El violin (2006)

Directed by: Francisco Vargas | 98 minutes | drama | Actors: Don Angel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Mario Garibaldi, Dagoberto Gama, Fermín Martínez, Silverio Palacios, Octavio Castro, Mercedes Hernández, Gerardo Juárez, Ángeles Cruz, Norma Pablo, Ariel Galvan, Amorita Rasgado, María Elena Olivares, Esteban

Director Francisco Vargas made his debut with this film, which is based on a short film he had previously made about the struggle between farmers and the army in 1970s Mexico. Don Plutarco is an older man with a dignified look in the eye. Although he has only one hand, he plays the violin and lives as a traveling musician, together with his son Genaro and grandson Lucio. However, this existence also proves to be an ideal cover for Genaro to smuggle weapons for the freedom fighters, who are fighting against the dictatorship. One day, upon returning to their village, the trio discover that all the villagers have fled. The army has chased or arrested the residents and burned down the houses. Genaro’s wife and daughter have also disappeared. Moreover, he can no longer reach the ammunition hidden in the village. In an effort to save what can be saved, Genaro leaves Lucio in Plutarco’s care and joins the guerrillas. Meanwhile, Plutarco has been given access to the village to play the violin for the megalomaniac commander. Meanwhile, Plutarco manages to smuggle small amounts of ammunition out of the village again and again.

‘El Violin’ actually rests on two pillars: on the one hand there is the story of the combative Genaro, who takes the necessary risks to achieve his ideals, on the other hand there is the story of the wise old Plutarco and his taciturn grandson Lucio. Both seem passive: Plutarco has already been through too much to understand all that violence and Lucio has not yet experienced enough to be able to understand it. This second story is much more interesting than the first. Despite the sad necessity of Genaro’s fighting skills, ‘El Violin’ comes across as a bit of an exciting boys’ book. An anxious Genaro, looking around, on the run from soldiers chasing him. A look staring into nothingness and a hand on his comrade’s shoulder when he hears what happened to his wife and daughter. The grim look when he sits by the fire at night.

These are all somewhat clichéd elaborations of a story about idealism and (unequal) struggle. The low point in that regard is the shocking opening of ‘El Violin’, in which we immediately become acquainted with the torture and rape practices of the army. Fortunately, on the other hand, there is the story of Plutarco, the old violinist. That starts beautifully with Plutarco’s cryptic explanation to Lucio, about why people do all this to each other. Plutarco, who prefers to play music than to talk, confronts the army in his own way. And that goes well for a long time. While Genaro’s story is laced with heroism, violence and idealism, Plutarco’s story remains interesting precisely because it deals with more versatile and nuanced aspects, such as poverty, pragmatism and reliability, and because here a lot is left to the imagination. No shocking images, but beautiful dialogues between Plutarco and Lucio, between Plutarco and the commander, or between Plutarco and a landlord. Dialogues that show how the relationships are in society, and how (un)truthful each individual fulfills those roles. It is therefore a good thing that the majority of the film consists of this second story. Vargas has chosen to show everything in black and white, which gives the film a certain timelessness. This film is not specifically about Mexico in the 1970s, but about just about every Latin American country from the second half of the 20th century to the present. Unbalanced as the film is, ‘El Violin’ makes an impression. Mainly thanks to Plutarco, and the truly brilliant rendition of that role by Don Angel Tavira. All in all,