The Red Violin (1999)

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.

This ambitious project realized 15 years ago and directed by Francois Girard uses a not completely new pretext for its story line retracing 300 years of history of a superb violin manufactured at the end of the 17th century, a violin born in tragedy and seeming to carry unusual passion and power which marks the destinies of all its successive owners. When watching this film we cross centuries, countries, continents following the destiny of an unusual instrument which seems to be hiding the special gifts making wonderful sounds, but also a curse for the fate of its owners. An object that ignites art and passion.The story telling predicts by a few years the novels of Dan Brown and the like, and we deal in parallel with the chronological told story of the violin and with the intrigues behind the scenes of the public auction in which it is sold at the end of the 20th century. As the story develops we understand that the participants in the bid are also related to the history of the instrument, descendants of its previous owners, connected also through a destiny predicted in cards of tarot, which is also revealed gradually as the story progresses.15 years after the film was made its music and some of its independent story segments survive better than the whole. Violinist Joshua Bell was the musical consultant and probably played much of the score, which makes for some very interesting but out of the beaten track music. I liked it, but do not expect to hear any famous scores, you will need to listen carefully to understand the passion and appreciate the quality. The short stories in the history are all well written but also a little bit conventional, characters are drawn with attention, and love for music. The connection between the episodes is not so well made, the five cards can be a transition trick that works well on TV, but the jumps in time and the changes of hands of the owners are too sketchy for a big screen movie. The final episode (of the public auction) introduces an element of suspense which I found again to be a little too conventional and not really in tune with the rest of the story. A little bit like a musical composition with many beautiful passages but lacking strength in composition and a 'finale' to remember.

This could very well be the most profound film you'll ever see. Master-crafted to near perfection: the story, acting, directing, cinematography, writing, lighting, suspense and aesthetic feel of this film is beyond anything I'd experienced. Although it didn't hit me right away, I realized three fourths of the way through this film that I might be witnessing one of the best films ever made. To take an inanimate object and show so much emotion, history and intrigue through it, weaving centuries, people and history through that object is quite simply genius. See it as soon as you can, see it with someone you love, see it with someone you hate, just see it. There are certain movies people call 'hidden gems'. Well this movie might be the one that shines brighter than them all. If the Oscars went back over each decade of film and give honorary Oscars to films that should have won best picture, this should be the winner of that hypothetical award: The Best Picture that never got any credit.

Director Girard likes classical music and campy cinematic set-pieces. If you like either -- particularly the set-pieces: hoary, over-the-top grifts and costume dramas -- you'll probably enjoy this film. The sound won an Oscar, presumably for Joshua Bell's lovely, beautifully recorded playing of John Corigliano's derivative violin music; the compositions themselves aren't very interesting. The stories feature a 17th century tarot card reading, an orphanage run by monks high in the Austrian alps, an opium-stocked Edwardian lord whose fiddling makes Greta Schacchi swoon and her prose definitely purple, and one of those high-end auctions where folks call in on the phone and the auctioneer keeps saying "Fair warning" in a plummy English accent. It's a showy film, not arty or especially clever, but it's interesting enough for an evening at home.