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The Red Violin - and "music movies"

66.74.72.231

Posted by Bambi b on February 12, 2005 at 21:07:47

In Reply to: Red Violin - take two posted by Victor Khomenko on February 12, 2005 at 19:58:06:

Victor,

Since "the Red Violin" came up, I had a chance to see parts again. I had last seen it in the original release.

And I have to say, I enjoyed it quite a bit more than the first viewing. I suppose knowing the sequence of vignettes in advnace helped it hold together a bit better. Really, the several period atmospheres were well depicted and despite the melodrama, there are some effective scenes. And yes, Clark is right about the Chinese Revolution scenes- the best, most real period piece.

I've had difficulty with music related movies as most involve a real historical figure, and the history is almost always distorted to suit some theme. Mozart was made a drooling buffoon under the thumb of Salieri in "Amadeus" and while I enjoyed the play- with Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker!) it was the kind of supsension of disbelief that theatres offer that made it palatable. I enjoyed Formans' treamtne as entertainment, But I had to pretend the clown jumping around was not Mozart, but a "generic" 18th C. composer. "Too many notes!"

The Ken Russell treatments like "Lisztomania" are actually easier to take in some ways as they are so over the top, you can treat them as surreal and not biography. If you haven't seen Russell's short movie about Bruckner -focussing on his counting compulsion -it's probably his best. His Elgar and "The Secret life of Arnold Bax" are also in the same, quiet mode.

Other musical niceties: I liked very much "Tout les Matins du Monde" about old Marin Marais and his gamba. and that's in spite of Depardieu, who for some reason I've always disliked- and I don't exactly why.

Also, "32 Short Films about Glenn Gould" . This is intentionally episodic, but rings very true. I had read Friedrich's biography of Gould and followed his career a long time and "32" works well for me. Colm Feore is amazingly good. The eccentric humour matches the subject very well.

And for pure entertainment, Rex Harrison in "Unfaithfully Yours" is a lot of fun- the music driving his fantasy life and feeding back to make great conducting.

Never saw "Hilary and Jackie" about poor J. DuPre. I don't think I could face that tragedy in motion- and I so loath the real Barenboim I can't watch a depiction of him either.

Do you have any favourtites in this genre?

Cheers,

Bam

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