The Red Violin
Encyclopedia
The Red Violin is a 1998 Canadian drama film
directed by François Girard
. It spans three centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a mysterious violin
and its many owners. The film was an international co-production
between companies in Canada
, Italy
and the United Kingdom
.
known as "the Red Violin" for its rich red colour. At the film's beginning, the violin is being auction
ed in Canada
. As the bidding
starts, the violin's history is revealed, showing that the violin has been in existence for over 300 years, having been made in 1681.
Its history is told in five stories set in different locations around the world—Cremona
, Vienna
, Oxford
, Shanghai
, and Montreal
. These stories are told in chronological order except for the Cremona and Montreal stories, which are intersected into the others with each change of location and as the tarot reading and the auction develop. The 1997 auction is used as a framing device for the first four stories in the film. After the fourth story, we see the complicated resolution to the auction sequence with no further cutaways to the other four stories.
To its owners, the violin causes anger, betrayal, love, and sacrifice. In each setting the dialogue
is spoken in the appropriate language
. Also, a variation of the movie's signature violin solo by composer John Corigliano
is played at least once in the period it is played, with the exception of Cremona, where the solo is being hummed by Anna herself. Throughout the movie, the solos are played by noted violin
ist Joshua Bell
.
The movie starts with Charles Morritz (Jackson) arriving at Duval's auction house to witness the sale of the Red Violin. Throughout the movie, we see the various parties representing the different eras as seen in the film vying for the Red Violin. When the scene does finally shift to Montreal, we see a flashback of the events leading up to the auction
.
)
Nicolò Bussotti (Cecchi) is a violin maker who is married to Anna Rudolfi (Grazioli), pregnant with their first child. Anna is worried about her own health, as she believes her age may complicate her pregnancy and birth, but Nicolo is confident, saying that he has the best people available when she is due for delivery. Anna sees her servant Cesca (Laurenzi) with questions about her child's future, Cesca uses a form of tarot
cards to determine this. Cesca cannot determine the future of someone not born, but she does offer to read Anna's future instead. Anna chooses five cards, and Cesca's first card (The Moon
) signifies that Anna would live a long life.
In the meantime, Nicolò has fashioned a new violin
, one that he considers his masterpiece, with the hopes that their child will become a musician. He is about to varnish
this violin when a boy comes, sent by the doctor
attending to his wife. Anna had developed complications during childbirth and neither she nor the baby survived. Distraught, Nicolò brings her body back to his violin shop and begins varnishing the violin he had created for their child, mixing Anna's blood with the varnish. It is later revealed that this violin would be the last one Nicolò would make.
After Anna's death, the violin is donated to an orphanage
in Austria
. There, a succession of choirboys play this violin for at least the next 100 years.
Throughout the film, we see Anna and Cesca talking about Anna's future, when in fact, she is talking about the journey the Red Violin would make, as it is her blood on the violin.
and French
)
Cesca predicts the second card (The hanged man) means disease and suffering for those around Anna.
At the orphanage, the violin comes under the possession of Kaspar Weiss (Koncz), a young but brilliant violin prodigy
. A violin instructor
, Poussin (Bideau), arrives to assess the boy's talents and he is asked by the monk
s at the orphanage
to adopt the boy to further his development. Weiss and the violin travel to Vienna
, where Poussin introduces him to his wife, who complains that they cannot afford to raise the boy. Poussin is convinced that Weiss's talents would mean prosperity for Poussin's household: Prince Mansfeld (Denberg) is due to visit Vienna and is looking for a prodigy to accompany him on his way to Prussia
. Such a trip would likely mean success for Weiss and a generous payment for Poussin from the monarchy
. To prepare for the recital, Poussin has Weiss undergo a strict practice regimen assisted by a device Poussin calls his "Poussin Meter" (which in fact is a primitive metronome
). Poussin has Weiss practice his piece slowly, then builds up the tempo
of the piece to the point where he can play it at a fast tempo.
However, Weiss has a heart defect, the strict practice regimens are taking a toll on him, and he is attached to his violin to the point of sleeping with it. When Poussin tells the boy not to sleep with his violin, his heart
starts to have issues and a doctor
is summoned, Weiss's heart stopping for a full minute. On the day of the recital, Mansfeld shows an interest in the violin instead of the child to the point of offering to purchase it, but allows the child to play to assess his talents. Just as he is to start playing his piece, Weiss's heart gives out from the stress and he collapses, dead.
Weiss is buried at the orphanage he grew up in, and Poussin inquires about the violin, seeing how he would like to sell it to Mansfeld. The monks explain that the violin was buried with Weiss so he "could play it in heaven". The violin is later stolen by grave robbers travelling in a gypsy procession, where it is handed down, and played by several generations of gypsies, spanning another century before being taken to England
.
In the present day in 1997 the monks of the orphanage want to return the violin to where it was first played. They attempt to bid via telephone on the violin when it goes on sale at an auction house, but pull out when the bidding price reaches $500,000.
and Romani
)
Cesca's third card is Il Diavolo (the devil
), and she explains that Anna will meet a handsome and intelligent man, that will seduce her "with his talent and worse".
Frederick Pope (Flemyng) comes across the gypsy procession setting up camp in his own backyard, with a female gypsy playing the violin. The gypsies rush to leave immediately, but Frederick has a different idea; he wants the violin instead, and offers sanctuary for the gypsy procession in addition to viewing one of his concerts. However, on the day of the concert, Frederick is having trouble coming up with a piece to play at the concert
and sends for his girlfriend, Victoria Byrd (Scacchi). Frederick requires carnal inspiration, and Victoria serves as his fleshly muse, which inspires him to come up with a new piece. Victoria, an author
, obtains her inspirations for her work through travel, and announces to Frederick that she needs to leave on a journey to Russia
to seed a novel she is working on.
After Victoria leaves, the two lovers write letters to each other but while Victoria is finding much scope for creativity, Frederick has lost his inspiration to compose. He begins to deteriorate, bedridden, smoking opium
. Frederick starts to cancel concerts soon afterwards as he has lost his will to play, and stops writing letters to Victoria. When Victoria does not receive his letters for a full week, she resolves to return immediately and sends one more letter stating so, but Frederick has stopped reading her letters. When Victoria arrives at Frederick's residence and hears him playing passionately, she knows he is getting his inspiration in someone else's arms. With gun in hand, Victoria bursts into Frederick's room to find him in the arms of a new muse, the female gypsy violin
ist. In a moment of rage, Victoria shoots the violin, the bullet grazing and damaging the neck of the violin. The tail-piece and strings come loose as the red violin spins out of Pope's hand. Victoria rushes out.
Frederick's final letter to Victoria states that he will be committing suicide
and that he is leaving his entire estate to her. The violin however, ends up in the hands of Frederick's Chinese
servant and he takes it back to Shanghai
where he sells it to an antiques dealer. The violin is repaired, but a small jewel is removed from the violin's scroll work. It goes on display in the shop for over three decades, before being sold to a young woman with her daughter during the 1930s.
In the present day in 1997 a representative from the Pope Foundation (dedicated to Pope's music) arrives at the auction hall to "reclaim" Lord Pope's violin. He attempts to win the auction on it but becomes the final bidder to pull out when the bidding reaches $2.4 million.
)
Cesca predicts the fourth card (Justice
) means tough times ahead, featuring a trial
and persecution
, where Anna shall be guilty.
With the Chinese Communist Party in power during the Cultural Revolution
, all items deemed unsuitable (or "foreign") to the ideology of Mao Zedong
are being burned. One of these items includes a violin owned by Chou Yan (Liu), a music teacher. He is given a political show trial
and is berated for his fondness for western classical music
. A political officer
, Xiang Pei (Chang) attempts to defend Chou by suggesting he teach Chinese traditional music, since he also plays the huqin
, a remark that arouses the suspicions of her party leader. Chou is forced to throw his violin into a bonfire containing other "unacceptable" cultural items.
Xiang returns to her residence and starts disposing of all of the classical music which she can no longer keep, due to her loyalty to the State. She uncovers the Red Violin which was a gift from her mother. At this point, her son Ming walks in to the room and Xiang starts to explain the violin to him, even playing a piece for him. She tells Ming not to tell anyone about its existence, and tells him to go find his father and tell him that she will be joining the meeting shortly after supper. Xiang realizes her secret is in clumsy hands. Ming finds his father, and inadvertently lets slip of the existence of the violin. Xiang's party leader and several Communist Party members arrive at her apartment intending to arrest her. However, they find Xiang gone, and all her "foreign" music burning in the wastebasket. They also find a photograph of Xiang's mother, who was an accomplished concert violinist.
Xiang arrives at Chou's house and pleads with him to take the violin to keep it safe. Believing that it is a trick to get him arrested or shot, Chou refuses until Xiang threatens to destroy the violin in front of him. He relents and vows to keep it hidden, while Xiang leaves to face possible prosecution from Communist Party officials.
Years later, Chou's home has become a "sanctuary" for dozens of musical instruments. The cache is discovered when police, acting on a complaint from a neighbour, find his dead body in his house. Upon this discovery, the present-day Government of China
, far removed from the rule of Mao Zedong
, ships these items to Montreal
where they can be appraised and sold at auction.
A much older Ming arrives at the auction house in 1997, hoping to buy the violin which his mother once played for him. He pulls out when the bidding reaches $1.2 million.
and French
)
The final card (Death
) Cesca sees does not predict death, but due to the positioning (the card is seen upside down), she sees it as something else, as a rebirth
, where Anna will be pursued by many suitors and that there shall be lots of money involved.
Morritz arrives in Montreal as an appraiser for the violins sent by the Government of China
. Almost immediately he notices the Red Violin and he has Evan Williams (McKellar) perform some work with it. To verify if it is the Red Violin, he has some varnish samples sent to the lab at the University of Montreal. Thinking that this may be the legendary last Violin of Nicolo Bussotti, he comes up with an idea to purchase a copy of the Red Violin from a private collection in London
, the closest copy to the original available (apparently commissioned by Frederick Pope himself before his death). At the same time, a wealthy concert violinist named Ruselsky (Bogajewicz) samples some of the violins and spots the Red Violin and tries it out, but Morritz convinces him that it is not the Red Violin. It is then revealed in flashback that the varnish contains some of Bussotti's beloved wife's blood
, giving it its distinctive red
colour , and is painted with a brush made from her hair.
When the varnish samples arrive, Morritz is shocked to realize that the violin's varnish contains blood. At the same time, the manager of the auction, Leroux (Mercure), and the lead auctioneer (Feore) confront Morritz about the expenses he has incurred and ask him the purpose of his inquiries. Morritz gives in and lets them know that the violin in question is indeed the Red Violin. Ruselsky is furious at this discovery as he believes that the violin should have been his.
Using his own funds, Morritz has Williams buy the copy from London, and it arrives in time for the auction, Williams authenticating that it is indeed the closest copy to the real thing. With this, Morritz heads to Duval's, passing by the Pope foundation member in the process (recreating one of the first scenes in the film). He sees Ruselsky and they exchange glances, Ruselsky still furious at Morritz's deception. As the auction for the previous item winds down, Morritz, with Williams acting as a distraction, switches the Red Violin for its copy, accidentally dropping the auction tag in its storage area. As the copy is being sent to be bid on, Leroux notices that the tag is missing and is about to call security when Williams finds the tag. As the monks in Austria, the Pope Foundation member, Ming, and Mr. Ruselsky bid on the copy, Morritz rushes out, nearly getting run down by a car in the process. Ruselsky eventually beats out the other three bidding competitors for the copy. On his way back to the airport, Morritz calls his wife at home in New York City
and asks to speak to his daughter telling her he has a special present for her upon his return.
's violins, the Red Mendelssohn (1721), which is currently played by Elizabeth Pitcairn
, heiress to the PPG
fortune, whose grandfather purchased it for her 16th birthday for $1.7 million at auction at Christie's London. She is one of the few soloists who performs the Red Violin Chaconne composed for the film by John Corigliano. The notion that the violin is red because it is painted with the blood of the maker's wife, who died during childbirth, is a creation of the filmmaker. It is called "The Red Mendelssohn" because of a unique red stripe on its top right side, but how the stripe came about is unknown.
The 1991 novel Antonietta by John Hersey
has some semblance to the concept of the movie.
The theme of the film also bears some resemblance to the novel, The Lost Stradivarius
, by John Meade Falkner, a Victorian ghost story about a lost and found violin that turns out to be invested with occult power.
The film's poster was inspired by Man Ray's picture, the Violon d'Ingres.
for the Best Original Score
(John Corigliano
), 8 Genie Award
s, 9 Jutra Award
s, a Golden Reel Award (for sound editing), and a Best Artistic Contribution Award from the Tokyo International Film Festival
.
The film received a positive response from critics, with (as of October 2010) a 72% rating on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Critic Roger Ebert
called the film "heedlessly ambitious," possessing "the kind of sweep and vision that we identify with elegant features from decades ago."
Vienna
Oxford
Shanghai
Montreal
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by François Girard
François Girard
François Girard is a French-Canadian director and screenwriter particularly noted for his innovative film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Born in Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit...
. It spans three centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a mysterious violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and its many owners. The film was an international co-production
International co-production
An international co-production is a production where two or more different production companies are working together, for example in a film production...
between companies in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Plot and style
The film tells the story of a perfect violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
known as "the Red Violin" for its rich red colour. At the film's beginning, the violin is being auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
ed in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. As the bidding
Bidding
Bidding is an offer of setting a price one is willing to pay for something. A price offer is called a bid. The term may be used in context of auctions, stock exchange, card games, or real estate transactions....
starts, the violin's history is revealed, showing that the violin has been in existence for over 300 years, having been made in 1681.
Its history is told in five stories set in different locations around the world—Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. These stories are told in chronological order except for the Cremona and Montreal stories, which are intersected into the others with each change of location and as the tarot reading and the auction develop. The 1997 auction is used as a framing device for the first four stories in the film. After the fourth story, we see the complicated resolution to the auction sequence with no further cutaways to the other four stories.
To its owners, the violin causes anger, betrayal, love, and sacrifice. In each setting the dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
is spoken in the appropriate language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
. Also, a variation of the movie's signature violin solo by composer John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
is played at least once in the period it is played, with the exception of Cremona, where the solo is being hummed by Anna herself. Throughout the movie, the solos are played by noted violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Joshua Bell
Joshua Bell
Joshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
.
The movie starts with Charles Morritz (Jackson) arriving at Duval's auction house to witness the sale of the Red Violin. Throughout the movie, we see the various parties representing the different eras as seen in the film vying for the Red Violin. When the scene does finally shift to Montreal, we see a flashback of the events leading up to the auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
.
1681, Cremona
(Language of dialogue: ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
)
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
cards to determine this. Cesca cannot determine the future of someone not born, but she does offer to read Anna's future instead. Anna chooses five cards, and Cesca's first card (The Moon
The Moon (Tarot card)
The Moon is the eighteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.-Symbolism:* Two large, foreboding pillars are shown...
) signifies that Anna would live a long life.
In the meantime, Nicolò has fashioned a new violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, one that he considers his masterpiece, with the hopes that their child will become a musician. He is about to varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
this violin when a boy comes, sent by the doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
attending to his wife. Anna had developed complications during childbirth and neither she nor the baby survived. Distraught, Nicolò brings her body back to his violin shop and begins varnishing the violin he had created for their child, mixing Anna's blood with the varnish. It is later revealed that this violin would be the last one Nicolò would make.
After Anna's death, the violin is donated to an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. There, a succession of choirboys play this violin for at least the next 100 years.
Throughout the film, we see Anna and Cesca talking about Anna's future, when in fact, she is talking about the journey the Red Violin would make, as it is her blood on the violin.
1793, Vienna
(Language of dialogue: GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
)
At the orphanage, the violin comes under the possession of Kaspar Weiss (Koncz), a young but brilliant violin prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
. A violin instructor
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, Poussin (Bideau), arrives to assess the boy's talents and he is asked by the monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s at the orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
to adopt the boy to further his development. Weiss and the violin travel to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where Poussin introduces him to his wife, who complains that they cannot afford to raise the boy. Poussin is convinced that Weiss's talents would mean prosperity for Poussin's household: Prince Mansfeld (Denberg) is due to visit Vienna and is looking for a prodigy to accompany him on his way to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. Such a trip would likely mean success for Weiss and a generous payment for Poussin from the monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. To prepare for the recital, Poussin has Weiss undergo a strict practice regimen assisted by a device Poussin calls his "Poussin Meter" (which in fact is a primitive metronome
Metronome
A metronome is any device that produces regular, metrical ticks — settable in beats per minute. These ticks represent a fixed, regular aural pulse; some metronomes also include synchronized visual motion...
). Poussin has Weiss practice his piece slowly, then builds up the tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
of the piece to the point where he can play it at a fast tempo.
However, Weiss has a heart defect, the strict practice regimens are taking a toll on him, and he is attached to his violin to the point of sleeping with it. When Poussin tells the boy not to sleep with his violin, his heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
starts to have issues and a doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
is summoned, Weiss's heart stopping for a full minute. On the day of the recital, Mansfeld shows an interest in the violin instead of the child to the point of offering to purchase it, but allows the child to play to assess his talents. Just as he is to start playing his piece, Weiss's heart gives out from the stress and he collapses, dead.
Weiss is buried at the orphanage he grew up in, and Poussin inquires about the violin, seeing how he would like to sell it to Mansfeld. The monks explain that the violin was buried with Weiss so he "could play it in heaven". The violin is later stolen by grave robbers travelling in a gypsy procession, where it is handed down, and played by several generations of gypsies, spanning another century before being taken to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
In the present day in 1997 the monks of the orphanage want to return the violin to where it was first played. They attempt to bid via telephone on the violin when it goes on sale at an auction house, but pull out when the bidding price reaches $500,000.
Late 1890s, Oxford
(Language of dialogue: EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
)
The Devil (Tarot card)
The Devil is the fifteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.- Symbolism :...
), and she explains that Anna will meet a handsome and intelligent man, that will seduce her "with his talent and worse".
Frederick Pope (Flemyng) comes across the gypsy procession setting up camp in his own backyard, with a female gypsy playing the violin. The gypsies rush to leave immediately, but Frederick has a different idea; he wants the violin instead, and offers sanctuary for the gypsy procession in addition to viewing one of his concerts. However, on the day of the concert, Frederick is having trouble coming up with a piece to play at the concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
and sends for his girlfriend, Victoria Byrd (Scacchi). Frederick requires carnal inspiration, and Victoria serves as his fleshly muse, which inspires him to come up with a new piece. Victoria, an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, obtains her inspirations for her work through travel, and announces to Frederick that she needs to leave on a journey to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to seed a novel she is working on.
After Victoria leaves, the two lovers write letters to each other but while Victoria is finding much scope for creativity, Frederick has lost his inspiration to compose. He begins to deteriorate, bedridden, smoking opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
. Frederick starts to cancel concerts soon afterwards as he has lost his will to play, and stops writing letters to Victoria. When Victoria does not receive his letters for a full week, she resolves to return immediately and sends one more letter stating so, but Frederick has stopped reading her letters. When Victoria arrives at Frederick's residence and hears him playing passionately, she knows he is getting his inspiration in someone else's arms. With gun in hand, Victoria bursts into Frederick's room to find him in the arms of a new muse, the female gypsy violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist. In a moment of rage, Victoria shoots the violin, the bullet grazing and damaging the neck of the violin. The tail-piece and strings come loose as the red violin spins out of Pope's hand. Victoria rushes out.
Frederick's final letter to Victoria states that he will be committing suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and that he is leaving his entire estate to her. The violin however, ends up in the hands of Frederick's Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
servant and he takes it back to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
where he sells it to an antiques dealer. The violin is repaired, but a small jewel is removed from the violin's scroll work. It goes on display in the shop for over three decades, before being sold to a young woman with her daughter during the 1930s.
In the present day in 1997 a representative from the Pope Foundation (dedicated to Pope's music) arrives at the auction hall to "reclaim" Lord Pope's violin. He attempts to win the auction on it but becomes the final bidder to pull out when the bidding reaches $2.4 million.
Late 1960s, Shanghai
(Language of dialogue: ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
)
Justice (Tarot card)
Justice is a Major Arcana Tarot card, numbered either VIII or XI, depending on the deck. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination.- Description :...
) means tough times ahead, featuring a trial
Trial
A trial is, in the most general sense, a test, usually a test to see whether something does or does not meet a given standard.It may refer to:*Trial , the presentation of information in a formal setting, usually a court...
and persecution
Persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...
, where Anna shall be guilty.
With the Chinese Communist Party in power during the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
, all items deemed unsuitable (or "foreign") to the ideology of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
are being burned. One of these items includes a violin owned by Chou Yan (Liu), a music teacher. He is given a political show trial
Show trial
The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...
and is berated for his fondness for western classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
. A political officer
Political officer
Political officer may refer to:*Political officer , Occasionally, a synonym for political commissar*Political officer , in the context of the British Empire, for a pseudo-ambassadorial role in areas bordering imperial territories...
, Xiang Pei (Chang) attempts to defend Chou by suggesting he teach Chinese traditional music, since he also plays the huqin
Huqin
Huqin is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes upwards...
, a remark that arouses the suspicions of her party leader. Chou is forced to throw his violin into a bonfire containing other "unacceptable" cultural items.
Xiang returns to her residence and starts disposing of all of the classical music which she can no longer keep, due to her loyalty to the State. She uncovers the Red Violin which was a gift from her mother. At this point, her son Ming walks in to the room and Xiang starts to explain the violin to him, even playing a piece for him. She tells Ming not to tell anyone about its existence, and tells him to go find his father and tell him that she will be joining the meeting shortly after supper. Xiang realizes her secret is in clumsy hands. Ming finds his father, and inadvertently lets slip of the existence of the violin. Xiang's party leader and several Communist Party members arrive at her apartment intending to arrest her. However, they find Xiang gone, and all her "foreign" music burning in the wastebasket. They also find a photograph of Xiang's mother, who was an accomplished concert violinist.
Xiang arrives at Chou's house and pleads with him to take the violin to keep it safe. Believing that it is a trick to get him arrested or shot, Chou refuses until Xiang threatens to destroy the violin in front of him. He relents and vows to keep it hidden, while Xiang leaves to face possible prosecution from Communist Party officials.
Years later, Chou's home has become a "sanctuary" for dozens of musical instruments. The cache is discovered when police, acting on a complaint from a neighbour, find his dead body in his house. Upon this discovery, the present-day Government of China
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
, far removed from the rule of Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, ships these items to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
where they can be appraised and sold at auction.
A much older Ming arrives at the auction house in 1997, hoping to buy the violin which his mother once played for him. He pulls out when the bidding reaches $1.2 million.
1997, Montréal
(Language of dialogue: EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
)
Death (Tarot card)
Death is the thirteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks.It is used in Tarot, tarock and tarocchi games as well as in divination.-Description:...
) Cesca sees does not predict death, but due to the positioning (the card is seen upside down), she sees it as something else, as a rebirth
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
, where Anna will be pursued by many suitors and that there shall be lots of money involved.
Morritz arrives in Montreal as an appraiser for the violins sent by the Government of China
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
. Almost immediately he notices the Red Violin and he has Evan Williams (McKellar) perform some work with it. To verify if it is the Red Violin, he has some varnish samples sent to the lab at the University of Montreal. Thinking that this may be the legendary last Violin of Nicolo Bussotti, he comes up with an idea to purchase a copy of the Red Violin from a private collection in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the closest copy to the original available (apparently commissioned by Frederick Pope himself before his death). At the same time, a wealthy concert violinist named Ruselsky (Bogajewicz) samples some of the violins and spots the Red Violin and tries it out, but Morritz convinces him that it is not the Red Violin. It is then revealed in flashback that the varnish contains some of Bussotti's beloved wife's blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
, giving it its distinctive red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
colour , and is painted with a brush made from her hair.
When the varnish samples arrive, Morritz is shocked to realize that the violin's varnish contains blood. At the same time, the manager of the auction, Leroux (Mercure), and the lead auctioneer (Feore) confront Morritz about the expenses he has incurred and ask him the purpose of his inquiries. Morritz gives in and lets them know that the violin in question is indeed the Red Violin. Ruselsky is furious at this discovery as he believes that the violin should have been his.
Using his own funds, Morritz has Williams buy the copy from London, and it arrives in time for the auction, Williams authenticating that it is indeed the closest copy to the real thing. With this, Morritz heads to Duval's, passing by the Pope foundation member in the process (recreating one of the first scenes in the film). He sees Ruselsky and they exchange glances, Ruselsky still furious at Morritz's deception. As the auction for the previous item winds down, Morritz, with Williams acting as a distraction, switches the Red Violin for its copy, accidentally dropping the auction tag in its storage area. As the copy is being sent to be bid on, Leroux notices that the tag is missing and is about to call security when Williams finds the tag. As the monks in Austria, the Pope Foundation member, Ming, and Mr. Ruselsky bid on the copy, Morritz rushes out, nearly getting run down by a car in the process. Ruselsky eventually beats out the other three bidding competitors for the copy. On his way back to the airport, Morritz calls his wife at home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and asks to speak to his daughter telling her he has a special present for her upon his return.
Inspiration
The film was inspired by one of Antonio StradivariAntonio Stradivari
Antonio Stradivari was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant artisan in this field. The Latinized form of his surname, Stradivarius, as well as the colloquial, "Strad", is...
's violins, the Red Mendelssohn (1721), which is currently played by Elizabeth Pitcairn
Elizabeth Pitcairn
Elizabeth Pitcairn is an American classical violinist. She has concertized widely as a soloist and is noted for performing on the Antonio Stradivari violin that is said to have inspired the film The Red Violin.-Childhood:...
, heiress to the PPG
PPG Industries
PPG Industries is a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, chemicals, glass and fiber glass. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 60 countries around the globe. Sales in 2010 were $13.4 billion...
fortune, whose grandfather purchased it for her 16th birthday for $1.7 million at auction at Christie's London. She is one of the few soloists who performs the Red Violin Chaconne composed for the film by John Corigliano. The notion that the violin is red because it is painted with the blood of the maker's wife, who died during childbirth, is a creation of the filmmaker. It is called "The Red Mendelssohn" because of a unique red stripe on its top right side, but how the stripe came about is unknown.
The 1991 novel Antonietta by John Hersey
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling devices of the novel are fused with non-fiction reportage...
has some semblance to the concept of the movie.
The theme of the film also bears some resemblance to the novel, The Lost Stradivarius
The Lost Stradivarius
The Lost Stradivarius , by J. Meade Falkner, is a short novel of ghosts and the evil that can be invested in an object, in this case an extremely fine Stradivarius violin...
, by John Meade Falkner, a Victorian ghost story about a lost and found violin that turns out to be invested with occult power.
The film's poster was inspired by Man Ray's picture, the Violon d'Ingres.
Awards and reception
The film received an Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for the Best Original Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(John Corigliano
John Corigliano
John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...
), 8 Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
s, 9 Jutra Award
Jutra Award
The Jutra Award is a Canadian annual cinema award that recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in the province of Quebec...
s, a Golden Reel Award (for sound editing), and a Best Artistic Contribution Award from the Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
.
The film received a positive response from critics, with (as of October 2010) a 72% rating on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called the film "heedlessly ambitious," possessing "the kind of sweep and vision that we identify with elegant features from decades ago."
Cast
Cremona- Carlo CecchiCarlo CecchiCarlo Cecchi is an Italian actor.Born in Florence, Cecchi studied under the Living Theatre and with the Workshop of Eduardo De Filippo. In 1968 he made his debut for cinema in La sua giornata di gloria...
– Nicolo Bussotti - Irene Grazioli – Anna Rudolfi Bussotti
- Anita Laurenzi – Cesca
- Samuele Amighetti – Boy
Vienna
- Christoph KonczChristoph KonczChristoph Koncz is an Austrian violinist. He is possibly most notable in popular culture for his role as the orphaned prodigy Kaspar Weiss in the 1998 Canadian film The Red Violin.-Biography:...
– Kaspar Weiss - Jean-Luc BideauJean-Luc BideauJean-Luc Bideau is a Swiss film actor. He has appeared in over 125 films since 1965.-Selected filmography:* Les Bons Vivants * Mr...
– Georges Poussin - Arthur Denberg – Prince Mansfeld
Oxford
- Jason FlemyngJason FlemyngJason Iain Flemyng is an English actor. He is known for his film work, which has included roles in British films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch , both for Guy Ritchie, as well as Hollywood productions such as Rob Roy along with the Alan Moore comic book adaptations From...
– Frederick Pope - Greta ScacchiGreta ScacchiGreta Scacchi is an Italian-Australian actor.-Early life:Scacchi was born Greta Gracco in Milan, Italy, on 18 February 1960, the daughter of Luca Scacchi Gracco, an Italian art dealer and painter, and Pamela Carsaniga, an English dancer and antiques dealer...
– Victoria Byrd - Eva Marie Bryer – Sara
- Joshua BellJoshua BellJoshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...
– Orchestra member: First violin (cameo)
Shanghai
- Sylvia ChangSylvia ChangSylvia Chang is a Taiwanese actress, writer, singer, producer and director. In 1992, she was a member of the jury at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.- Actress :...
– Xiang Pei - Hong Tao – Comrade Chan Gong
- Liu Zifeng – Chou Yuan
Montreal
- Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
– Charles Morritz - Colm FeoreColm FeoreColm Feore is an American-born Canadian stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Feore was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Irish parents who lived in Ireland for several years during Feore's early life. The family subsequently moved to Windsor, Ontario, where Feore grew up.After graduating...
– Auctioneer - Monique MercureMonique MercureMonique Mercure, is a Canadian actress.-Career:Mercure was born in Montreal, Quebec. At the 1977 Cannes Film Festival she won the award for Best Actress for the film J.A. Martin Photographer...
– Madame Leroux - Don McKellarDon McKellar-Personal life:McKellar was born in Toronto, Ontario to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and later studied English at the University of Toronto's Victoria College...
– Evan Williams - Ireneusz Bogajewicz – Ruselsky
- Julian RichingsJulian RichingsJulian Richings is an English-born Canadian actor. He appeared in over 50 Canadian films and 20 separate television series.-Life and career:...
- Nicolas Olsberg - Marvin Mill – Limousine Driver
- Sandra OhSandra OhSandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...
– Madame Ming, companion of Chinese son who was trying to win the auction of the red violin - Rémy GirardRémy GirardRémy Girard is a Canadian actor and former television host from Quebec.-Acting career:He played the role of Rémy, the main character, who is dying of terminal cancer, in the Canadian film Les Invasions barbares by director Denys Arcand. This film was awarded the 2003 Academy Award for best...
- Customs Agent
External links
- The Red Violin at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
- The Red Violin at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- Elizabeth Pitcairn plays the "Red Mendelssohn" Stradivarius of 1720, whose history is "said to have inspired the ... film"
- Ngan Siu Mui, Montreal artist was commissioned to create a Chinese calligraphy artwork with the meaning "The Red Violin" for display in the movie
- Sony BMG Masterworks' Podcasts