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El Violin Reviews

2005

70
from 893 members

During the Mexican peasant revolts of the 1970s, farmer Don Ángel Tavira, son Gerardo Taracena and grandson Mario Garibaldi seek refuge with the rebels in the hills. Read more

Starring	Angel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Dagoberto Gama, Mario Garibaldi
Director	Francisco Vargas
Genres	Drama, World Cinema

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Critic's review of El Violin
View all critics' reviews (6)
- Political dissent knows no physical bounds in this robust and emotionally frosty debut from Mexican writer-director... read more on Time Out
- 169055
- - David Jenkins
  - Time Out
  - 09 Feb 2011 at 02:32
Write your own review »
Most helpful member's review of El Violin
View all members' reviews (10)
- - 16
  - 0
  Intense
  
  Almost impossible to watch at times, the powerful depiction of suffering and cruelty that man can inflict on others is beautifully filmed. In black and white ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 570077
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - a customer
  - Abingdon
  - 29 May 2008 at 09:55
Most recent members' reviews of El Violin
View all members' reviews (10)
- - 0
  - 0
  Beautifully Produced Film
  
  Starts off with some gratuitous Latin torture and sexual abuse, but then, largely because of the aged leading actor, becomes rather a languid description of the... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1087339
- - Cato
  - 589 reviews
  - Lydbury North
  - 31 Jan 2012 at 14:28
- - 0
  - 2
  El Disappointmente'.
  
  Really a disappointing movie. It seems to set up well, but then goes very very flat. You expect some clever twist, but in the end you're just left a bit ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1065136
- - Onlyests
  - 52 reviews
  - 20 Nov 2011 at 20:44
- - 3
  - 0
  A bit like Pan's Labyrynth with the happier bits removed..
  
  Rented this film on the recommendation of a friend. I'm glad we did but its not easy viewing as it depicts the sadistic casual cruelty man is capable of. ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 874032
- - jonny2hats
  - 14 reviews
  - yorkshire
  - 19 Mar 2010 at 08:44
- - 1
  - 0
  A simple story simply told
  
  As others have said I do not know the full history behind the rebels/freedom fighters of the time and looking at the conflicts that are happening around the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 796334
- - itstinks
  - 573 reviews
  - North of Reading
  - 11 Aug 2009 at 09:29
- - 0
  - 0
  El Fookin Amazin
  
  This flick is like Soy cuba, like Do The Right Thing, like .......
  
  Don't be a fool - make it number one on your rental list. You'll be ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 748107
- - a customer
  - Liverpool
  - 25 Apr 2009 at 21:12
- - 1
  - 0
  The Music Is Over
  
  'El Violin' starts off as a very brutal, polemical piece of film making very much in the mould of Russian revolutionary 'Cine-Fist' cinema by ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 731568
- - Melodraman
  - 8 reviews
  - Behind the Sofa
  - 24 Mar 2009 at 10:26
- - 2
  - 0
  When hope dies, music stops too...
  
  This is an art-house movie. One of the ways the film achieves its poetry and universality is by not giving historical and factual information. This film is a ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 727487
- - a customer
  - England
  - 16 Mar 2009 at 22:39
- - 0
  - 0
  Ethnic Struggles
  
  A HARD HITTING STORY OF PEOPLE FORCED O FIGHT FOR THIER LAND AND CULTURE.
  
  I LIKE THIS FILM
  
  CHECK IT OUT
  
  SOMETHING A BIT ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 722189
- - OSo
  - 403 reviews
  - Tooting London
  - 08 Mar 2009 at 00:28
- - 4
  - 2
  Lacking context
  
  This film is very good on displaying the treatment of poor peasants at the hand of vicious military suppression. The black and white images are particularly ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 650312
- - Zamy
  - 552 reviews
  - London
  - 27 Oct 2008 at 12:09
- - 16
  - 0
  Intense
  
  Almost impossible to watch at times, the powerful depiction of suffering and cruelty that man can inflict on others is beautifully filmed. In black and white ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 570077
- - a customer
  - Abingdon
  - 29 May 2008 at 09:55
View all members' reviews (10)

- - 16
  - 0
  Intense
  
  Almost impossible to watch at times, the powerful depiction of suffering and cruelty that man can inflict on others is beautifully filmed. In black and white ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 570077
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - a customer
  - Abingdon
  - 29 May 2008 at 09:55
- - 4
  - 2
  Lacking context
  
  This film is very good on displaying the treatment of poor peasants at the hand of vicious military suppression. The black and white images are particularly ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 650312
- - Zamy
  - 552 reviews
  - London
  - 27 Oct 2008 at 12:09
- - 3
  - 0
  A bit like Pan's Labyrynth with the happier bits removed..
  
  Rented this film on the recommendation of a friend. I'm glad we did but its not easy viewing as it depicts the sadistic casual cruelty man is capable of. ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 874032
- - jonny2hats
  - 14 reviews
  - yorkshire
  - 19 Mar 2010 at 08:44
- - 2
  - 0
  When hope dies, music stops too...
  
  This is an art-house movie. One of the ways the film achieves its poetry and universality is by not giving historical and factual information. This film is a ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 727487
- - a customer
  - England
  - 16 Mar 2009 at 22:39
- - 1
  - 0
  The Music Is Over
  
  'El Violin' starts off as a very brutal, polemical piece of film making very much in the mould of Russian revolutionary 'Cine-Fist' cinema by ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 731568
- - Melodraman
  - 8 reviews
  - Behind the Sofa
  - 24 Mar 2009 at 10:26
- - 1
  - 0
  A simple story simply told
  
  As others have said I do not know the full history behind the rebels/freedom fighters of the time and looking at the conflicts that are happening around the ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 796334
- - itstinks
  - 573 reviews
  - North of Reading
  - 11 Aug 2009 at 09:29
- - 0
  - 0
  Ethnic Struggles
  
  A HARD HITTING STORY OF PEOPLE FORCED O FIGHT FOR THIER LAND AND CULTURE.
  
  I LIKE THIS FILM
  
  CHECK IT OUT
  
  SOMETHING A BIT ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 722189
- - OSo
  - 403 reviews
  - Tooting London
  - 08 Mar 2009 at 00:28
- - 0
  - 0
  El Fookin Amazin
  
  This flick is like Soy cuba, like Do The Right Thing, like .......
  
  Don't be a fool - make it number one on your rental list. You'll be ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 748107
- - a customer
  - Liverpool
  - 25 Apr 2009 at 21:12
- - 0
  - 0
  Beautifully Produced Film
  
  Starts off with some gratuitous Latin torture and sexual abuse, but then, largely because of the aged leading actor, becomes rather a languid description of the... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1087339
- - Cato
  - 589 reviews
  - Lydbury North
  - 31 Jan 2012 at 14:28
- - 0
  - 2
  El Disappointmente'.
  
  Really a disappointing movie. It seems to set up well, but then goes very very flat. You expect some clever twist, but in the end you're just left a bit ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1065136
- - Onlyests
  - 52 reviews
  - 20 Nov 2011 at 20:44

< Prev
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Critics' reviews
- Political dissent knows no physical bounds in this robust and emotionally frosty debut from Mexican writer-director... read more on Time Out
- 169055
- - David Jenkins
  - Time Out
  - 09 Feb 2011 at 02:32
- Plays like a timeless lost classic of Latin American cinema
- 41899
- - Mail on Sunday
  - 05 Mar 2008 at 22:24
- Tavira is astonishing... a terrific debut by Vargas
- 41900
- - The Independent
  - 05 Mar 2008 at 22:24
- Astonishingly assured... deserves to be embraced
- 41860
- - Little White Lies
  - 29 Feb 2008 at 00:54
- Finely crafted... absorbing drama
- 41903
- - Variety
  - 05 Mar 2008 at 22:24
- A taut yarn... that really cooks
- 41902
- - Time Out
  - 05 Mar 2008 at 22:24

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Buy from Amazon.co.uk

- - Buy
- El Violin
  
  During the Mexican peasant revolts of the 1970s, farmer Don Ángel Tavira, son Gerardo Taracena and grandson Mario Garibaldi seek refuge with the rebels in the hills....