The movie was loosely based on a novel written by John Hersey, himself an orchestral violinist, called Antonietta. In this story, Antonio Stradivari builds a violin for a beautiful widow that he intends to marry named Antonia and names it after her in the diminutive. Then we follow it as it passes from one owner to the next. Mozart encounters it in France, Berlioz later becomes captivated by it. Stravinsky after that and so on.
In The Red Violin (which I have on DVD), it isn't strongly hinted at but Morritz (Samuel L. Jackson's character) is Niccolo Bussotti reincarnated. He is entranced by the violin but can't really say why but he keeps getting strange flashes of memory although he is not sure what they mean but he acts on them as when his young assistant (who is actually a co-writer of the screenplay) starts to do a sonic test on the violin and Morritz suddenly gets a flash of Niccolo's wife gasping in pain as she goes into her miscarriage and yells at the assistant to stop it.
Also Morritz and Niccolo have the same character--very knowledgeable in their fields but also somewhat arrogant, abrasive men. If you do something to tick them off--and that could be anything really--they'll just go off on you. And they are both rather bossy and brusque with people. Then Morritz actually steals the violin and tells his daughter over the phone that he is bringing her a present--he presents the violin to his child which, as Niccolo, he was unable to do because of the miscarriage. All these centuries later, he is finally going to get it right. Somehow, Morritz, knows the violin is his and he MUST have it. That's not suggested in the movie and so Morritz's actions seem rather weird.
I am disappointed that there was no sequel. At some point, Mr. Russelsky, who thinks he bought it at the auction, is going to realize he was swindled and he is going to figure out who did it. That Chinese man at the auction is the young boy now grown up and at one point he told his wife to stop bidding and she asks, "Are you sure?" That tells me that he knows it wasn't the real Red Violin. Now all the parties who were in on the bidding--the Pope Society, the monks, the Chinese couple, Russelsky, etc.--all realize the real Red Violin is still out there and now all bets are off. Each is determined to get it this time.
It could make a fantastic movie if it's done right. I'm surprised it never happened.
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