The Red Violin [Le Violon Rouge] ***** (1998, Samuel L Jackson, Don McKellar, Jason Flemyng, Greta Scacchi, Colm Feore, Sandra Oh, Carlo Cecchi) – Classic Movie Review 263

The haunting and ravishing treat of a film called The Red Violin (1998).

Director François Girard tells the ambitious, utterly beguiling and beautiful epic history of a mythical violin from its creation by maker Nicolo Bussotti (Carlo Cecchi) in Cremona, Lombardy, Italy, in 1681. The Red Violin won an Oscar for Best Original Score for John Corigliano and was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

The multi-national, three centuries saga The Red Violin [Le Violon Rouge] starts in Montreal, Canada, then flashes back to 17th century Italy, and runs via its use by child prodigies in Austria, by European gypsies, by a sex-crazed, drugged-up musical genius of a composer in Victorian England to its rediscovery in China during the Cultural Revolution and on to its auction in today’s Montreal.

Ravishing to look at thanks to Alain Dostie’s great cinematography, astounding to hear thanks to John Corigliano’s score, this gem from 1998 is a marvellous film.

The captivating story, written by director Girard and star Don McKellar, swirls you along in a series of vignettes in a headlong rush through all the centuries and different cultures. The ending featuring an ideally cast-against-type Samuel L Jackson as Charles Morritz, an instrument expert and appraiser for violins, aiding and abetting the violin’s final survival (at least for the moment) could hardly be more stirring. McKellar plays the restorer Evan Williams, whom Jackson gets to perform work on it.

Jason Flemyng (as the composer Frederick Pope), Greta Scacchi (as his lover and muse Victoria Byrd in the Oxford sequence), Colm Feore (as the auctioneer) and Sandra Oh (as Madame Ming in the Montréal sequence) also star.

The Oscar-winning score is played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Joshua Bell as solo violinist.

The story is inspired by one of the violins of Antonio Stradivari, the 1721 Red Mendelssohn, which features a unique red stripe on its top right side. It’s owned by heiress Elizabeth Pitcairn, whose grandfather bought it for her 16th birthday for $1.7 million at auction at Christie’s London.

The life-force idea of a red violin painted with the blood of the maker’s wife is unfortunately entirely fictional, and the director’s invention.

Girard made Thirty Two Short Films about Glenn Gould in 1993, Silk in 2007 and The Choir [Boychoir] in 2014.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 263

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