Le violon rouge
Die Rote Violine
Il Violino Rosso
As the last violin made by Noccolo Bussotti (Carlo Cecchi) goes to auction the epic tale begins of the making and travels of this 1681 red violin which Bussotti claimed was his masterpiece and which inspired unique passion in all who came in contact with it.
Told in a series of stunning flashbacks, this film was a joint Canadian-Italian venture filmed on five countries with an international cast and tells the story covering more than 300 years.
The violin's travels and players take it to a monastic orphanage where many young boys play it for a century. When young Kaspar Weiss (Christoph Koncz) plays the violin, his brilliant talent shows and he is taken to Vienna for lessons with the French master Georges Poussin (Jean-Luc Bideau). But the fragile child dies and is returned to the monks for burial. The monks bury the child's beloved violin with him.
Later, a band of grave-robbing gypsies take possession of the violin and it is played by many generations of gypsies and finally ends up with them in England where it is used as barter for the right to camp on the grounds of a wild-eyed composer, Frederick Pope (Jason Flemyng). His talent at composing relies on his passion for his beloved Victoria (Greta Scacchi), a novelist. When Victoria leaves to do research for a book in Russion, Pope is heartbroken. The only thing that revives him is having an affair, unfortunately right at the time Victoria returns. After Pope's suicide, his Chinese manservent takes possession of the violin and returns to Shanghai where he sells it.
For decades the violin remains in the shop until it is purchased by a violinist who visited the shop with her daughter in the 1930s. More than 30 years later, the violinist's daughter, Xiang Pei (Sylvia Chang), saves the red violin from being destroyed during Mao's Cultural Revolution.
After another 30-some years have passed, the government of China is in possession of the violin and it is sent to Montreal to be appraised and auctioned.
At the auction, several people with some connection to the violin's history have arrived to bid and hopefully win the violin based only on the facts they know about the violin without regard to the rest of its history.
It takes the hard investigative work of appraiser Charles Morritz (Samuel L. Jackson) to unravel the history.
Lovingly and gorgeously filmed. Stunning music.
Co-written by François Girard and Don McKellar and directed by François Girard.
Run time: 2 hours, 11 minutes
Mostly subtitled.
Rated R for some sexuality.
My personal rating: A-
Die Rote Violine
Il Violino Rosso
As the last violin made by Noccolo Bussotti (Carlo Cecchi) goes to auction the epic tale begins of the making and travels of this 1681 red violin which Bussotti claimed was his masterpiece and which inspired unique passion in all who came in contact with it.
Told in a series of stunning flashbacks, this film was a joint Canadian-Italian venture filmed on five countries with an international cast and tells the story covering more than 300 years.
The violin's travels and players take it to a monastic orphanage where many young boys play it for a century. When young Kaspar Weiss (Christoph Koncz) plays the violin, his brilliant talent shows and he is taken to Vienna for lessons with the French master Georges Poussin (Jean-Luc Bideau). But the fragile child dies and is returned to the monks for burial. The monks bury the child's beloved violin with him.
Later, a band of grave-robbing gypsies take possession of the violin and it is played by many generations of gypsies and finally ends up with them in England where it is used as barter for the right to camp on the grounds of a wild-eyed composer, Frederick Pope (Jason Flemyng). His talent at composing relies on his passion for his beloved Victoria (Greta Scacchi), a novelist. When Victoria leaves to do research for a book in Russion, Pope is heartbroken. The only thing that revives him is having an affair, unfortunately right at the time Victoria returns. After Pope's suicide, his Chinese manservent takes possession of the violin and returns to Shanghai where he sells it.
For decades the violin remains in the shop until it is purchased by a violinist who visited the shop with her daughter in the 1930s. More than 30 years later, the violinist's daughter, Xiang Pei (Sylvia Chang), saves the red violin from being destroyed during Mao's Cultural Revolution.
After another 30-some years have passed, the government of China is in possession of the violin and it is sent to Montreal to be appraised and auctioned.
At the auction, several people with some connection to the violin's history have arrived to bid and hopefully win the violin based only on the facts they know about the violin without regard to the rest of its history.
It takes the hard investigative work of appraiser Charles Morritz (Samuel L. Jackson) to unravel the history.
Lovingly and gorgeously filmed. Stunning music.
Co-written by François Girard and Don McKellar and directed by François Girard.
Run time: 2 hours, 11 minutes
Mostly subtitled.
Rated R for some sexuality.
My personal rating: A-
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