I didn't know if there was even the slightest chance this was based on a true history so I searched for the name of Nicolo Bussotti and learned that the character in the movie was fictitious, although parts of the red violin's origins WAS based on the life of Antonio Stradivari who lived during the era that opened the story. I rather enjoyed this picture and the way it traced the violin's history through the centuries, along with the tarot card gimmick that introduced each of the major turning points in the instrument's history. Most of the narrative appeared to fit historically, although I did have to laugh when the Oxford violinist Pope (Jason Flemyng) declared his lustful desire for Lady Victoria (Greta Scacchi) by stating "I feel a composition coming on". That was just such a concession to modern dialog that it disrupted the continuity of the scene for me. I'm still chuckling about it.

What I wasn't prepared for in the story was it's twist finale, given Charles Morritz's (Samuel L. Jackson) scholarly and professional approach to determining the violin's authenticity. As the instrument's restorer (Don McKellar) proclaims that "This is the single most perfect acoustic machine I have ever seen", there's still no indication that the pair would conspire to pull off the crime of the century. The film's ending with Morritz making a clean getaway rivaled the revelation made regarding another Samuel Jackson character, that of Elijah Price, in a movie that came out just a couple years after this one titled "Unbreakable". He was even a collector of sorts in that movie too.

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.

I know precious little about violins or about Stradivarius and why his violins are considered the best in the world. But this story is told in such a way where you need to know nothing in order to appreciate that history. Everything is laid out here and in a much grander story arc than any real violin likely ever went through.

Perhaps best of all was the casting of Samuel L. Jackson. He is the only real "star" in the cast, and his character is among the most complex. Though we go through several centuries and multiple countries, Jsckson's story really ties it all together -- like the moment in "2001" where the bone becomes the satellite, Jackson is the modern day counterpart to the violin's entire history.

The Red Violin is an ambitious film that traces the journey throughout the centuries of a violin borne by tragedy.

Famed master violin maker Nicolo Bussotti creates the violin in 1693 in Italy. When he loses his wife and child while she was giving birth, he adds their blood to the varnish for the violin thus giving it a distinctive red colour.

The mother had consulted her future with a reading of tarot cards. That future is carried via the violin as over the years it goes through Vienna, Britain and then China.

In 1997 Montreal, there is an auction taking place of various instruments from China. Charles Morritz (Samuel L Jackson) appraises them and notices what could be the fabled red violin.

He makes tests to authenticate it but also has a plan to keep the violin for itself.

Outside the thriller element regarding Morritz. The various segments are not that compelling. It just does not have the drama of a film such as Amadeus. Only the Oscar winning score by John Corigliano maintains interest.