The Red Violin (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #43

This is a film that fills me with awe. Is it the plot, the imagery or the acting? It's the combination of all three. The multi-cultural aspect gives the film a dazzling appearance, as the action swerves from Italy to Canada, via Austria, England and China. The film was shot on location in all five countries to guarantee realism. It was only nominated for one Academy Award, the Best Original Score, which it won. It should have won more awards. "American Beauty" won the award for Best Film in 2000, but "The Red Violin" is much better.

The film begins in 1681. Nicolo Bussotti is a famous violin maker. His wife Anna is pregnant, but she's worried about giving birth, because she thinks she's too old to have a baby. Nicolo is confident it'll be a healthy boy, so he designs his best ever violin for him.

Anna visits her maid Cesca to ask about the future of her unborn child. Cesca says this is impossible, because while the baby is still within her their destinies are unable to tell apart. Instead, she offers to read Anna's future with the aid of Tarot cards.

Anna draws five cards. The first card, the Moon, signifies that she will live a long life after giving birth on the next full moon. Yet, as we soon see, Anna and her son both die in childbirth. Was the reading a sham? No. After Anna's death her husband mixes her blood with the varnish to paint the violin that should have been his son's. Unknowingly, the maid has foretold the future of the violin over the next 400 years.

The second card, the Hanged Man, signifies disease and suffering. The violin is given to an orphanage in Austria as a gift. Over the course of a hundred years it passes from child to child, until it's finally in the hands of a prodigy called Kaspar Weiss. He's sent to Vienna for training, but because of ill health he dies before he can find recognition. He's buried together with the violin.

The third card, the Devil, signifies that Anna will fall into the hands of an evil man. The violin is stolen by gypsy grave robbers, and it remains in their possession for another hundred years. The tribe relocates to England, where Lord Frederick Pope lets the gypsies stay on his land in exchange for the violin. He's a brilliant violinist who finds his inspiration during sexual intercourse. The violin itself helps him achieve even more glory. He's shot by a jealous girlfriend.

The fourth card, Justice, signifies that Anna will be put on trial. Frederick Pope's Chinese manservant returns to Shanghai, taking the violin with him. He sells it to a pawn shop, where it remains for 30 years. In 1937 it's finally sold as a gift for a young girl, Xiang Pei. The violin is her greatest love, but in the 1960's the Communist government says that western music is evil. To protect the violin, she gives it to a music teacher.

The fifth card is Death. Because it's upside down, it symbolises rebirth. In the late 1990's the music teacher dies, and his large collection of music instruments is claimed by the Chinese government. They send them to Montreal, Canada, to be auctioned.

The musical appraiser Charles Morritz recognises the violin immediately. He pretends it's worthless to prevent it being sold, but the owners of the Duval auction house see that he's acting strangely and realise what it is. They put it on sale as the main item of the auction, but Charles is determined to get it for himself. In a bizarre turn of events, the descendants of all the people that the violin has touched gather in Montreal for the auction.

I already knew Samuel L. Jackson, but this is the film that convinced me what a good actor he is. He shows a depth of emotion which isn't immediately visible in his other films.

I'd also like to mention Jason Flemyng. Usually he's what I like to call a background actor. He appears in films, often in important roles, but he's hardly noticed. What I mean is, he doesn't stand out as Jason Flemyng because he disappears into his role. When the final credits come, I say, "What? Was that Jason Flemyng? I didn't recognised him!" I say that as a compliment. However, he's very much in the forefront in his segment of "The Red Violin". I'd call this his signature role.

When I was a teenager I studied the Tarot cards. It wasn't as a means of fortune telling. I used them for meditation. The cards, if drawn accurately, hold secrets in their imagery. The first two cards lay the foundation for all that follows. Mankind is split into two groups: the Fool and the Magician. The Fool is someone who only believes what he sees with his own eyes. He doesn't see that he'll fall off a cliff because he's looking in the wrong direction. A simple dog is trying to warn him, but he won't listen. In this version of the card, the dog is barking at him. In other versions, the dog is tugging at his boots, trying to pull him back.

The Magician is someone who understands reality, whether it's visible or not. He uses the four elements, Fire, Water, Earth and Air, to discover the secrets of the universe. 

There are differences of opinion on where and when the Tarot cards originated. Some say they were designed in France in the late Middle Ages. Some say they were designed by temple priests in ancient Egypt. Recently a strange theory has arisen that they were designed in China.

I shan't write anything about the other cards, but I'll reproduce them here. These are the Rider-Waite cards, first drawn in 1909, now the most popular version because of their simplicity and accuracy.

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The film is universally available on DVD, but it's only been released on Blu-ray in America. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray is locked to region A. Boo! Hiss!