The Red Violin
...the violin that the monks have called Georges Poussin, a poor but knowledgeable expert, to hear the boy. Impressed, Georges returns Kaspar to Vienna where he trains him for a grand audition that will seal his future. The music changes to a major key in this section and is much more lively, perhaps symbolizing the youth of the children. Kasper is completely engulfed by the violin; he sleeps with it in his bed every night. Tragically, the young boy dies during an audition for a prince and is buried with the violin back at the orphanage. The music changes to a minor and is very discordant, once again symbolizing death. The violin is dug up by Poussin and sold to gypsies for extra cash. With another turn of the cards the story moves forward to a band of gypsies who've acquired the violin and have temporarily settled on some land owned by Frederick Pope, an English concert violinist who becomes enamored with the instrument. Soon, he not only uses it to seduce his audiences, but also novelist Victoria Byrd with whom he's having a passionate affair. In the third section, the music is more upbeat, but remains minor, possibly symbolizing lust. The violin then travels to China, where after sitting for years in a local pawn shop, finds itself in the middle of the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. With foreign music and instruments banned, music teacher Chou Yuan barely escapes with his life thanks to party member Xiang Pei, who has a hidden love for such music. This is the only section in which some of the music played doesn’t not involve the violin; much of the music is played by accordions. As in the second section, about Kaspar and the orphanage, the music is very lively. In contrast, the music is not exclusively major, but is rather being played in the typical Chinese fashion. When the violin is actually played in this section, it is played alone, in a minor key. Throughout the film when the violin is played in this manner, its encompassing effect on the musician is evident. Finally, and many years later, the violin appears at a 1997 auction, where Charles Morritz has been called in to verify various instruments' authenticity and worth. Believing the centuries old violin to be the revered Red Violin, Morritz, with the aid of a lab technician, sets out to discover the violin's secrets and whether or not they're in possession of the real thing. As they discover that the violin in their possession is in fact the real Red Violin, Morritz is immediately trapped in the Viol...