THE RED VIOLIN

'''The Red Violin''' (, , , ), is a 1998 Canadian film. It spans three centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a violin and its many owners. The film was an international co-production between companies in Canada, Italy and the UK.

Contents

Plot and style

Inspiration

Awards

Cast

Crew

External links

Plot and style

The film tells the story of a perfect violin known as 'The Red Violin' for its rich red colour. At the beginning of the film, the violin is being auctioned 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 locations around the world: Cremona in Italy, Vienna, Oxford, Shanghai, and Montreal. To its owner, the violin has caused anger, betrayal, love, and sacrifice. In each setting the dialogue is spoken in the appropriate language.

Inspiration

The film is believed to be inspired by one of Stradivarius's violins, the Red Mendelssohn (1720), which is currently played by Elizabeth Pitcairn, whose grandfather purchased it for her 16th birthday for $1.6 million at auction at Christie's London. Appropriately, she is one of the few soloists who performs the ''Red Violin Chaconne'' composed for the film by John Corigliano.

Awards

The film received an Academy Award for the Best Original Score (John Corigliano), 8 Genie Awards, 9 Jutra Awards, a Golden Reel Award (for sound editing), and a Best Artistic Contribution Award from the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Cast

'Cremona'

★ Carlo Cecchi - Nicolo Bussotti

★ Irene Grazioli - Anna Bussotti

★ Anita Laurenzi - Cesca
'Vienna'

★ Christoph Koncz - Kaspar Weiss

★ Jean-Luc Bideau - Georges Poussin
'Oxford'

★ Jason Flemyng - Frederick Pope

★ Greta Scacchi - Victoria Byrd

★ Joshua Bell - Orchestra member: First violin (cameo)
'Shanghai'

★ Sylvia Chang - Xiang Pei

★ Liu Zifeng - Chou Yuan
'Montréal'

★ Samuel L. Jackson - Charles Morritz

★ Colm Feore - Auctioneer

★ Monique Mercure - Madame Leroux

★ Don McKellar - Evan Williams

Crew

★ Director: François Girard

★ Written by Don McKellar & François Girard

★ Produced by Niv Fichman

★ Co-Producers Daniel Iron & Giannandrea Pecorelli

★ Line Producer Barbara Shrier

★ Music by John Corigliano

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★ Solo violin Joshua Bell

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★ Performed by Philharmonia Orchestra

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★ Conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen

External links

★ The Red Violin at the Internet Movie Database

★ The Red Violin at Metacritic

★ Antonietta at Amazon.com

★ Elizabeth Pitcairn