Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 06/11/1999(USA)
Release Date: 05/20/2003
SubTitles: English/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD2
Run Time: 130 Minutes
Flags: Nudity, Sexual Situations
Distributor/Studio: Lions Gate
Francois Girard directed this drama tracing the history of a musical instrument through five countries and three centuries. In 1681, to keep the spirit of his wife alive, an Italian paints the violin with a red varnish made from her blood. It is later found in the Austrian Alps when a prodigy gives a performance in the court of Vienna in 1792. Taken by gypsies, the instrument is acquired by a Dionysian composer. After a journey by boat to China in 1966, it is hidden during the Cultural Revolution. In contemporary Canada, it is spotted at an auction house by a violin expert (
Samuel L. Jackson) who becomes obsessed with it. Scripted by
Girard and
Don McKellar. Filmed on a $10 million budget in Montreal, China, Italy, Austria, and Oxford.
~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide