The Violin (2005)
Director: Francisco Vargas
Writer: Francisco Vargas
Genre: Drama
The Story
The Violin is a great story about an old man that plays the violin while his son plays the guitar and his grandson goes and collects tips from the people around. They live simple and poor lives in Mexico. As the Mexican army continues to take over villages and push its people out, the son and a group of people fighting for their rights try to defend their village and country. When their village is taken over by the Mexican army they have to try and get the ammunition that they had hidden without the army knowing. Don Plutarco, the grandfather, decides that the only way to get the guns and ammunition out of the village is to distract the army with his violin playing and then sneak around and get the ammunition.
Everything Else
The directing of The Violin was superb along with the acting. Don Plutarco (Ángel Tavira) is the main and most important character of the film. Tavira did an excellent job with his quiet style of acting and yet very daring acts throughout. He is the voice of reason and the one man that may have a chance to get the ammunition and save the cause that they are fighting for. Tavira's facial expressions speak a thousand words and truly brought the movie to life. The acting all seemed very sincere and believable and heightened the intensity of the situation.
The scripting filled the story out with great dialogue. Plutarco had many words of wisdom and even the General had a few telling lines. It made for an interesting look at the emotion and motivations of the two sides.
Although the film was in black and white it looked very good. The picture was crisp and clean even though the pictures I took do not give it justice. The scenery is simple but effective and down to earth. The main selling point of The Violin is the story though. The whole movie has excitement because you are worried that Plutarco is going to get caught, or that his son and those fighting against the Mexican army are going to attack and not have the ammunition that they need to make it a fair fight. The story is not only thrilling and emotional, but it also feels very realistic and sincere.
The Real Deal
I loved the fact that this month's Film Movement movie was a foreign film. It seemed very fitting for Foreign Film February. The Violin was a very good film. It was a little slower than I was expecting, but the story and character development were incredible. I enjoyed every minute of it. The only thing to watch out for is in the beginning of the film; there is an intense rape scene which could keep a lot of people from continuing on with the film. If you can get through this very brief scene though The Violin ends up being fairly tame. There is only a little bit of violence and some language after that. Don't miss this great film from Film Movement.
The Short Version
Raw Score: 873,282
Sharon Movie? No
