Le Violon rouge

English Title: The Red Violin
Director: François Girard
Country: Canada/Italy/UK

The Red Violin tells the legacy of the perfect violin from its creation in the late 17th century to the present day, as it is being put up for auction. As the story progresses, the eponymous violin changes hands various times, and the audience is slowly shown the effect of the instrument on people's lives.

This is a wonderful epic spanning three centuries. The flashback format suits the narrative very well, as the back-story of the violin progressively gives the setting of the present-day auction more and more context. Fitting for a movie about a violin, the score is very beautiful and utilized to give the individual scenarios and the film as a whole more power. The acting is also very good. I was actually surprised that Samuel L. Jackson had such a serious role and still managed to do his signature "angry man" routine at one point.

See this movie. I can't really say anything bad about it. It's a great musical and mystical journey throughout the ages and it centres not on a character but on an instrument - a perfect instrument - and how its perfection has affected a whole host of characters throughout the ages.