The Red Violin

François Girard’s follow-up to Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould has a similarly fragmented structure but isn’t nearly as provocative. Instead of being united by a sense of personality, this five-part tale of 300 years in the life of a prized instrument is jerky and overheated, as if melodrama could make up for the lack of strong connections between its segments. Elegantly — almost suffocatingly — shot and well-acted by Samuel L. Jackson, Greta Scacchi and Don McKellar (among many others), the film never quite establishes what it’s about, why these five stories have been made into one. Still, beneath its glossy heart, there’s something at work here, the sense of an artist with common concerns who hasn’t found the right vehicle to express them this time. Compared to Thirty-two Short Films, The Red Violin is far inferior, but it’s about the same things, and that means despite his misguided outlet, Girard is doing artist’s work. (See Sam Adams’ interview with François Girard.)

—Sam Adams