Synopsis
300 years of a remarkable musical instrument. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin has traveled through Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake. In Montreal, Samuel L Jackson plays an appraiser going over its complex history.
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Cast
- Carlo CecchiNicolo Bussotti (Cremona)
- Irene GrazioliAnna Bussotti (Cremona)
- Anita LaurenziCesca (Cremona)
- Tommaso PuntelliApprentice (Cremona)
- Samuele AmighettiBoy (Cremona)
- Jean-Luc BideauGeorges Poussin (Vienna)
- Samuel L. JacksonCharles Morritz (Montréal)
- Greta ScacchiVictoria Byrd (Oxford)
- Aldo BrugniniAssistant (Cremona)
- Christoph KonczKaspar Weiss (Vienna)
Recommendations
- 90
Los Angeles Times
While it's possible to view this movie like a short-story collection, putting check marks beside the selections one likes best, to do so would deny the pleasure of experiencing this beautifully crafted, intricately designed story the way it was intended, as an organic whole. [11 June 1999, Calendar, p.F-8] - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Some will say this film is overly ambitious, but what the hell. The man put five years of his life into making this epic mystery. We can surely give it two hours of ours. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Carefully crafted, lushly romantic. - 75
San Francisco Examiner
Beautiful. Simply, beautiful. - 70
Dallas Observer
It's unlikely that anyone will be bored. But it's just as unlikely that anyone will be swept off his feet either. - 50
Salon
It's almost as lame-brained as any Hollywood blockbuster, if prettier and more pretentious. - 50
Variety
Fails on a number of counts, mostly because the individual stories aren't very gripping. - 50
USA Today
Almost by himself, Jackson transforms the film's final chapter into a serviceable view -- faint praise, perhaps, but a crumb to savor, given what has come before. [11 June 1999, Life, p. 6E]
