SYNOPSICS
The Devil's Violinist (2013) is a English,French movie. Bernard Rose has directed this movie. David Garrett,Jared Harris,Joely Richardson,Christian McKay are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2013. The Devil's Violinist (2013) is considered one of the best Biography,Drama,Musical movie in India and around the world.
1830. Violin virtuoso and notorious womanizer Niccolò Paganini (David Garrett) is at the peak of his career, acclaimed throughout Europe. His name alone suggests countless affairs and scandals - which is exactly what his manager Urbani (Jared Harris) is doing his utmost to cultivate, for it is in his interest to market his famous client the best way possible. Only the London public has yet to be conquered. In a plan to lure Paganini to London for his British debut, English impresario John Watson (Christian McKay) and his mistress Elisabeth Wells (Veronica Ferres) risk all they own. Business-savvy Urbani ultimately manages to bring Paganini to the British capital, albeit against his will. And thanks to the rave reviews by journalist Ethel Langham (Joely Richardson), Urbani's strategy seems to be working better than he imagined. Protestors throng his hotel, causing pandemonium. Musician and manager are forced to take refuge at Watson's home, where Paganini quickly takes a liking to his ...
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The Devil's Violinist (2013) Reviews
One does not have to be a musician to critique David Garrett.
To cop to another reviewer's judgement of me as a "pinhead" I loved this movie because: 1. I had never heard of David Garret and became more mesmerised by his violin playing the longer the movie lasted. 2. Mr. Garrett does not deserve an Oscar for his acting abilities but he deserves my praise and much praise from others for his musical performances in the movie. 3. I was deeply moved and inspired by his abilities to make the violin sing to me. 4. I know the movie is not a definitive historical work but it paints a broad enough brush for non-experts like to enjoy a long lasting "buzz" from the dazzling violin performance of Mr. Garrett. In fact I spent some time on YouTube enjoying several other performances of Mr. Garrett. So this "pinhead" is now a die hard fan of the movie, Mr. Garrett and his supporting cast. I appreciate all of the hard work and effort that the writers, producers, directors and performers put into this lovely work. This "pinhead" can appreciate criticism of the movie but the bitter, vitriol and ad hominem attack upon the people who worked hard to create is way overkill. The Devil's Violinist is not perfect but it certainly is "good enough."
If Syfy Channel Tried To Make a Drama
This is what it would be like. It wasn't entirely unwatchable, but it was not a good movie by any means. CGI was distracting, although if you look at it as art, they did a good job, just not realistic enough to be passable. I was surprised Bernard Rose was the writer and Director, who also did the same for Immortal Beloved. Perhaps this movie was just missing Gary Oldman? The movie seems to be confused whether Paganini is the main character or not. It is filled with sub-par, some acceptable, and some over-acted performances. I thought Andrea Deck was good. David Garrett as Paganini, well, maybe his performance was more related to the script. I did enjoy all his performance scenes (performing on the violin, you dirty minded people you). Am I the only one that noticed St. Patrick's Cross flag flying over London? You'd think Bernard Rose, an Englishman, would catch that. It was clearly in the hands of the Syfy special effects gurus at this point, so maybe the he had no hand in post-production. Or maybe there was a time England was flying the British version of the Irish flag that I don't know about? I doubt it. Overall, this movie was not great enough to be good, and not bad enough to be great. It falls right in the middle, as most forgettable movies do.
Unconvincing period biopic
Niccolò Paganini (David Garrett) is a virtuoso violinist, stolen from Italian obscurity by the serpentine Urbani (Jared Harris) and brought to swinging 19th century London on the request of struggling promoter John Watson (Christian McKay). There his lascivious urges and his musical genius find equal outlet, until his heart is attuned to Charlotte (Andrea Deck), with whom he shares a harmonious partnership. Tragedy encroaches, however, as those who brought Paganini to the top conspire to cast him into the gutter once more. What is the truth of Paganini? Bernard Rose's biopic plays fast and loose, which shouldn't matter because art strives for universal truths. Yet such striving often leads to cliché, as has happened here. As an instrument the violin lends itself well to furious solos, so the transition from classical musician to rock god is easy – throw in some long shaggy hair and stubble and sunglasses and we've basically got ourselves a Georgian Ozzy Osbourne. Not that the film is terribly anarchic. Early on we get some Dogma 95-influenced hand-held camera and hack 'n' slash editing but it soon gives way to familiar period stageyness. Rose's film exists in the same realm as Milos Forman's Amadeus and touches on some of the same themes – genius emerging from chaos, both a creative and destructive force – but it's a relatively shallow movie, and one whose TV budget cannot be elevated by its impressively crashing classical soundtrack and its smoggy capital exteriors. Forman's film had a force-of-nature at its centre in the form of Tom Hulce. The Devil's Violinist has David Garrett, who's a wonderful violinist but no actor. Alarm bells ring when a character is meant to be thinking hard about something and actually grabs their chin. But then, could any actor have provided a sympathetic portrayal? How charming is any man this juvenile; this unprofessional? Why should we care for a man who whinges about being "misunderstood" in one breath then dismisses his fans with the next? How do we side with someone who claims to love another and then accidentally shags a complete stranger with the same hair colour? Better writing and an actual actor might have helped us answer these questions. Garrett isn't very well-supported, to be fair. Harris turns a scheming snake into a pantomime villain. Joely Richardson is gobsmackingly miscast as a cockney troublemaker. And while Alien Isolation fans may be pleased to see Andrea Deck in her full feature debut, I wouldn't expect the scripts to start piling on her doormat on the basis of this. But then, again, Charlotte is bafflingly written: she's genuinely repulsed by Paganini – a player and a player – only to spin on a sixpence once she hears him knock out a few notes, melody apparently trumping manners. Rose has a firm hold of his film's darkly humorous tone, and the musical performances are, inevitably, spectacular (almost worth the rental fee alone, if for some reason an actual David Garrett Live DVD isn't available). But the decision to build a movie around a real musician backfires horribly, and with a bland and over-familiar script ("Who is the real you?" one character genuinely asks) it has to go down as a handsome, tuneful failure.
Beautiful music hides a very simple and sudden story.
This is what misery of a lost soul and a deeper loss of the heart would sound like. We are given a feast for our ears, set in a very clean Victorian era world. The Devil went down to someplace, and dug up our Paganini, a Mozart type in a similar world just a few decades on or so. This movie is no Amadeus, there is no expansive epic story that digs deeply into the souls of any of the characters in this movie, in fact things are all very straight forward, and there is only one little mystery left up to you, and even that is not too easy to believe. I Enjoyed the music, and the settings of this movie, however small, and closed in all of the sets were. There is some really nice moments of tension that is built up during the more intense Violin playing, and I recommend this movie for those, the characters are all acted fantastically, by a wonderfully diverse, and experienced cast. However that does not save the story which is really predictable, and mostly hollow. If you like musicals, you will enjoy this, and there is a nice look to everything so I have to give the production team a solid nod for making the most of what they had.
Mediocre at best, partially redeemed by the music
They took the work of a genius and turned it into a mediocre movie. Bad acting particularly by the Paganini character with his cringe making, bland American accent. The writing and direction were just plain awful, I have seen better 30 second advertisements. If you enjoy the music of Paganini this movie is something to avoid. Some musical moments, mostly singing appeared as rays of sunshine through an overclouded sky. The characters were entirely one dimensional and quite unbelievable with poor acting and dreadful dialogue. No surprise then that the director was also the writer, and I will avoid any work of his I come across. Needless to say, any similarity between Paganini's life and this movie is purely coincidental. Even as just entertainment this is a boring, clichéd movie-don't waste your time watching.