A big winner on the film festival circuit in the Americas and Europe, juries and audiences alike applauded Vargas accomplished first feature. El Violin is the kind of social realism film we don’t see so much these days. The film tells a simple story of guerrilla forces struggling against the oppression of government troops in 1970s Mexico. As the army occupies a cleared village, an old man (Don Plutarco/Angel Tavira) returns ostensibly to care for his crops, but his aim is to dig up buried guns for the rebel forces. Music helps him find a way to keep returning to the village.
The troops are painted very black and the peasants are painted very white. In fact the film is shot in black and white, perhaps to bring the point home or perhaps because of cost. Let’s say its for art’s sake. And the film is very arty lingering chiaroscuro close-ups of the violinist and shots of the splendour of the rural landscape contrast with the ugliness of the military and their actions a soaring music score is at times a little too intrusive.
Yet, despite what some have seen as a slightly self-conscious, artsy directorial touch, El Violin is an impressive film definitely worth the watch. It delivers real tension as the plot steadily builds to a suspenseful climax and the central performances, particularly that of 83 year old nonprofessional actor, Angel Tavira, are charismatic. Not least, the expressionistic visuals have a purpose they support the overarching metaphor of the power of the weapon v the musical instrument. This is a time-honoured filmic theme with precedents ranging from Our Daily Bread (1934) and Some Like it Hot (1959) to El Mariachi (1992). A powerful, affecting, beautiful film.
Violin is a movie of undeniable gravitas and monumentality. J. Hoberman, Village Voice, New York.
In King Vidor’s classic 1934 tribute to agrarian idealism, Our Daily Bread, the farmers declare the violinist and his instrument to be as essential to their future as their muscles and shovels. The Violin beautifully continues in Vidor’s tradition. Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
