The Red Violin (1998) User Reviews

Splendid

[Stephen-12 · 9/10 · 27 April 1999]

This is art. Real art. So few films try for this much.

My sadness is that its appeal will be limited to polyglots, musicians, and lovers of costume drama. It's worth so much more than that. Beautifully shot, sensitively scripted and acted, and cleverly executed, this deserves more awards and greater coverage than it's going to get.

9 out of 10. I dock one point because Girard occasionally lets the pace drop to deadly, and because Jason Flemyng and Greta Scacchi irritated me beyond words - but that's not Girard's fault.

An ambitious story that delivers

[T-10 · 9/10 · 6 September 1999]

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!!!

emotional

[Jess-24 · 9/10 · 6 December 1998]

this movie, like a book of short stories, can hook you once and annoy you the next. The segments follow a violin for 3 centuries obviously shooting for a wide range of settings, thus a wide range of stories and characters. But they are all much different. The Red Violin will be rewarding for those who pay attention, and a pain for those who don't, because the transaction of the violin from person to person isn't smooth, whoever is not willing to pay attention should steer clear. I definitely recommend it to all big movie buffs, because those willing to see it, should. I really enjoyed Don Mcellars work before, and this is no different. Some segments, like 'Vienna' are very enjoyable and sad (in a good way, like bambi's mom getting shot) well some like 'Oxford' are dark and depressing. You may not leave thinking it's spectacular, but ya gotta respect it. Thumbs up.

Absolutely wonderful

[bjones · 10/10 · 6 July 1999]

I thought this might be one of those films that would be "good for me" to see. I was mildly intrigued by descriptions of the story I had read and with the trailer, so I thought to take a chance. I took someone very close to me, an actual violin prodigy. Coincidently, her and I have recently been searching for a decent violin for her that is affordable by actual humans, so we could relate to parts of the plot first-hand. We arrived to a very thin theater in one of those mega-complex theaters, and while everyone was queuing up next-door to see the latest blockbuster from Hollywood I settled into an amazingly comfortable seat with an excellent view and prepared for whatever might come.

I was shocked. This film turned out to be clearly one of the best movie going experiences I have had in ages. We see this as the story unfolds and is creatively told through the reading of the violin makers wife's fortune with a deck of Tarot cards. It is the story of a part of the life of a violin; of the humans who would dare to possess her beauty. A masterpiece of a craftsman's art, it is desired by many for it's acoustic perfection. But, as Tolstoy said, "how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness." Or more interestingly, from Saint Augustine: "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked." There seems to be a curse on this instrument as it brings ill to those who manage to possess it. This makes the ending especially eerie.

An original, imaginative and thought provoking story that engaged one's mind as American films almost never do. I will not describe more of the plot, it's far too good to ruin. The memory of this film will be one long treasured.

Oh, as for my guest, the honest-to-God prodigy: she said the music was magnificent (it was) even though a real musician could tell the actors weren't playing, it was well done.

Wow.

[Sandman-40 · 19 June 1999]

I saw this film the same day it came highly recommended to me by a coffee shop friend who couldn't stop gushing about it. While this guy is also a member of the Academy and has steered me to some pretty good picks in the past, I walked into the theater fearing the usual letdown that invariably follows going into a film with overly high expectations (i.e. The English Patient, The Truman Show, etc.) This film not only managed to exceed my expectations, it restored my faith in the magic and mystery of cinema altogether.

We start with a rather simple but cleverly structured story about a very unique red violin that emblematically (and quite literally for that matter) takes on the heart and fate of a 16th century Italian woman as it passes across several centuries and continents on its way to the auction block in present day Montreal. The unfolding vignettes reveal more and more about the nature of this instrument and, when strung together in the bigger picture, play out like finely orchestrated movements of a great sonata; each movement plucking out its own stirring and poignant variation on theme. I was so swept up in the majesty and spectacle of this film that it didn't even occur to me until much later that the violin is nothing less than a personification of beauty itself (okay, okay, maybe I'm starting to overly deconstruct things here in retrospect, but the parallels are too perfect to remain unexplored). It's fascinating to watch both the transformative and destructive power of this beauty as it's placed into the hands of a sensitive young boy, a self absorbed musical protege, and a remorseful ring leader of a totalitarian regime. Much praise goes to director Francois Girard in how he refrained from overplaying the social and moral commentary, repeating this theme at mostly an emotional level rather than an intellectual one -- much in the same way that beauty itself, to some degree anyway, defies analytical discussion and belongs in the realm of pure and simple experience. You obviously can't dissect it, as co-writer Don McKellar¹s onscreen character thought to do, and so it remains as it was in it's original form: timeless, magical, elusive. The stuff that pompous nobility and rich collectors the world over will offer a king's ransom for and still never manage to posses in the end.

Performances were good to great all around. It's hard to go wrong with Samuel L. Jackson in a leading role and I appreciated the fact that the actors actually appeared to be playing the violin on camera, as opposed to watching the typical hokey cutaways and cheat shots often associated with onscreen musical performances; nauseating contrivances that always tear down the wall of suspended disbelief with a resounding crash. The costuming, set design and cinematography were absolutely stunning (Oscar nominations soon to follow I'm sure) without taking center stage from the story. I especially loved the amazing period recreations of China and Austria. I felt like I was fully transported in both space and time to these places and walking among people who really belonged there.

Overall I would rate this one as a true film classic on the level of masterpiece. Perhaps this is in part due to my love for music and the undeniable fact that, being the sentimental guy that I am, I'm always a sucker for haunting open-ended films like this where you leave the theater in a half daze, pondering all the implications, mesmerized by the lingering imagery. I'm still speculating about the future of Mr. Moritz and what will ultimately happen when beauty is placed into the hands of our modern world.

A unique masterpiece.

[adrian_mcfarlane · 10/10 · 29 March 2000]

Never before has a movie made me care about an inanimate object as much as this one. Pulp Fiction and Ronin are the only movies in recent memory that I can think of that even gave me the slightest glimmer of interest in an object. The Red Violin changed all that. Not only did I care for the violin, but I began to understand how Samuel L. Jackson's character felt towards it. A beautifully crafted movie.

beautiful music but not much tension

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 6 December 2014]

A Nicolo Bussotti violin, known as "the red violin," is auctioned off in Montreal. It was built in 1681 and Nicolo's last. The movie follows the violin from the story of its construction to the present. Nicolo's wife Anna Rudolfi is pregnant and her servant Cesca reads the tarot cards. When Anna dies in childbirth with her child, Nicolo mixes her blood with the vanish to paint on the violin giving it the unusual red color. The tarot cards foretells the future of the violin and not Anna.

This is a difficult thing to make each section as compelling as possible. In the end, that is not achieved. Each section doesn't have enough time to tell its drama compellingly. Also the movie already shows that the violin doesn't get buried or burned. The music is beautiful as long as you love violin music. This is a beautiful sounding movie but the plot doesn't have much tension. There are some poetic moments but it meanders a bit.

A beautiful film that enchants you completely.

[shaboholic · 10/10 · 27 October 2001]

It has been quite a long time since I have viewed a film that told such a wonderful story so beautifully & in such a touching way. The music, the mood, the settings just made the film so real, so authentic in such a way the you cannot help but feel the passion this film is so full of. The concept of the film which follows the violin through the years from its birth to the present day & how it has touched the people in its presence is unique & done in such a way that reaches out to you to feel its impact. The physical settings only authenticate things, while some films with subtitles can be sometimes awkward, this films' subtitles only make you feel the film more & draw you into the story more. Lovingly filmed, a score that that is memorable & so absolutely perfect. This film touched me in a way very few ever have. I genuinely felt this movie & a treasure like this does not come along very often.

Compilation Film Suffers from Same Problems That Plague All Compilation Films

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 30 June 2010]

One of those compilation films, essentially a series of short films linked by a common theme, character or plot hook. In this one, a violin makes its way from owner to owner across centuries, and we follow its path and get a feel for the history it acquires along the way.

Like any compilation film, some parts are better than others and none of it is especially engaging because you know the film is going to move on to new characters and places before long. I never really understand what motivates filmmakers to make movies like this.

On the plus side, there are nice visuals and a lush, Oscar-winning score.

Grade: B-

A true Diamond in the Rough!

[xrayman42 · 10/10 · 9 November 2013]

All I can say is WOW! This is truly a masterpiece of cinema. I watched this on a whim one evening and I am so thankful I did. The story is superb, the acting is excellent, and the music score was just "outstanding"! This is the kind of film that true hardcore movie buffs revel in finding while having to sift through the so many bad ones made over the years. But if your lucky enough to find it then you will find that it does not disappoint! If only they made more films like this one. If anything you might come out feeling a little more educated in the art of classical music.lol But seriously folks this is a must see film for anyone looking for a very entertaining movie of substance. It has it all,.. sadness, happiness, danger, love, anger,etc....! it is truly one of the best! If you haven't seen it then you are truly missing out.

A wonderful ride, a bit thin by the end, but great mise-en-scene meanwhile

[secondtake · 7/10 · 9 July 2012]

The Red Violin (1998)

A total romantic fiction, rather compelling in its construction over many centuries, and beautifully wrought in each era.

I don't suppose the violin needs romanticizing, nor does it need a kind of obvious group hug view of its history, but that's the feel good, up and down, loving story it takes. First there is the small violin shop where it is made, and the tragedy around this particular model, the maker's last. It's supposed to come from the same era as the Strad and other timeless fiddles. It's a great place to begin a story filled with mysteries (and the mystery of a great violin, it's shape, wood, and varnish, is given high tech reinforcement in the end with an electronic awe). So the violin is born.

And it moves from a Austrian orphanage (with an unbelievable prodigy) to generations of gypsies (some interesting filming with the violin suspended in space as one after another player takes it up) to a crackpot British prodigy (who acts more like a rock star and an indulgent one, if that's not redundant). Finally it winds its way (not so improbably, because life is weird) to China, which of course echoes the modern rise of the Asian virtuosi coming from that part of the world.

So the tale is the history of a violin, a possessed one. The spirit of the instrument seems to inhabit the movie. This is reinforced by an Italian fortune-teller (a kindly witch) who has an early Tarot deck. The Tarot was not used for divination that early--it was introduced a card game in Northern Italy in the late 1400s--but that's okay, because it works into the plot really well. Five cards are chosen by the pregnant wife of the master violin maker. Each is turned over for another twenty minute chapter in the movie. In a key moment, the wife asks the fortune teller, what if I don't like what it says, what if it's evil? And the fortune teller says, "I'll pretend not to notice."

Promptly the moon is the first card, the most ominous card in the deck (I've studied tarot a bit, which is why, weirdly enough, I watched the movie). But the fortune teller doesn't say that doom is facing the pregnant wife. Instead she lies, and the movie takes one turn after another.

You might think this is brilliant stuff, and it has the trappings of that. It could have been, with some slight twist of intentions, artfully transcendent. But it's a hair long at times, and by the last (modern) scenes, a bit cold and unfulfilling. I don't know the solution to what might have worked, but I know it left me interested and curious by the end, not quite bowled over, which is clearly (on the sleeve) the intention.

Still, an engaging, musically rich tapestry of great scenes, great music, and a brimming story. Recommended, with slight reservations.

A wonderful and very musical movie.

[philip_vanderveken · 9/10 · 25 March 2005]

Independent movies or Asian and European films (to make it easy, let's say all movies that haven't been produced by some big Hollywood studio), always seem to have a certain group of fans, not because they are good, but because they are "different". That so-called in-crowd believes that every movie that hasn't been made by a big studio is great art and that all other movies are bad. Never tell them that sometimes the opposite can be true, because they can't and won't believe you. Well, I'm not one of them and I watch all movies with a critical eye. And yes, I try to see as many of those "alternative" movies as well. But that's just because I'm a movie buff who is interested in all kinds of movies, not because I'm convinced that this kind of movies is automatically a lot better than the rest.

In this movie we don't follow some people, but a violin on its journey through time and the world. The movie starts in present day Montreal, where "the red violin", a famous Nicolo Bussotti violin, is being auctioned off. But instead of staying with the auction all the time, we flash back to the creation of the violin in 17th century Italy and then follow it as it makes its way through an 18th century Austrian monastery/orphanage, a violinist in 19th century Oxford and China during Mao's Cultural Revolution... Each time it brings the person who owns it a lot of fame, but also bad luck and despair, often resulting in the death of the owner or someone the owner really loves...

What I appreciated in this movie is that it wasn't just an ordinary drama or thriller. It actually tried to be original and it succeeded very well. Another thing that I also really liked was the fact that not every detail of the movie was clear until the end (for instance why the fortune teller's predictions come true, but not for the woman, but for the violin instead.). It sometimes seems that the creators of movies don't even bother about adding some mystery in their movies anymore and I really miss that. That's probably why I liked it so much in this one.

Once in a while you come across a movie that you might call a gem. Well, "The Red Violin" is one of those truly magnificent gems. It's beautiful in every possible way. The music is excellent (although you better love violin music, because that's all you'll here), the acting is very nice and the story really is very beautiful. I guess I could talk for hours about this movie, but it's better to watch it than to read about it, so I'll end my review by saying that this is a wonderful and very musical movie that doesn't deserve any less than an 8.5/10.

A fine film, worth watching but much over rated.

[GDS-4 · 6/10 · 21 January 2001]

The Red Violin starts just before the end and is told through flashbacks. There are actually three stories, intricately interwoven. First is the making of the violin itself, second the violin at the auction house and third, the main story, tracing the red violin through more than 300 years. We know from very early that this violin is the premiere lot at an auction of very valuable musical instruments, yet repeatedly wonder how it can possibly survive it's long journey. Each stage of it's journey is revealed in due course. The secondary stories have their surprises also but one contains the movie's major flaw. No motive is supplied for the actions of a secondary but necessary player and some big questions have no answer, making for a less than satisfying end.

Nearly everything about The Red Violin is well done. As with any movie that traces many characters over a long period of time, it doesn't stay with any of them long enough for us to get to know them well and thus to really care about them. I could easily sit through this movie a second time but don't know why I'd want to. Once you know the twists and turns what is there to bring you back again? And again? Really good movies (8 - 10) have extras that keep bringing you back for more. For me they include characters you really care about, brilliant dialog, lines and situations that make you laugh numerous times and thrilling action. The Red Violin has none of these; I never laughed nor had a moist eye. It's surely neither a dialog or action movie. It has a complex plot and strong appeal to the ears and eyes.

I normally need to see a movie three times to sort out the 8's, 9's and 10's. I give The Red Violin a 6 which puts me in the bottom 12% of those who've voted. Watch it, enjoy it but don't expect a masterpiece.

Just "ok"

[SofiaParkJeon · 5/10 · 1 July 2014]

I understand this movie is about a violin, but what are objects if there is no human hands to make them "alive"? My point is: I love the fact that the violin is somehow cursed because of the cause that made it red, but it doesn't stand for itself, without a musician's hands to bring it to life. So, why wasn't i able to feel any connection with any of the characters? The movie tries to say too much as it explores too many stories, only to tell us the violin is cursed, but it failed to deliver, because for the viewer to feel that, there would have to be a connection between us and the characters. On the contrary, i couldn't care less about any of them, except maybe the orphan virtuoso.

I also felt that the "passion" that I (as a viewer) was supposed to feel for the violin, just wasn't there. There should be more emotional items to connect the viewer to it, like for instance, better music. What happened to sweet and dramatic and revealing melodies? They aren't there at all, and it's such a shame. I remember when i saw "Copying Beethoven" i cried all the way through his concerto, because i felt attached to him, Diane Kruger's character, and all the music, all the instruments, it was all wonderful in that scene. This movie doesn't have high moments like that.

I rate it with 5 out of ten, because, although i was expecting more of this movie, i was entertained, and i also loved the motif that made the violin red. I liked the fact that we followed the violin in different moments of History, i liked that it wasn't centered only in one place and one story, i just think that it should be more centered in the characters and on how the violin grew on them.

Overall it's an "ok" movie.

Measured, thoughtful account of near-mystical instrument

[pooch-8 · 6 August 1999]

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.

Heavily Underrated

[LiteDesign · 9/10 · 6 July 2000]

An incredibly well-thought-through connecting storyline makes this movie a pleasure to watch. Its screenplay was one of the most unfortunate Oscar snubs this year. Although not necessarily the best, it deserves recognition for its creativity.

priced acquisition

[aw-6 · 9/10 · 24 April 1999]

Just saw this film at the local film festival and it lived up to the hype and more. The music was incredible and considering I gave up learning the violin after Grade 1, I've found new respect and love for the music they produce. Just felt swept away by the music from the child prodigy, the gypsies and the English virtuoso.

The story was reminiscent of The Yellow Rolls Royce with the main protagonist now being a violin. I thought it was obvious why and how the violin is red but the revealing scene still drew gasps from the audience. So is the violin cursed consequently or just an innocent instrument of fate.

Wonderful way of introducing each chapter via the Tarot Cards and ending each through a prospective bidder at the auction. Initially, I was discontented with Samuel Jackson's character and his eventual prized acquisition but I realised that this is not the end but in fact, another beginning. If the instrument had landed up with somebody of relevant ties, it would mean the story has come full circle and it's time to wrap up. This ending actually serves to continue the story - well done!

I adore everything about this film, except for the ending

[fairdraconica · 7/10 · 21 November 2022]

It's a pure delight to follow the path of the Red Violin from its creation, as well as to watch the way she touches people's lives throughout the centuries and leaves her mark on them. The music, the cinematography, the acting were all beyond brilliant. While there are some unbelievable moments (the violin would've lost her red colour very quickly), I have no problem ignoring those moments and simply enjoy the ride. My only problem is the ending. I wish it was different.

They just don't write stories like this any longer, let alone build them so beautifully (the tarot part and other flashbacks of the past, for example). You watch films like this one and wonder where all these brilliant writers have disappeared.

Wonderful Historical Romance Adventure.

[ehsdavesco · 10/10 · 5 February 2017]

The Red Violin is an absolutely wonderful historical romance adventure, following a "perfect" violin through the Centuries and through the lives of the people who come under its influence. Samuel Jackson loses the language, but not the look of a man criminally obsessed and determined to obtain Red Violin for himself and his child. The story unfolds in an assortment of non English tongues, so the dialogue is subtitled throughout. There is a great sound track that adds emotional intensity even when the action is subdued. There is just enough science in it to capture the geek, and just enough punishment of pompous conceit to satisfy one's sense of poetic justice. I love this movie.

Good - but could have been much better.

[stan-czerwien · 7/10 · 10 March 2003]

A very good idea, and, for the most part, a very good movie - but something about the end dampens my enthusiasm. From the beginning we are introduced to various characters (in a well developed and rather intimate fashion), and all while this is going on I kept asking myself "How is this going to end?". Well I'm sorry to say it ends in a rather disappointing fashion (at least it did for me). The end does not do justice to everything which had preceded it and that is a shame.

I don't want to spoil the movie for anybody so I won't get specific as to why I was so disappointed in the ending, but I am curious to see what others thought.

Recognition for an unusual epic

[Patrickzaman · 9/10 · 25 May 2005]

Just to tease those who have not seen this incredible work of art and to make the others think you should see it again !

Who could think that a movie about a simple violin could turn into such magnificent beauty? «The Red Violin» whole story is based on a piece of wood and strings, which carries a whole story of humanity and social issues. We travel through 400 years of history and music, to end up in what you might think is the end of the story of the «red violin» but in fact, takes you to the next chapter.

If you are a classical and historical music fan, you will love this movie. The Oscar to composer John Corigliano was not an option.

François Girard clearly has something for music, as he did another wonderful movie about pianist Glenn Gould, «Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould», a movie that really drives us through the life of a great piano interpreter. Quite different from «The Red Violin», but quite good too. I can't wait to see his next movie, if he ever plans to do one, but the challenge to surpass «The Red Violin» is quite big.

Beautiful, Engaging Film; Terrible Ending

[fideist · 7/10 · 29 December 1999]

The RED VIOLIN is well acted, beautifully filmed, and the story is extremely engaging.

The ending is way, way too pretentious. After following the history of the instrument for 300 years, we have no logical reason to believe that Morritz was the violin's "Saviour," or that his choice for it's contemporary ownership meant the end to its wanderings through time, except for the Director (and story) telling us so. We are left more inclined to believe the violin will go on, and that Morritz and his daughter are just another stop in its journey. What arrogance to say otherwise.

I will not even go into Morritz's "end justifies the means" morals.

Such a terrible ending to such a wonderful, beautiful film.

More than the sum of its parts...

[PresterJ · 10/10 · 17 September 1999]

The Red Violin is more than a collection of short stories centering about a fabulous instrument: it is an examination of Western Civilization and those to whom it is entrusted. The creation of the violin in Renaissance Italy mirrors the rise of Classical music and, with it, of modern Western culture. It moves from time to time, from place to place, always falling into the hands of those who are, in some way, greedy. In every scenario comes a realization of the humanity that lies behind true culture, and the inhumanity of those who falsely profess to be the most cultured. Those who miss the thematic unity of the work have only seen the cinematic beauty that is but the surface of this film.

Great idea for a film. Too bad it misses.

[NYCDude · 6/10 · 6 July 1999]

I do hate to be a naysayer, but I will anyway. It's a great idea for a film: following a wonderful violin through the centuries and through different worlds. The music is grand. But something is missing -- life. Except for the Chinese sequence, (and the music), the picture is static. Sure you're interested in what happens to the violin in its many lives, but it just doesn't hang together. And the ending, in present day Montreal, is simply a disappointment.

predictable boring and pretentious

[martin-217 · 3/10 · 18 May 2000]

Never in films like this is there any doubt exactly who will wind up dead, inconsolably miserable, and/or insane. Using inanimate objects to link otherwise unrelated scenarios can work (see e.g., the intriguing Finnish work, "Night on Earth") but in this movie it's just annoying. The RED violin is supposed to embody the continuity through time of human bleeding and suffering and striving and so forth, but the tool is so blunt it might as well just be a laughably "cursed" object as in the old tv series Friday the 13th. Although photographed well, the dialog and drama play out like cheap imitations of PBS made-for-tv historical drama.