The movie The Red Violin is a drama written and directed by filmmaker Francois Girard, which follows the history of a mysterious and intriguing musical instrument over the span of 300 years. Francois Girard got the idea for the movie from events involving the legendary red Mendelssohn, a 1720 Antonio Stradivari violin which was purchased in 1990 by the grandfather of celebrated musician and heiress, Elizabeth Pitcairn (Fricke, 2010). The story is artfully and elegantly put together, and although the story is fictional the plot portrays what could be realistic characters, settings and life situations. There are some flaws in the movie however, but the entertaining qualities more than makes up for them.
There are several elements Francois Girard incorporated to make the movie a little suspenseful and more believable; he also uses some symbolic gestures. The movie is almost like a jigsaw puzzle in where you need one piece of the puzzle to get to the next until all the pieces form together to show an end result, giving the movie a little suspense. He achieves this during the scene of the auction of the Red Violin, the last place the violin ends up in Montreal; and while the auction is occurring, he flashbacks to the beginning from when the violin was created and tells the movement of the violin throughout history in chronological order. As he goes to each of the five countries the violin ends up during different time periods, he returns to the auction in between with a bidder representing that country and time period in some manner; whether someone who was directly involved with the violin, or indirectly. Each time he returns to the auction seen, he brings a new perception of the events taken place as if seen through ...
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... reviews from the itunes store give the movie a rating of five stars out of five. The movie probably deserves a rating of four to four and a half stars out of five because five out of five is perfect and although close, the movie is not perfect. A common comment made is how the violin causes despair to anyone who plays it. This comment holds no truth. Another common comment made is that the movie contributes something to a broad audience; this speculation could be true because it has many different elements that can appeal to different tastes.
Works Cited
Fricke, R. (2010). History of The “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius. Retrieved on
December 6th, 2011 from http://www.elizabethpitcairn.com/html/redviolin
2.asp
Girard, N. (Director/writer), & Fichman, N. (Producer). (1998). The Red Violin.
(Motion picture). Canada, Italy, & United Kingdom.
I would like to point out the poignant cinematography, which was very innovative for its time. The narration and the filming introducing what was about to be uncovered must have been extremely moving in a melancholy way. The mise-en-scène is both compelling and haunting, each frame cleverly editied. Resnais experimented with what is known as the long shot, and the 360 degree shot, to make the voyeur very aware of the unbalanced composition. The panning of the film tracking back from Auschwitz brings us a close up, of barbed wire. This clearly suggests that this isn't what it appears to be. Resnais films the past in black and white, and the then present in colour. The ambiance is chilling, and the composed background music unique. Where normally dramatic loud music would be used to express the abonimation and enormity of the most horrendous scenes, Resnais did quite the contrary.
...m gave the film 4 out 5 stars, stating that the film “is what one might call dry”(Seaver). Although both reviewers point flaws on the film they do however admire the unique style used by Hamer.
Roughly one hour into Jane Campion’s critically acclaimed 1993 film The Piano, perhaps the most visually surprising image is presented during George Baines’ (Harvey Keitel) direct attempt to seduce Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter) while she teaches him how to play. Her husband, Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill), has ordered Ada to teach the piano to Baines,’ as they must keep the instrument in his home due to Alisdair having no room. Returning to Baines’ house, Ada begins playing normally, but she eventually stops when Baines reveals himself, completely naked. He suggests that she lie with him, asking her ‘how many keys’ it would require. After careful deliberation, she agrees at the cost of 10 keys. Arguably the most important scene in The Piano from a narrative standpoint, the stark color contrast between the warm, sensual interior shots and the cold, passionless exterior shots visually express the desires of Ada in regards to Baines and Stewart respectively. Additionally, the use of character and camera proxemics during Ada and Baines’ interaction magnifies the tension throughout the scene.
The movie is, most likely, done well enough to intrigue its intended audience. It captured the theme and story line of the book. It falls short, though, when compared to the beautiful, sensitive and contemplative prose of Natalie Babbitt. One could only hope that a viewing of the film will lead the watcher to try the book and be delighted all the more.
“And the Band Played On” was an HBO movie that illustrated the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and early 1990s. The movie touched on subjects concerning the reaction of the gay community, the heterosexual community, and the medical community. It showed not only the research in AIDS, but also the way that the US government dealt with it. The movie expressed the consequences the gay community suffered, the plight of the medical community in researching the disease, and the issue of government response to it.
Amadeus is a movie based on the career and the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Viennese during the 18th century. Throughout the film Antonio Salieri tells his story of his growing hatred for Mozart that eventually led to his ?murder?. Through out the rest of the movie you can see where Salieri is getting even more jealous of Mozart.
...r, this movie is lack of depth of storyline. The audiences can even predict what will happen in the next scenes. Moreover, the ending of this movie is too cheesy and irrational according to me. If only they change the ending to become more interesting and rational, I will give a four or five stars out of five. In spite of a lame twist ending, this movie is a perfect example to show that managers should be able to motivate and challenge their employee. It is important to remember that a happy employee means a productive employee.
On the TV show, The Movie Show, David Stratton described the film as a “bold and timely film about the stolen generations.” The film is so highly rated for its amazing plot, the well-used mise en scene and the film techniques including the camera work and sound.
I have to disagree with both these reviews. I believed that the story was brilliantly written and the cinematography was beautiful. This movie touched me and had me in tears which believe me is hard to do. I do agree with the New York Times and New Yorker that it was a little dragged out and that Kiera Knightly acting was over rated. Other than that I would defiantly recommend this movie.
Overall, the score was beautiful and appropriate, adding suspense and mystery at all the right times. The sound effects added psychological flavor to the story without drawing too much attention to it.
... like Szpilman is gradually getting into that becoming a pianist phase and how the film overall has increased his confidence. The camera then zooms into his hand playing the piano showing the audience what to focus on. One hand has a lot of light towards it whilst the other hand is dark, which could mean that maybe his other hand will be in the light as he continues to play the piano, which is his lifelong dream. Then the camera zooms out showing us what else is in the frame. The director does this to show the audience that we should focus on where the light is coming from. The curtains have quite a detailed pattern on them which suggests that the room might have belonged to a professional and wealthy pianist. This might suggest that Szpilman is almost as if he is bringing the room back to life. This is shown with the different parts of the room covered with light.
The instrumentation relies on string accompaniment, which is common in Baroque pieces. Additionally, this helps to support the emotive nature of the piece as the mechanics of string instruments are very similar to the mechanics of the human voice; thus, strings can mimic human expressions like sighing and weeping. For example, in measure 8, the 9-8 suspension in the second violin part seems to indicate tension. When this is combined with the voice-like timbre of the instrument and the falling, melismatic line within the melody, it reflects a human’s sobbing. The ensemble is also intimate, involving only five voices, and this seems appropriate for the emotional but private message within the lyrics.
This film definetly deserves five out of five stars, as the of plot of this film which is based on a true story is excellent, the actors behind the characters are marvelous, and the inclusion of appropriate music and sound effects brilliantly enhance the emotion and mood of the story. Designed for a mass audience of various ages, I would definetly not hesitate to recommend this movie to a friend, and neither will
Critique of the Film Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare in Love is a fictional movie about the great writer and poet, William Shakespeare. The story is of a young William Shakespeare barely making ends meet and trying to write a play for the local theatre. However, Shakespeare is suffering from writer's block, and is seeking inspiration by having a muse. A muse is a power, in this case a female, used to inspire a poet. Of course, a love story proceeds.
Most reviewers overall enjoyed the movie very much. Christopher Null gave the movie four out of five stars and said it was “perfection and a good memorable film”. Steven Rhodes also says it is a good film “It's the sort of film that will leave you exhausted but glad you came.” (http://www.imdb.com/Reviews/210/21041) However from a woman’s point of view the film was barbaric and violent, “it's socially irresponsible and repellent in its graphic depictions of extreme violence and brutality,” says Susan Granger. (http://www.speakers-podium.com/susangranger.) I, however, even though I am a female I enjoyed the film very much. It has become one of my favorite movies because I feel like I can relate to the topic very much because I wish I was just able to let go and do what I really want to do. Everyone has his or her own opinion of things so you should see the movie and see how you react to it.