackson) is summoned
to authenticate its worth. Created by a 17th century Italian, Nicolo
Bussotti (Carlo Cecchi), as a legacy of love for his unborn son, the
violin becomes an embodiment of his grief when his beloved wife Anna
(Irene Grazioli) and child die in childbirth. Mysteriously, a
Tarot-card reader has predicted a long, nomadic, adventure-packed life
for Anna, coupling her fate to the future "life" of the Red Violin. As
the intriguing story evolves, the spell of the violin seems to bewitch
the lives of its various owners. It travels to monastic Austria, where
it goes to a six year-old child prodigy. In England, it falls into the
decadent hands of a Byronic musician (Jason Flemyng) who uses it in
his flamboyant courtship of a volatile novelist (Greta Scacchi). From
there, it's brought to Shanghai, where it winds up as a treasured
artifact in the midst of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Finally,
Chinese authorities send it to the auction hall in modern-day
Montreal, where eager bidders, descendants and friends of the people
it has touched, are obsessed with acquiring the instrument. The
mystery, of course, is who will wind up with this fabled masterpiece?
Although the pace and quality of the sprawling flashback episodes
differ greatly, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The Red
Violin" is an exquisite, captivating 9. It's a sweeping, cinematic
symphony, a unique combination of classical and contemporary, both in
music and imagery.
Copyright © 1998 Susan Granger
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