The film The Red Violin is a drama written and directed by director Francois Girard, which follows the story of a mysterious and intriguing musical instrument over 300 years. Francois Girard got the idea for the film from events involving the legendary red Mendelssohn, a 1720 Antonio Stradivari violin purchased in 1990 by the grandfather of the famous musician and heiress, Elizabeth Pitcairn (Fricke, 2010). The story is artfully and elegantly put together, and although fictional, the plot portrays what could be realistic characters, settings, and life situations. There are some flaws in the film however, but the entertaining qualities make up for them. There are several elements incorporated by Francois Girard to make the film a little suspenseful and more believable; he also uses some symbolic gestures. The film is almost like a puzzle where you need one piece of the puzzle to move on to the next until all the pieces come together to show the final result, giving the film some suspense. He does this during the red violin auction scene, the last place the violin ends up in Montreal; and as the auction unfolds, it traces the beginning of the violin's creation and chronicles the movement of the violin throughout history in chronological order. As he travels to each of the five countries where the violin ends up in different time periods, he returns to the intermediate auction with a bidder who represents that country and time period in some way; whether someone who was directly involved with the violin, or indirectly. Each time it returns to the auction seen, it brings a new perception of the events that occurred as if seen through... middle of paper... iTunes store reviews give the film a rating of five out of five stars. The film probably deserves a rating of four to four and a half stars out of five because five out of five is perfect, and even if it's close, the film isn't perfect. A common comment is that the violin causes despair in anyone who plays it. This comment contains no truth. Another common comment is that the film brings something to a wide audience; this speculation could be true because it has many different elements that can appeal to different tastes. Works Cited Fricke, R. (2010). History of the “Rosso Mendelssohn” Stradivarius. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from http://www.elizabethpitcairn.com/html/redviolin2.aspGirard, N. (director/screenwriter) and Fichman, N. (producer). (1998). The red violin.(moving image). Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom.