American Cinematographer - February 1999 - 18

compiled by Andrew O. Thompson
keeps the director away from "the temp¬
tation of useless considerations and

Right: Nicolo
(Carlo
Cecchi)
puts the
finishing

Bussotti

discussions, because [Alain] doesn't go
there. His first interest is the film

experi¬
emotionally and
intellectually. Alain is not just composing
nice shots, he's making a film, and that's
the greatest influence he's had on me. He
and I would rarely discuss 'look' or
'aesthetic' but rather script, characters,
and dialogue."
Dostie's career began in 1963,

touches on an
accursed
instrument in
The Red Violin,
a film set in
five nations
over a

ence

period

of 400 years.
Below:
Musical prodigy

Kasper Weiss

when he

(Christoph
Koncz)

was

means

hired

as a camera

assis¬

by the National Film Board of
Canada. He quickly graduated to director
of photography, shooting mostly Frenchlanguage shorts and documentaries.
Since leaving the NFB, he has collabo¬

tant

demonstrates
his bravura
talents in
an

and what it

Austrian

by Mark Dillon

shot on location in the five respec¬
tive countries where the story takes

The Red Violin traces the 400-

and Canada

All the World's A

orphanage.

Stage

was

England, Italy, Austria, China
and combines English
subtitles with native tongues. The film's
episodic structure is nothing new to
place

year-long journey of a consummate
fiddle crafted in the 17th-century Italian
workshop of Nicolo Bussotti (Carlo
Cecchi). Over the course of several
generations, the violin changes numer¬
ous hands: from an orphaned Austrian
prodigy to a lustful English virtuoso to a
Chinese party official with a traitorous
affection

for

Western

music.

bewitched instrument casts

spell

over

all who

possess

a

The

strange

-

-

Girard and Dostie, who shared an inter¬
national success with the 1993 biograph¬
ical feature

Thirty-Two Short Films About

Glenn Gould
The director describes his associ¬

rated with

some

of the most esteemed

Quebecois directors,

including Denys

Arcand, with whom he has made several

socially-themed documentaries, and
Robert Lepage, for whom he shot the
1995 feature Le Confessional, earning a
previous Genie Best Cinematography
nomination.
In

commercial work, as a valuable educa¬

The Red
essentially
prepping five movies at once. According

tional

to

ation with Dostie, which includes TV and

experience. Their relationship

preproduction

Violin, the filmmakers

Dostie, the trick

on

were

was not so

much to

it, ultimately

wreaking misfortune on their lives.
Directed by French-Canadian

Frangois Girard and photographed by
Alain Dostie, The Red Violin earned
Genie Award nominations for Best

Picture, Best Direction, and Best Cine¬

matography. And with

a

budget of $9

epic by Canadian
production standards - a joint venture
of Canada's Rhombus Media and Italy's
million, the film is

an

Mikado Productions, with New Line
International and England's Channel 4

pitching in a substantial funding.
To help ensure visual authenticity
(and global marketability), The Red Violin
16

February 1999

ILNnterioecaiowurftl.sy
Marshk,

byBPhootbs
American Cinematographer - February 1999

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