Le Violon Rouge (The Red Violin)

I heart multinational productions.

This movie follows the journey of a Bussotti violin through three centuries and five countries, from its inception in Italy, to the hands of the Austrian monks, to the child prodigy Kaspar Weiss, to the hands of wandering gypsies, to the English genius Frederick Pope, across the ocean to Red China, then back to the Americas in modern-day Canada, to be auctioned to its latest resting place. Whew. Talk about epic.

Anyway, what can I say about this film?

Directing: check.
Screenplay: check.
Cinematography: check.
Production design: check.
Sound design: check.
Musical score: check (Oscar win).
Acting: check.

Jason Flemyng with long hair still looks like a gypsy, like in Snatch. Samuel L. Jackson begins his career playing minor yet important roles. And Sylvia Chang is really cute.


*some info from IMDb and Wikipedia
pic from chud.com


Le Violon Rouge. Canada. 1998.


Rating: Nine out of ten.