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Movies / On DVD / The Violin
The Violin

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The Violin (2007)

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94 %
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Reviews Counted: 33

Fresh: 31

Rotten:2

Average Rating: 7.2/10

Consensus: Vargas makes a strong debut with The Violin, which features crisp photography, a poetic screenplay, and a breakthrough performance by Tavira.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Dec 5, 2007 Limited

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... 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 [More]

Starring: Don Angel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Mario Garibaldi

Starring: Don Angel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Mario Garibaldi

Director: Francisco Vargas

Director: Francisco Vargas
Screenwriter: Francisco Vargas
Producer: Francisco Vargas
Composer: Cuauhtemoc Tavira
Studio: Film Movement

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Release:

May 27, 2008

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Reviews for The Violin

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/18/08
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

An impressive debut for Mexican writer and director Francisco Vargas.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
04/30/08
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/08
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
03/07/08
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You may not remember how exactly this trio passed the time during most of the film's too-spare 98 minutes, but Plutarco is a character you likely won't forget.

Full Review Source: Let's Not Listen | comment Comment
02/28/08
Tricia Olszewski
Let's Not Listen

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 Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/22/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
02/08/08
John Hartl
Seattle Times

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 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
02/08/08
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/17/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

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 Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/04/08
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

A message this political has rarely been delivered in so poetic a form.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/04/08
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: This is London | comment Comment
01/04/08
Derek Malcolm
This is London

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

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
01/04/08
Tim Robey
Independent

A terrific debut by Vargas, who wrote, directed and produced.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
01/04/08
Anthony Quinn
Independent

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 Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/04/08
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

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

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
01/04/08
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/04/08
Jamie McLeish
Channel 4 Film

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

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
01/04/08
Tom Dawson
Total Film

A challenging yet rewarding watch.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/04/08
Anna Smith
BBC
 
 
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