BLINDSPOTS:
Movie Reviews for Visually Impaired People
"The Red Violin," rated "R" and with a running time of about two hours is an intriguing story about a very special violin and its journeys through many generations. Samuel Jackson is the only Hollywood star, his role being more significant towards the latter half of the picture. The real star is the violin.
In 1681 a highly skilled violin maker completed his most exquisite instrument. Weeks later his wife died while giving birth. In his grief the violin maker dedicated the instrument to his wife, "With all my heart," in a very strange way.
Following are five completely different stories that focused on the history of the red violin. Descendants of the unique stories all end up at an auction, where the star instrument to be auctioned off is..."The Red Violin."
From the visually impaired point of view. This was a complex and confusing movie for most people. But for visually impaired people it bordered on the absurd. At least half of the flick was spoken in four different languages with English sub-titles. After a few minutes my sighted assistant and I figured out that the best way to handle sub-titles in a movie theater is to have the assistant whisper the jist of the scene, rather than reading all the sub-titles verbatim.
The movie had lots of flashbacks that kept coming back to the present time auction, so you actually get to experience the auction's beginning about five times. This information should help you comprehend that confusing aspect. At the beginning of each new story was a brief scene with Cesca, a fortune teller, reading her cards. The artistic nature of this movie had Cesca unintentionally reading the cards for the violin.
There were a few scenes with no words, but these were, relatively speaking, easier than the scenes with foreign dialogue.
In spite of all the negatives this story was truly fascinating. The music, mostly violin music, was just beautiful and the unfolding history of the red violin was truly compelling. I've got to give this picture only a 3, but will still encourage movie-goers and especially music lovers to find a way to enjoy this story. Take a good sighted assistant and maybe go to a theater at an off time without too many people in the audience. You certainly don't need to be worrying about others in the audience in addition to struggling with this picture as your sighted assistant keeps whispering to you. Also remember, there's nothing wrong with waiting until this one comes out in video.
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