Le violon rouge (1998)

Director:

François Girard

Writers:

Don McKellar (written by) &
François Girard (written by)

Release Date:

11 June 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Mystery | Music

Tagline:

Passion Is Timeless

Plot:

A perfect red-colored violin inspires passion, making its way through three centuries over several owners and countries, eventually ending up at an auction where it may find a new owner.

Plot Keywords:

Violin | Auction | Secret | Violinist | Passion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 19 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Carlo Cecchi	...	Nicolo Bussotti (Cremona)
Irene Grazioli	...	Anna Bussotti (Cremona)
Anita Laurenzi	...	Cesca (Cremona)
Tommaso Puntelli	...	Apprentice (Cremona)
Samuele Amighetti	...	Boy (Cremona)
Jean-Luc Bideau	...	Georges Poussin (Vienna)
Aldo Brugnini	...	Assistant (Cremona)
Christoph Koncz	...	Kaspar Weiss (Vienna)
Clotilde Mollet	...	Antoinette Pussin (Vienna)
Florentín Groll	...	Anton von Spielmann (Vienna)
Johannes Silberschneider	...	Father Richter (Vienna)
Rainer Egger	...	Brother Christophe (Vienna)
Paul Koeker	...	Brother Gustav (Vienna)
Wolfgang Böck	...	Brother Michael (Vienna)
Josef Mairginter	...	Brother Franz (Vienna)
Johan Gotsch	...	Funeral Monk (Vienna)
Geza Hosszu-Legocky	...	Gypsy Violonist (Vienna)
David Alberman	...	Gypsy Violonist (Vienna)
Arthur Denberg	...	Prince Mansfeld (Vienna)
Andrzej Matuszewiski	...	Gypsy Violonist (Vienna)
Jason Flemyng	...	Frederick Pope (Oxford)
Greta Scacchi	...	Victoria Byrd (Oxford)
Eva Marie Bryer	...	Sara (Oxford)
Dimitri Andreas	...	Gypsy Father (Oxford)
David Gant	...	Conductor (Oxford)
Sai-Kit Yung	...	Manservant (Oxford) (as Stuart Ong)
Sylvia Chang	...	Xiang Pei (Shanghai)
Zifeng Liu	...	Chou Yuan (Shanghai) (as Zi Feng Liu)
Hong Tao	...	Comrade Chan Gong (Shanghai)
Xio Fei Han	...	Young Ming (Shanghai)
Zheng Wei Tan	...	Guard (Shanghai) (as Zeng Wei Tan)
Zhi Qing Zhou	...	Senior Policeman (Shanghai)
Xiaoshuai Wang	...	Junior Policeman (Shanghai)
Zhi Qiao	...	Elderly Woman (Shanghai)
Kun Qi Cao	...	Deputy (Shanghai)
Rei Yang	...	Young Xian Pei (Shanghai)
Lidou	...	Pawnbroker (Shanghai)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Charles Morritz (Montréal)
Colm Feore	...	Auctioneer (Montréal)
Monique Mercure	...	Mme. Leroux (Montréal)
Don McKellar	...	Evan Williams (Montréal)
Ireneusz Bogajewicz	...	Mr. Ruselsky (Montréal)
Julian Richings	...	Nicolas Olsberg (Montréal)
Russell Yuen	...	Older Ming (Montréal)
Sandra Oh	...	Madame Ming (Montréal)
Paula de Vasconcelos	...	Suzanne (Montréal)
Rémy Girard	...	Customs Agent (Montréal)
Marie-Josée Gauthier	...	Hotel Concierge (Montréal)
Dany Laferrière	...	Cabby (Montréal)
Dorothée Berryman	...	Secretary (Montréal)
David La Haye	...	Handler (Montréal)
Gregory Hlady	...	Coat Attendant (Montréal)
Herman Meckler	...	Registrar (Montréal)
Sheena Macdonald	...	Ruselsky's Companion (Montréal)
Jody Shapiro	...	Autograph Seeker (Montréal)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Bradford	...	Stagehand (Montréal)
Joshua Bell	...	Violinist (Oxford) (uncredited)
Sylvia Stewart	...	Security guard (uncredited)

Directed by
François Girard

Writing credits
Don McKellar		(written by) &
François Girard		(written by)

Produced by
Niv Fichman	....	producer
Daniel Iron	....	co-producer
Giannandrea Pecorelli	....	co-producer
Barbara Shrier	....	line producer

Original Music by
John Corigliano

Cinematography by
Alain Dostie

Film Editing by
Gaétan Huot

Casting by
Deirdre Bowen
Andrea Kenyon

Production Design by
François Séguin

Art Direction by
Martyn John

Set Decoration by
Judy Farr

Costume Design by
Renée April

Makeup Department
Kathy Ducker	....	assistant makeup artist: Oxford
Pat Hay	....	makeup artist: Oxford
Meinir Jones-Lewis	....	assistant makeup artist: Oxford
Serge Morache	....	second key hair stylist
Cécile Rigault	....	assistant makeup artist
Petra Schaumann	....	assistant hair stylist: Oxford
Suzanne Stokes-Munton	....	hair stylist: Oxford
Micheline Trépanier	....	makeup artist: Montreal
Nathalie Trépanier	....	makeup artist
Adolf Uhrmacher	....	makeup artist: Vienna

Production Management
Peter Alves	....	post-production supervisor
Lucie Bouliane	....	production manager
Tommaso Calevi	....	production manager
Riccardo Folgore	....	unit manager
Giuseppe Tobia Mafezzoni	....	assistant production manager: Italy, Cremona
Robert Opratko	....	production manager: Vienna
Christina Romagnoli	....	unit production manager: Italy
Giorgio Vacchelli	....	assistant production manager: Italy/Cremona

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Buck Deachman	....	second assistant director
Olivier Gérard	....	first assistant director: Italy
Jennifer Jonas	....	assistant director
Carlo Paramidani	....	second assistant director: Italy
Stefano Voltaggio	....	third assistant director
David J. Webb	....	first assistant director: China (as David Webb)
Bill Yip	....	first assistant director: Canada

Art Department
Will Ayres	....	stand-by props
Mick Boleyn	....	construction manager
Cecile Braemer	....	assistant production designer
Rejean Brochu	....	construction supervisor
Marianne Carter	....	assistant production designer
Denis Caspar	....	graphic artist
Jamie Knutson	....	swing
Eric Lafrance	....	carpenter
Rebecca Loncraine	....	assistant art director
Luciano Magagnini	....	property master
Collin Niemi	....	assistant art director
Raymond Perry	....	property master (as Ray Perry)
Darren Reynolds	....	stand-by props
Claudio Villa	....	property master

Sound Department
Jocelyn Caron	....	foley recordist (as Jo Caron)
Jérôme Décarie	....	foley artist
Bernard Gariépy Strobl	....	sound re-recording mixer
Claude La Haye	....	sound engineer
Claude La Haye	....	sound
Benoit Leduc	....	foley assistant
Lawrence Manchester	....	additional engineering
Tchae Measroch	....	foley assistant
Antoine Morin	....	sound effects editor
Dominik Pagacz	....	sound effects assistant editor
Guy Pelletier	....	dialogue editor
Guy Pelletier	....	sound editor
Francis Péloquin	....	boom operator
Marcel Pothier	....	sound mixer
Marcel Pothier	....	sound
Hans Peter Strobl	....	sound mixer
Hans Peter Strobl	....	sound
Katrina Walsh	....	adr coordinator

Visual Effects by
Dominic Daigle	....	CGI animator
Frank D'Iorio	....	digital compositor: Buzzimage Group
Mathieu Dupuis	....	digital compositor: Buzz Image Group
Jamie Hallett	....	optical cameraman
François Lord	....	digital effects artist
Andre U. Montambeault	....	digital compositor
Robin Tremblay	....	computer graphics animator (Miscellaneous crew, Special Effects)
Robin Tremblay	....	visual effects matte painting
Mark Tureski	....	optical effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Jere Gillis	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Werner Bacciu	....	grip: Italy
Stefano Biscaro	....	key grip
Daniel Chrétien	....	gaffer
Daniel Chrétien Jr.	....	additional electrician: Montréal
Jean-Maurice de Ernsted	....	key grip
Francesco Di Giacomo	....	second assistant camera
Sylvaine Dufaux	....	additional camera operator: "b" camera
Sylvaine Dufaux	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Julie Garceau	....	video assist operator
Gernot 'Niki' Griedl	....	electrician
David Jerrett	....	electrician
Kimber Lee Jerrett	....	best girl electric: Vienna
Andrea Lotici	....	assistant electrician: Cremona, Italy
Bob Marshak	....	still photographer
Denis-Noel Mostert	....	Steadicam operator
Alberto Rogante	....	gaffer
Salvatore Scala	....	assistant electrician: Cremona, Italy
Bernhard Schober	....	grip
Federico Scoponi	....	assistant grip: Cremona, Italy
Takashi Seida	....	still photographer
Richard Wagner	....	assistant camera: Vienna

Casting Department
Nadia Cavalli	....	additional casting: Cremona, Italy
Jennifer Duffy	....	casting assistant
Rita Forzano	....	additional casting
Mary Selway	....	additional casting
Randi Wells	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Claudette Lilly	....	costume assistant
Thomas Oláh	....	costume coordinator
Ros Ward	....	wardrobe coordinator

Editorial Department
Louis-Philippe Rathé	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Joshua Bell	....	music consultant
Joshua Bell	....	musician: solo violin
Alison Booth	....	music production coordinator
Peter Cho	....	music production coordinator
John Corigliano	....	orchestrator
François Girard	....	executive music producer
Matthias Gohl	....	music producer
Joel Iwataki	....	music mixer
Joel Iwataki	....	music recordist
Todd Kasow	....	music editor
Guy Pelletier	....	music editor
Esa-Pekka Salonen	....	conductor

Other crew
Jean-François Aubin	....	production assistant
Charles Beare	....	violin builder
Francesco Bini	....	assistant choreographer: Cremona, Italy
Lorenzo Carnevali	....	assistant choreographer: Cremona, Italy
Francis Choquette	....	production assistant
Carmela Compagnone	....	production accountant
Rebecca Cotterill	....	production coordinator: Oxford
Alana Cymerman	....	assistant location manager
Julie Cyrenne	....	assistant production accountant
Hélène Grimard	....	production accountant (as Hélène Gallizzi)
Irene Iversen	....	second continuity: Vienna
Kristjan Järvi	....	assistant: Esa-Pekka Salonen
Marie La Haye	....	continuity
Johanne Pelletier	....	production coordinator
Helen Pratt	....	production coordinator: Oxford
Michèle St-Arnaud	....	location manager
Rebecca Starr	....	voice-over: Anna's theme
Fran Weston	....	production assistant
Patrik Attenhofer	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Jonathan Weisgal	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Mikado Films
• New Line International
• Red Violin Productions Ltd.
• Rhombus Media
• Sidecar Films & TV
• Téléfilm Canada

Distributors

• Alta Films (Spain)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (Germany) (DVD)
• EDKO Film (Hong Kong)
• Filmes Lusomundo (Portugal)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films (1999) (USA)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (France)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Film Distribution (Netherlands)
• Roadshow Entertainment (Greece)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (1999) (Finland) (video)
• Universal Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• VCL Communications (Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. (Greece)
• Warner Home Video (1998) (Finland) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2002) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Buzz Image Group

Other Companies

• Air Lyndhurst Studios  music recorded at
• Avatar Studios  music mixed at
• Avatar Studios  music recorded at
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music performed by
• Sony Classical  soundtrack published by

Also Known As:

The Red Violin (Canada: English title) (UK) (USA)
Il violino rosso (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality.

Runtime:

131 min | France:140 min

Country:

Canada | Italy | UK

Language:

French | English | Mandarin | Italian | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:LH | Philippines:PG-13 | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chicheley Hall, Chicheley, Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

When Frederick Pope leans back in the tub with the letter from his lover in his hand, the shot is a recreation of the famous painting "The Death of Marat."

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Poussin approached one of his 'sponsors' regarding Kaspar amid conversation, his sponsor mentioned that the heads of the royal family were rolling around in the gutters (suggesting that they were post-revolution), however, when they went to audition, everyone was dressed in pre-revolution attire including wigs. wigs were burned during the revolution and were taboo after the revolution.

Quotes:

Charles Morritz: What do you do when the thing you most wanted, so perfect, just comes?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ancient Evil 2: Guardian of the Underworld (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

O Richard! O mon Roi!

An ambitious story that delivers

What can you say about a film that covers three centuries, people from all stations of society, and several European countries and Canada. Ambitious is a good start. This film was very well crafted and at about one hundred forty minutes was too short for me. The story follows a red violin, an inanimate object, although at times it seemed alive to me, thru three centuries and the influences good and ill that it has on its possessors. It does ever seem to be owned. Each of its possessors lives a life of passion and turmoil. The violin's birth is during turmoil and during its life it buried, shot, and almost burned. The writing which includes this parallel between the violin and its possessor , five somewhat independent segments that mell and converge in the final scenes, and a story told by tarot cards make for an extremely unique experience. Add to that the musical score, scenery, the varied languages and cultures and you have a great offering. The performances were all strong, but I thought Jason Flemyng as Lord Frederick Pope stood out. To say his character was eccentric and maybe a little over the top is justifiable but I'm sure that was intended. English nobility has always been known for its idiosyncrasies. The ending has incongruous feel with the remainder of the film but is satisfactory and I can not suggest a better one. Great entertainment! Three and a half stars!!!