Customer Reviews

The Violin

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Don Plutarco Hidalgo is an aging and illiterate peasant farmer, but he still plays the violin with his one good hand. His son plays the guitar and his grandson collects the spare change as they play in restaurants and bars, then sleep on the streets at night. But their real passion is the guerilla movement of other peasants who are resisting the oppressive government. When the army raids, loots and torches their little village, the guerilla movement is stranded in the dense mountain jungles without their cache of weapons. Plutarco borrows a mule and returns to their village, telling the occupying soldiers that he wants to check his crops. At his age, he's able to convince the soldiers, and the commander takes a shine to Plutarco's violin playing. I won't spoil just where that violin takes this powerful film about oppression and liberation, only to say that as the film itself demonstrates, it's the stuff of multi-generational songs sung at peasant campfires. Filmed in black and white, in Spanish with English sub-titles.

Extremely compelling film about an old farmer, Plutarco, and his violin. Joined by his son and grandson, Plutarco travels the countryside playing his music to earn money. When the military takes over the village and prevents Plutarco from returning home, Plutarco strikes up a friendship with the army commander, hoping to charm his way back into the village. Plutarco must return to the village because of a secret he has hidden there.

"The Violin" has become the most awarded Mexican film in history. A must see!

The story is about an old grandfather, Plutarco, his son Genaro, and the grandson Lucio who smuggle weapons to rebels, an soon get caught up in a suspenseful battle for their lives, their dignity, protecting their land, their home. The opening scene depicts brutality, torture, rape and that is enough to set the tone of the movie. You don't see what is happening, you can only imagine. The scene during the first several minutes is the limit of that violence and cruelity for the entire movie.

Plutarco, an aging musician plays the violin with one hand and with his violin, he becomes entangled with the army while the rebels plot to overtake and protect their homes. Meanwhile, Plutarco makes an attempt to recover ammunition he has hidden from the army and give to the rebels. While suspicious of his violin, the army leader is interested in the playing of the violin.

Director, writer and producer of the film, Francisco Vargas has not defined a time or a place that the action takes place. In my opinion, it is anytime, and any Latin American country, or the world for that matter.

For increased intensity, it is shot in black and white and it adds to the cold impersonal mood and stark existence. Color would add warmth and the film is not about that. There are beautiful scenes in black and white; especially where the octogenarian Plutarco tells his grandson the story of how "it" all starts. During this short storytelling, the focus is on the fire smoldering or the dancing flames.

In addition to the remarkable story, the great directing, memorable scenes, comes the protagonist, Don Plutarco, a non-actor with amazing ability to carry out this important film. It is said outside the film that he did have a hand missing since childhood and he is a musician. The film garnered ant a huge number of awards. Great acting, great story, great movie. .....Rizzo

I saw this film at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. Fabulous. Stunning black and white cinematography. Slow, but a sadly accurate story capturing the way of life of the struggle.

Writer/director Francisco Vargas doesn't cover any new territory in "The Violin", but he brings familiar themes to the screen in a particularly beautiful style. In an unnamed Latin American nation, three generations of the Hidalgo family travel the countryside as itinerant musicians. Don Plutarco (Angel Tavira) is a violinist missing a hand. His son Genaro (Gerardo Taracena) plays guitar, while grandson Lucio (Dagoberto Gama) collects the money. But Genaro has other reasons for leaving his village to vagabond: He buys arms for rebel guerilla forces. Upon returning to their village, the men find the population displaced and government solders terrorizing their comrades. But a stash of ammunition is still on the Hidalgo farm, undiscovered. Plutarco uses his violin in a ploy to recover it.

"The Violin" is black-and-white, reminiscent of Italian neo-realism in its style and its politics. It proceeds at a measured pace, lingering on sights, sounds, and faces, with spare dialogue. Although it reminded me of Italian neo-realism, "The Violin" has its own distinct earthiness, not exactly like anything I've seen before, and it's quite beautiful. The action seems to take place in Mexico, but the time and place are never specified, presumably because the battle between government and rebel forces is intended to be generic. The characters are populist cliches: An honest, uncomplicated old man, noble peasants, heroic revolutionaries, and sadistic soldiers. Predictably, Plutarco speaks of the native, pagan religion, not Catholicism. Though I found the story tired, "The Violin" is one of the most visually arresting films I've seen in recent years and well worth seeing to immerse yourself in the style. In Spanish with optional English subtitles.

The DVD (Film Movement 2008): This disc is from the Film Movement DVD-of-the-Month Club. In addition to the feature, there is a short film called "Un Bisou Pour le Monde" (A Kiss for the World) (7 min) by director Cyril Paris. It's about an insolent elementary school student who tears and then tapes a newspaper back together so as to change the headlines. In French with English subtitles. There are also text bios of 3 actors and director Francisco Vargas, a theatrical trailer (2 min), and trailers for some of Film Movement's other releases.

[Originally a comment to a previous review.]

What this film portrays is the ruthlessness of profit-driven policy, and the struggle to maintain some semblance of dignity and cultural history. This is well summarized by the tale about Gods of creation, told by the grandfather to his inquisitive grandchild. Done in black and white, relatively little dialogue and masterful cinematography, the film provides a painting of the human will to survive, and the humanity that can sometimes be found in the most unlikely of places. There are not enough such films - historic depictions that double as artistic masterpieces. After watching this film, it may be worthwhile to look at the history involved, and to trace America's involvement in the issues. Perhaps this will lead to a broader understanding of indigenous issues related to Latin America, and the School of the Americas as well. True art transcends entertainment and this, for "us," can sometimes be challenging.

Peace,

E.S.M.

This black-and-white film opens with some rather graphic footage of what brutal soldiers do to poor peasants, especially women. Need I say more? Viewers then think the entire movie is about such graphic footage...

But it is not. It is the sometimes ironic portrayal of a poor peasant family in Mexico, trying to survive the militaristic treatment from its soldiers down to the poorest of peasants, who often do not have much more than their clothes on their backs and what little crops they can grow.

Don Plutarco is a talented violinist who can captivate some of the brutal soldiers into temporary humanity. Don knows this, and uses his musical talents to fight the oppressive government soldiers.

Although slow at times, it also depicts the life of these peasants: life is slow for them, but they must remain steadfast and clever if they want to survive the treatment they get.

Filmed in Mexico's beautiful countryside, this Mexican film must be enjoyed and absorbed, and appreciated for its honesty. Showing indigenous people rather than "Europeos," the end of this film may not be what most American viewers expect, where Hollywood usually dictates happy endings and joyful resolutions.

Another bonus to this DVD is the cute French short film that follows "The Violin," namely "A Kiss for the World" which shows the optimistic creativity of one rebellious school boy. After watching "The Violin" this short film may be indeed a nice reprieve.

This spanish language movie is set in the mountains in the state of Guerrero, Mexico during a revolutionary period where the peasants are attempting to overthrow the army rule and control over the farmlands. Central to the plot are three generations of men - Don Plutarco, the one-hand violin playing grandfather - his son Genaro (plays guitar and a key member of revolution) and the grandson Lucio. The three of them travel from town to town playing music for pennies while the story begins to unfold. While Genaro is active in participating in revolutionary activities, it's Plutarco's music and craftiness which engage a Senior army officer for the benefit of the revolution. The story opens with some brutally violent scenes which immediately take you into its grips - and then gently rocks you back and forth between calm and reflection and tension. The movie is filmed in stunning black and white vistas. The individual characters and hardships are etched in the faces and bodies. This is a slow moving but captivating film - which moves from brutality to poverty and tenderness and back again. Like many great performances, few words are spoken in this film but much is understood. If you liked Grapes of Wrath, you'll likely enjoy this movie which has similar themes of poverty, endurance, struggle. Loved it...

The film is beautifully made. I hesitated to watch it for almost a year after buying it, but finally as soon as I started watching it, I became very intrigued by this story based on true events from the revolts of the 1970's in Mexico. The story doesn't point out a mayor historic event, but is relevant of many (often constant) struggles that the village peoples of Mexico and many Latin American countries face throughout their lives.

It makes it very clear why many rural areas in Latin American are patrolled by military, and how often military is not used for protecting a country from the attacks of other nations, but to opress (and often worse) its own people in order for the governments to be able to control certain areas without having the residents get in the way.

In a way it is a form of fascism. Because it has always been the indigenous peoples that are supressed by the militants, and many of them, as hinted (not necessarily shown) in the film, end up in exile, murdered or disappeared. The militants end up controlling the land and villages, and also keep guard so that if anyone of upper scale appearance is passing through one of the checkpoints, they are able to notify the next checkpoint so as to make it appear that the militants are only there to ensure the safety of the people, creating an ongoing staged falseness governed by politics, in which people are disappearing in a legal form.

Through all this, the main character, Don Plutarco makes everything seem very casual, carrying his violin and being a childlike person, ...you can't help but love him, and neither can the militants... Don Angel Tavira, who plays the role of Plutarco, is in fact a real life composer and violinist.

Definitely check it out, well worth the price and it is an important eye-opener. In a way it is sad to see that this is what goes on in many parts of the world still today, but it is good to see to realize how we should not treat other humans on this tiny planet we all share.

I ordered this DVD as a present for my friend, because I wanted him to enjoy the movie as much as I did.