The instrument of the title is played by an ancient, one-handed musician in Mexican writer-director Francisco Vargas’ debut feature, a melancholy, low-key drama set during a peasants’ rebellion.
Vargas’ film, shot in stark black-and-white, takes place in an unnamed country which clearly represents Mexico in the 1970s, when military forces ruthlessly crushed a revolutionary uprising. Its major strength is as astonishingly assured performance by Don Ángel Tavira, a veteran violinist with no previous acting experience. Tavira, who died in 2008 aged 83, is a commanding presence as Plutarco, a dirt-poor farmer.
Its major weakness is pacing as the narrative unfolds about as fast as the mule which transports Plutarco around the countryside to retrieve a cache of weapons hidden by the rebels.
The opening sequence is disturbing: soldiers brutally rape and torture helpless villagers. The narrative then flashes back to Plutarco, his son Genaro (Gerardo Taracena, who played one of the Mayan monsters in Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto), and little grandson Lucio (Mario Garibaldi) as street musicians playing for pennies in a dusty town. It’s soon revealed that Genaro is smuggling guns for the insurgents.
Genaro’s wife and daughter are seized by the soldiers (unseen, a missed opportunity to ratchet up the dramatic impact) while Plutarco pretends to befriend a senior officer known only as the Captain (Dagoberto Gama). It turns out the Captain is a music lover who’s enthralled by the old man’s virtuosity with the violin and wants to learn how to play it. This leads to a battle of wits which gives The Violin a much needed degree of tension.
Playing a man of few words but with a highly expressive face, Tavira brings a dignity, grace, stoicism and battered experience to the role. Like the character, Tavira had one hand and used a piece of fabric to connect the bow to his stump; how he lost it isn’t explained.
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