A perfect red-colored violin inspires passion, making its way through three centuries over several countries.<BR>&nbsp;

A perfect red-colored violin inspires passion, making its way through three centuries over several countries.

Director Francois Girard, working with fellow Canadian Don McKellar with whom he wrote 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould, contrives a movie that spans three continents and three hundred years, beginning in the late 17th century when master craftsman Nicolo Bussotti creates the perfect violin for his unborn son painting it with an unusally red-coloured laquer. From Italy the violin moves via a monastery to Vienna with a child prodigy Christoph Koncz, and then over the years it travels with gypsies until finally it ends up in Victorian England in the hands of Frederick Pope - Jason Flemyng - who can only be inspired by his mistress - Greta Scacchi. From there it moves to a second hand shop in Shanghai and ultimately becomes a pawn in the cultural revolution. In between all these adventures we return to the present day in Montreal where the provenance of the violin is being assessed by Charles Morritz - Samuel L. Jackson and we also return to the past, to the violin`s origins...There`s a lot to like in The Red Violin, first and foremost John Corigliano`s beautiful clever score with Joshua Bell`s solo violin. The stories have a rather heightened sense of drama, particularly the Victorian segment which just about veers off into the risible. Because of the ambitious nature of the film, events tend to dominate rather than the development of character, we`re more interested in what happens than who it happens to. However, as a whole there is a degree of satisfaction to be had from The Red Violin, partly because of the secret contained in one ending and the ambiguous nature of the other. Co-writer Don McKellar has a role in the contemporary scenes in Montreal where the violin is being auctioned. And Alain Dostie`s cinematography adds considerably to enjoyment of the film... David`s comments: A major disappointment from Canadian director Francois Girard (32 Short Films about Glen Gould) - the individual stories aren`t very exciting, and the English episode is, frankly, ludicrous. It`s the old Tales Of Manhattan/Yellow Rolls Royce formula as we follow the fortunes of the violen through the ages - handsomely made, building to a reasonably strong climax, but mostly surprisingly dull. Much of the music`s gratingly syrupy, too.