As inanimate as the violin itself

Rating: Null/10 (16 February 2002)

I prefer not to speculate on the reasons why so many people gave such good scores to this movie. This is the worst kind of "art" movie, as self-indulging, fawning, simplistic and manipulative as the worst kind of Hollywood product. It intends to portray the power of music to affect the lives of human beings, but it does so in such a facile way that it never achieves the power to move, only to irritate. The only segment I found (a bit) moving was the Chinese story, and even this one wastes the character of the old music teacher who risks prison or worse in order to save his instruments. The English segment was sooooo ludicrous, I would have laughed if I hadn't felt my intelligence so thoroughly insulted. The other segments were just forgettable.
The music is pretty, but that's it.