The film is not a tract, it offers a sobering view of Mexican social reality, past and present. The traditional music is haunting.

| Feb 14, 2021

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 18, 2008

An impressive debut for Mexican writer and director Francisco Vargas.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 30, 2008

The film from first-timer Francisco Vargas puts a human face on universal suffering. It is also about the power of music, as the title instrument saves (for a while anyway) three generations of peasant men in their roles as guerrilla fighters.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 7, 2008

You may not remember how exactly this trio passed the time during most of the film's too-spare 98 minutes, but Plutarco is a character you likely won't forget.

| Feb 28, 2008

The Violin is so beautiful to look at, it almost wouldn't matter if it had a story. But it has one, and it's riveting.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 22, 2008

Life-or-death matters are handled with compelling gravity.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 8, 2008

It's all stripped down to a conflict more abstract than historical, a fable of heroic defiance in the face of brutal oppression.

| Original Score: B | Feb 8, 2008

Francisco Vargas makes a marvellous debut with his magnificent The Violin.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 17, 2008

Of course, there's Tavira, who, even if he never appears in another film, has left an indelible mark on cinema with his work here.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 4, 2008

A message this political has rarely been delivered in so poetic a form.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 4, 2008

The weathered Tavina, who lost his hand in an accident at the age of 13, makes a fittingly indomitable hero. He's a character you're likely to remember - his face alone is worth a thousand words.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 4, 2008

Shot in luminous, high-contrast black and white, it has the rugged if faintly self-important authority of a Hemingway short story.

| Jan 4, 2008

A terrific debut by Vargas, who wrote, directed and produced.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 4, 2008

Another sort of movie would find a feelgood way of resolving the story; Vargas's vision is more grim and more realistic, but it is persuasively real, and in Tavira the director has found a natural star of the screen.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 4, 2008

The plot is slimmer than a bowed string and lacks tension.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 4, 2008

A quietly gripping adversarial duel lies at the heart of this political thriller, which has been hailed as a masterpiece in Vargas's native Mexico.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 4, 2008

The film's strongest asset is octogenarian newcomer Tavira, who exudes stoic dignity.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 4, 2008

A challenging yet rewarding watch.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 4, 2008

Told with ruthless efficiency and no sentiment or sermonizing, stands as a fitting tribute to the human spirit.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 4, 2008