Rating: 
Summary: Totally Captivating
Review: The music is stunning! The music weaves the story together as it travels through time and space. However, you don't have to be a classical music lover to appreciate this movie. The music movies the story, but the brilliant cinematography, and the unique lives that are cameoed are captivating. Don't miss this movie...it is truly a rare gem!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Movie in a Very Long Time!
Review: The rave reviews given this movie are more than justified. I went to see it the first time in the theater based on a rave review in the LA Times and was blown away by the quality of the production, the acting and the bewitching story. My God! A real Story with real actors! Couldn't have come out of Hollywood and it didn't! Can't remember the last time another movie grabbed me like this one! I took friends and saw it 5 more times plus many times at home after buying it. Everyone LOVES this movie! They all thought it should be the "Best Film of the Year", knowing it would't even be nominated. In my opinion, it is better than any movie getting the Best Movie Academy Award for many years. The R rating is a shame because it would be such a wonderful film for children without the nudity and somewhat explicit sex scene. I've explained it to several mothers of 10 - 12 yr. old children and they felt it was Ok for their children to see it and were not sorry afterward, either. I suggest that parents view this film and decide if their child is mature enough to see it. It would be great if they would do some skillful editing so it would be acceptable to a wider audience. The subtitles are really well done. It is truly an EXCEPTIONAL FILM of a beautiful love story and the universality of the language of classical music. I bought the CD as well. Joshua Bell is most amazing as is Corliagno's music! I really can't think of another movie I would ever buy in the last 15 years but this one because you can't watch it just once! The suspense is skillfully built and the ending so very touching. "If walls could talk"? If violins could talk! This one does!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Review: An trip thru man's grasp of contentment! Very, very well made!
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting trip through centuries of music
Review: "The Red Violin" is made up of five sub-plots that range across five countries and four centuries. The story begins in 17th century Italy, where we meet master violin-maker Niccolò Bussotti in the process of making the finest violin of his career. We then follow the violin down the ages as it is transported to 18th century Austria, 19th century England, 1960s China, and 1990s Canada.Although, as some other reviewers noted, the characters in the movie are not explored very deeply, in my view, the Red Violin itself is the main character in the movie. Seen this way, the humans in the movie are all supporting characters, who are important as long as they contribute to a defining moment for the violin. Thus, generations of the violin's players and possessors glide by before our eyes, with the movie zooming in only on those that have left an impression on the violin itself -- an Austrian Wunderkind, a womanising English virtuoso, a Chinese Communist Party activist, et al. The five stories, although disparate in terms of the human characters' fates, are all a continuous progression for the violin. The segments are tied together by two scenes that keep recurring throughout the movie: a fortune-telling session in the 17th century, and the sale of the violin at the block in the 20th, with representatives from each of the five segments vying to get their hands on it. Finally, the most interesting aspects of the movie, for me, are the wonderful soundtrack, and the fact that the actors perform in their own languages, adding an important dimesion of authenticity to the film. And while the ending seemed unjust to me the first time I watched "The Red Violin", by the third and fourth time, I found myself more accepting of it.
Rating: 
Summary: An aria for a violin
Review: This film is as beautifully hand-crafted as the violin of the title. The production values are stellar as the story takes century wide hops from country to country, following the instrument around. True to each country, much of the film is subtitled. The english spoken 'violin auction' section is the least interesting story of the film, but very cleverly conceived and acts as an entertaining bookend for the film. A true oddity in story-telling, THE RED VIOLIN is music to the soul.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece for all time
Review: There are few movies (if any at all) like The Red Violin. We can get into all sorts of analysis of the technique of the writers and cinematography, but I won't go there in any detail. However, I will say that the detail and work shows as the movie moves from one era to the next. Moreover, what stands out is passion and our humanity. Throughout the ages and from culture to culture, beauty and passion is the unifying force. The Red Violin can be seen as a metaphor for a lack of "progression" in history - that the more things change, the underlying human qualities of passion and beauty, greed and power relations remains the same. Despite the "epistemic" quality of the film, another thing that stands out is that it just seems to flow and for two hours you are transported to a different time, space or place. I am never bored watching it again and again. It is an entirely different experience everytime. A timeless classic. One that I recommend you watch more than once as it will seem like a different movie every time. Miguel Llora
Rating:
Summary: This movie is in a league of its own!
Review: An entirely unusual concept -- tracking the lives of unrelated individuals through the use of a violin. I must say, it was very well done. The film was entirely unpredictable, intellectual without being pretentious, and beautifully produced. Casting was excellent, and Samuel L. Jackson fit the role perfectly. It was astonishing to see such a young boy play the violin like a professional concert musician. I wish more films were so well produced. There was absolutely nothing predictable about the film, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys dramas.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing & Compelling
Review: What a fun movie to watch! Terribly sad, joyful, humorous, captivating all at the same time! The ending is surprising but reaffirms the elemental humanity of a man who is, in some narrow minds, performing a "morally ambiguous act". In my opinion, he was a savior.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: Like "Tous Les Matins Du Monde," I first caught this stunning movie from the middle while channel surfing one night. The next time it was shown, it was too late to stay up, so I caught the FIRST half. This is a film that will grab your emotions by the handful, stir them all up and put them back in your skull so you will feel joy, sorrow, anguish and passion all at the same time. This is one that will stay with you DAYS at a time after viewing it. Talk about it with your musician friends, especially violinists. They've all seen it. Highly recommended for anyone's video collection.
Rating:
Summary: The curse of the red violin
Review: "The Red Violin" is mystifying and episodic. It is a story of, not surprisingly, a violin, wrought in the late seventeenth century by a grief-stricken artisan. The film follows the instrument from epoch to epoch as it crosses borders and changes owners - in the course of its existence it rested in the hands of vagabonds and prodigies, it was buried and exhumed, destroyed and restored. Indeed, in an almost supernatural way, the instrument seems to bewitch men, and its every owner almost inevitably comes to a terrible end. The film also uses a very original method of narration - all episodes are tied to two "hub" sequences: the artisan's wife's last tarot session, which mysteriously seems to follow the violin's journey; and the 1998 auction where the violin's final owner is about to be desided. There is even some metaphorical "echoing" between the eras: when the violin is frequency-tested and shivers violently, the artisan's wife (back in 17th century Italy) experiences a sudden pang of agony. Though I am hardly an expert, the film seems to be masterfully produced. The locales appear very realistic, though it was sometimes somewhat hard to recognize one spoken language from another (the film relies heavily on subtitles). And, to say the least, the violin music is otherworldly. Though at the outset I had my doubts about the entertainment value of a film dealing with a subject that to me is abstruse and arcane, I can honestly say that "The Red Violin" is extraordinary entertainment.
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