Absolutely wonderful film

Rating: Null/10 (1 March 1999)

This is one of the best films I have seen in a long time, far better than (in my opinion) the politically correct but rather overrated "Life is Beautiful". It does require the viewer's careful attention, to be sure; this is not a film for those who like to put their brains in neutral and watch the bullets bounce off Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is really at least four or five separate stories (taking place in widely different locales) about things that happen to the Red Violin, any one of each, with just a little amplification, would have made a very satisfactory film by itself.
Of course, despite the score's composer and one of the principal actors being American, the film is basically Canadian, and thus probably will not be seen much anywhere else. I am sure that, had it been made in the U.S., with the final scene taking place not in Montreal, but in Ell Ayyy or Noo Yawk, it would be critically acclaimed as one of the season's best.