The Red Violin (1998) on Netflix
In Cremona in 1681, violin-maker Nicolò Bussotti finishes an instrument varnished in red. Three centuries later it reaches Montreal, where appraiser Charles Morritz prepares it for auction.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.6/1035,941 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes74%
Trailer
Plot summary
The violin leaves Nicolò Bussotti's workshop in Cremona in 1681, made for a child not yet born, and he counts it as his finest work. Across the following centuries the instrument passes through many hands: an orphanage in Austria, where a boy named Kaspar Weiss shows a gift for it; the English estate of Lord Frederick Pope; and Shanghai, where a music teacher named Zhou Yuan keeps it hidden during the Cultural Revolution. In 1997 the Chinese government sends a collection of instruments to Montreal for sale, and appraiser Charles Morritz begins verifying the red violin. Bidders with old ties to the instrument gather at the auction house.
Cast
- Tommaso Puntellias Apprentice (Cremona)
- Aldo Brugninias Assistant (Cremona)
- Samuele Amighettias Boy (Cremona)
- Christoph Konczas Kaspar Weiss (Vienna)
Show all 20 cast
- Paul Koekeras Brother Gustav (Vienna)
- Josef Mairginteras Brother Franz (Vienna)
- Johan Gotschas Funeral Monk (Vienna)
- Geza Hosszu-Legockyas Gypsy Violonist (Vienna)
- Arthur Denbergas Prince Mansfeld (Vienna)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Red Violin (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To simulate the Cultural Revolution in Shanghai, Fichman travelled to China seven times before the government allowed shooting, which began five days later. Hundreds of armed Chinese police closed streets because 450 extras were loudly calling for revolution, and Fichman said there was a possibility of causing a riot.
- The film was inspired by Antonio Stradivari's 1720 "Red Mendelssohn" violin, owned by Elizabeth Pitcairn, heiress to the PPG fortune; her grandfather bought it for her 16th birthday for $1.7 million at Christie's London. It is named for German violinist Lilli Bohnke, who played it in the 1920s.
- Because the violin movements had to match Corigliano's music, real-life child prodigy Christoph Koncz was cast; to help Jason Flemyng play a violinist, Girard tied two musicians to him in the "Octopus" method.
- Composer John Corigliano had previously been nominated for an Academy Award for Altered States before winning Best Original Score for The Red Violin. He beat American Beauty, which he had considered the front-runner before the ceremony.
- After the film's release, Red Mendelssohn owner Elizabeth Pitcairn learned its Chaconne, which she called "spooky", saying "that's when the violin can tell its own story; that's when it can actually speak"; she brought the violin to the Prince George Symphony Orchestra in 2012.
- Girard and McKellar proposed their story to various Hollywood companies but refused to give up creative control or limit the number of languages spoken in the film as U.S. companies requested. They instead produced it with Rhombus Media.
- At the Genie Awards, Don McKellar competed against himself as screenwriter of both Last Night and The Red Violin; The Red Violin dominated with eight wins. It also competed in the first Jutra Awards, launched to honour Quebec cinema.
- Corigliano adapted his score into a Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (The Red Violin), performed in Baltimore, Dallas and Atlanta from 2003 to 2004, and at the San Francisco Ballet in 2005. He later wrote The Red Violin: Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra.
