DVD Mini Review - The Violin

Francisco Vargas's The Violin is a wonderful little film from Mexico. It is the story of a young boy, his father and grandfather who are traveling musicians. Father Genaro (Garardo Taracena) plays the guitar and grandfather Don Plautarco (Angel Tavira) plays the violin. Young Lucio (Mario Garibaldi) is there to collect the money (if there is any). However, these musicians also smuggle weapons to the rebel army that is fighting the soldiers (and government) who have taken away everything that they own.

The film starts off with a bang - a soldier is torturing one of the rebels. There is some violence that is difficult to watch - but there are only a few scenes of that. All of the acting if great but Tavira is outstanding. He is really a violinist. And his face shows everything. The scenes between him and Garibaldi are extremely touching. The moral is - greed and ambition rules the world and is ruining the world as well.

This film had a limited release and now is the chance to catch it on DVD. I highly recommend it to those of you who love good world cinema.