Red Violin [Blu-ray]

The first time I saw "The Red Violin" was over seven years ago. I didn't own a television at the time and watched the film instead on a ten inch monitor in a college dorm room. I had plucked the DVD from the bargain bin at the local video store for only a few dollars. I'd never heard of the film and bought it simply because I liked Samuel L. Jackson. Well, not only that, the decisive factor was that, at the time, all I had was a few dollars. So it was either this or a low budget Dolph Lundgren action flick (which I am not above, I might add). Still, I chose wisely. For two hours I was completely absorbed by the deftly told tale of a perfectly crafted violin's global journey throughout the centuries, culminating in the shockingly beautiful conclusion that ties together all the threads in a neat, satisfying tapestry.

On that note let me make this clear - were I reviewing the film itself it would be five easy stars, as it's an under appreciated contemporary classic with beautifully shot cinematography and a screenplay so moving that Ingmar Bergman wishes he had written it. The acting is top notch as well: two highlights include the real life musical prodigy Christoph Koncz's moving portrayal as his fictional counterpart Kasper Weiss and Jason Flemyng as English violin virtuoso Frederick Pope. This Blu-Ray release, however, is a half hearted attempt at giving the film a high definition transfer and giving it as much as three stars would be extreme generosity on my part. As it is, two stars is more than fair.

I owned the original Lions Gate release from that bargain bin years ago, then later upgraded to the Meridian Collection release (also by Lions Gate), which featured a slightly enhanced transfer of the film. It also included two new special features, one focusing on the trade of rare violins and the auctions that supply them along with another that focused on composer John Corigliano's heart-achingly beautiful score for the film. Once I received word of an upcoming high definition Blu-Ray release of "The Red Violin", I was sold from day one.

Once I discovered that this is a Canadian import released by Alliance, I bought the Blu with rather low expectations. Alliance is known for releasing films with threadbare presentation values and lackluster audio/subtitle options, and "The Red Violin" makes no effort to enhance this reputation. There are three audio tracks, a 5.1 DTS English track, 5.1 Dolby Digital English track, and a 5.1 Dolby Digital French track. The trouble begins with the subtitle selection, or in this case the complete lack thereof. The disc provides mandatory subtitles for any spoken language other than English. If the viewer has trouble understanding or hearing the English scenes they're simply out of luck. There are absolutely no special features included, not even so much as a commentary track or a theatrical trailer.

Continuing the disappointment, the film transfer was clearly supervised with minimal effort, an apparent hallmark of Alliance. "The Red Violin" has an image only marginally sharper than the Meridian Collection DVD. Even factoring in that it's a twelve year old catalog title, the HD presentation leaves much to be desired. The colors are much too muted and there is a distinct lack of clarity such as we expect from Blu-Ray. The film would benefit from a small degree of artificial enhancement, though such things must be handled with extreme delicacy and thus it's fortunate Alliance didn't attempt it.

For the time being, I advise all fans of this nineties classic to retain their DVD copies. The dearth of options and lackluster film transfer simply doesn't warrant the hefty import price. Wait instead for the as yet unscheduled American release, which will hopefully receive the same care and attention the Meridian Collection DVD was given. Hopefully.

Yes, the picture and sound are better than the DVD, but neither are as good as they might have been. This is a typical Alliance Blu-ray which is not a compliment. The DVD had full English subtitles throughout and there was no reason to miss these off on this disc. The music sounds fine but the dialogue is nothing special and it would have been a great help, especially to the millions who are hearing impaired, to have had the subtitles, especially as they are listed on the subtitle menu, which then helpfully informs you they cannot be accessed as part of the disc design! English comprises about a third of the dialoge and has no subtitles. The other languages are well subtitled in English. There is a French dub for all languages without subtitles. Like most of the Alliance Canada Blu-rays this is bare bones. Hopefully a better release will appear somewhere else eventually. If you are not troubled by the subtitling and limited language options then this a better disc than the DVD but with just a little more care it could have been a lot better.

Great movie, the story is beautifully told and history of the instrument in the movie is superb. I recommend the soundtrack as well. A must see for violin enthusiast.

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