The film The Red Violin directed by Francois Girard was a great drama film. The film was based on a famous Nicolo Bussotti violin, known as “The Red Violin”, and the film shows the viewers the past to present until it gets auctioned off. As the film progresses we learn the importance of the tarot cards. The Red Violin does a perfect job of capturing the violins adventure and its history, and keeping the viewers engaged to wonder what the next tarot cards could possibly be. Watching the film, the audience witnessed a couple of deaths and may see the violin as a character. The film does this by the lack of happiness the violin receives, its history, and the violins attractiveness.
The audience gets introduced to the new owner of the violin quite early in the film, but the film does a great job showing the lack of happiness it received. We get to see the unhappiness right away by the death of Bussotti’s wife, which gets passed on the to the violin with the wifes’ blood brushed on it. The first owner Kaspar Weiss is introduced and he is a very talented young kid. Though Kaspar’s teacher loves him and his talent, the teacher forces Kaspar to practice in order to perform great performances. It came to the point where Kaspar died of exhaustion during his performance. This creates a melancholic sadness that the film is trying to emphasize the violins lack of happiness, and viewers can feel the empathy of the violin. With the film trying to show the lack of happiness the violin receives, the violin hasn’t felt a kind of happiness since Nicolo Bussotti created it, and the taste of happiness lied on the viewers. The attempt of happiness happens in a couple of more occasions. We can see the attempt at happiness when Frederick gets inspiration from the violin and cheats on his wife. The wife realizes that he was no longer loyal to her, she shoots the violin. The violin is still left looking for happiness. The sadness of the violin sets the tone perfectly for the film.
Another way the film made it seem like the violin is character is the violins history. Throughout the film, we see and learn the violins past until present. Everytime the violin is getting auctioned, the viewers get introduced to another past history of the violin. The film focuses on how the violin ended up being auctioned. This may be a sign that the film is trying to show that the violin is character, but not in human form. It became evident that the violin is trying to find a new owner to stay with forever. It really made the film a lot better providing the history of the violin, so the viewers can understand and watch the adventure of its past. Everytime each owner fails to show their affection to the violin, the camera briefly shows a shot of the violin isolated or with the owner. This shows that the violin is not found a new home and is set to move one again. This creates an exciting atmosphere for the viewers, as they get excited to see where next they see the violin. This makes it seem the violin is a character and is showing how it ended up being in an auction, and this accurately represents its history and adventure.
Lastly, the film made the violin seem like it was a character by its attractiveness. Throughout the film, we see that the violin end up getting used by other owners. An example would be Xiang. Xiang receives the violin as a gift from her mother, and she gets attracted to it by putting her own life at risk by keeping the violin with her. As a viewer standpoint, we see that Xiang values the attractiveness of the violin and we see the violin get more valued throughout the film. Xiang creates an emotional reaction with the viewers. We see ourselves in Xiang’s position in that moment. With the violins attractiveness, we can feel what the characters felt when they had the violin.
In conclusion, The Red Violin was a great dramatic film. The film really made it seem the violin was a character by the lack of happiness it had, its background and history, and its attractiveness.