It's hard to invest emotion when the main character is a violin.

Rating: 8/10 (21 January 2002)

(this comment contains possible spoilers; read at your own risk)
This is one of those films I'd heard a lot of good buzz about, both while it was in theatres and when it came out on video. I've picked it up several times at the rental store, then subsequently put it back to get something else. But finally, the time had come for me to view "The Red Violin".
And it's pretty good. More intriguing from the idea aspect than from the actual execution of the film. I like the idea of following this violin throughout the ages and seeing what hands it touches on its way to the auction block, but I didn't really care for any of the people who got the darn thing.
The Austrian music teacher? He's a jerk. The long-haired English virtuoso? A jerk on a much grander scale. Those gypsies? All really good violin players, but not on screen long enough to care. The Chinese girl? She was the most sympathetic of the characters, but by that point of the movie I was really hoping it would wrap up soon.
Also, it didn't help that I figured out the "secret" of the red violin at the very beginning of the movie.
But I appreciate the scope of the film, and the style with which its told. It's still a good film, but completely unengaging emotionally. Probably it's suffering from the "Batman" syndrome, in which it was hyped so much to me that when I actually saw the movie, there was no way it could live up to my expectations.