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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE VIOLIN
The Violin

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The Violin (2007)

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Reviews Counted: 30 Fresh: 29  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 7.4/10
 
Consensus: Features crisp photography and a poetic screenplay. Vargas makes a strong debut with The Violin, which features crisp photography, a poetic screenplay, and a breakthrough performance by Tavira. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Theatrical Release: 04-01-2008
Synopsis:
Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and his grandson Lucio live a double life: on one hand they are musicians and humble farmers, on the other they support the campesina peasant guerilla movement's armed efforts against the oppressive government. When the military seizes the village, the rebels... [More]
Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and his grandson Lucio live a double life: on one hand they are musicians and humble farmers, on the other they support the campesina peasant guerilla movement's armed efforts against the oppressive government. When the military seizes the village, the rebels flee to the sierra hills, forced to leave behind their stock of ammunition. While the guerillas organize a counter-attack, old Plutarco executes his own plan. He plays up his appearance as a harmless violin player, in order to get into the village and recover the ammunition hidden his corn field. His violin playing charms the army captain, who orders Plutarco to come back daily. Arms and music play a tenuous game of cat-and-mouse which ultimately results in painful betrayal.--© Film Movement [Less]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Don Angel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Mario Garibaldi

Director: Francisco Vargas
Screenwriter: Francisco Vargas
Producer: Francisco Vargas
Composer: Cuauhtemoc Tavira

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 5, 2010

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital - Spanish

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

The weathered Tavina, who lost his hand in an accident at the age of 13, makes a fittingly indomitable hero. He's a character you're likely to remember - his face alone is worth a thousand words.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 09:57 AM
Derek Malcolm
This is London
Ratings Image

Shot in luminous, high-contrast black and white, it has the rugged if faintly self-important authority of a Hemingway short story.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 09:27 AM
Tim Robey
Independent
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A terrific debut by Vargas, who wrote, directed and produced.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 09:22 AM
Anthony Quinn
Independent
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Another sort of movie would find a feelgood way of resolving the story; Vargas's vision is more grim and more realistic, but it is persuasively real, and in Tavira the director has found a natural star of the screen.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 08:41 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Ratings Image

The plot is slimmer than a bowed string and lacks tension.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 07:22 AM
Sun Online
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A quietly gripping adversarial duel lies at the heart of this political thriller, which has been hailed as a masterpiece in Vargas's native Mexico.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 07:19 AM
Jamie McLeish
Channel 4 Film
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Ratings Image

The film’s strongest asset is octogenarian newcomer Tavira, who exudes stoic dignity.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 04:23 AM
Tom Dawson
Total Film
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A challenging yet rewarding watch.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 04:13 AM
Anna Smith
BBC
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Told with ruthless efficiency and no sentiment or sermonizing, stands as a fitting tribute to the human spirit.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 04:08 AM
Rob Daniel
Sky Movies
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A slightly meandering build-up is saved by a second half that really cooks, with Vargas ratcheting up the tension by flirting with genre convention in order to deal with Plutarco’s unconventional psychological stand-off with a malodorous Captain.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 03:51 AM
David Jenkins
Time Out
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The austere monochrome photography gives the story a gravitas that’s reinforced by the dignity of the amateur cast.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 03:47 AM
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image

An impressive debut for Mexican writer and director Francisco Vargas.

Full Review | Comment
04/30/08 06:39 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
04/03/08 03:15 AM
Boxoffice Magazine
Ratings Image

The film from first-timer Francisco Vargas puts a human face on universal suffering. It is also about the power of music, as the title instrument saves (for a while anyway) three generations of peasant men in their roles as guerrilla fighters.

Full Review | Comment
03/07/08 02:42 PM
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
Ratings Image

The Violin is so beautiful to look at, it almost wouldn't matter if it had a story. But it has one, and it's riveting.

Full Review | Comment
02/22/08 12:59 PM
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
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Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity.

Full Review | Comment
02/08/08 12:23 PM
John Hartl
Seattle Times
Ratings Image

It's all stripped down to a conflict more abstract than historical, a fable of heroic defiance in the face of brutal oppression.

Full Review | Comment
02/08/08 09:23 AM
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image

Francisco Vargas makes a marvellous debut with his magnificent The Violin.

Full Review | Comment
01/17/08 10:42 PM
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
Ratings Image

Of course, there's Tavira, who, even if he never appears in another film, has left an indelible mark on cinema with his work here.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 01:13 PM
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News
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A message this political has rarely been delivered in so poetic a form.

Full Review | Comment
01/04/08 01:11 PM
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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