enn ▁G ould , ▁wrote ▁" The ▁Red ▁Vi olin ▁amounts ▁to ▁more ▁than ▁Five ▁Short ▁Films ▁About ▁a ▁F iddle ", ▁cred iting ▁Cor igli ano ' s ▁music ▁for ▁supp lying ▁intensity ▁and ▁the ▁story ▁for ▁making ▁the ▁e pon ym ous ▁viol in ▁into ▁its ▁own ▁interesting ▁character . ▁Roger ▁E bert ▁called ▁the ▁film ▁" he ed lessly ▁am bit ious ", ▁possess ing ▁" the ▁kind ▁of ▁swe ep ▁and ▁vision ▁that ▁we ▁identify ▁with ▁elegant ▁features ▁from ▁dec ades ▁ago ". ▁For ▁The ▁Guardian , ▁Jonathan ▁Rom ney ▁wrote ▁that ▁" as ▁fla wed ▁mov ies ▁go , ▁it ' s ▁elegant , ▁entertain ing ▁and ▁quite ▁bre at ht aking ly ▁am bit ious ". ▁Stephen ▁Hold en ▁wrote ▁in ▁The ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁that ▁the ▁film ▁did ▁not ▁live ▁up ▁to ▁its ▁score . ▁Entertainment ▁Week ly ▁gave ▁the ▁film ▁a ▁B , ▁with ▁Lisa ▁Schwar z baum ▁writing ▁the ▁fict ional ▁viol in ▁sur pass ed ▁all ▁real ▁f idd les ▁in ▁colour ful ▁pedig ree , ▁and ▁finding ▁the ▁story t elling ▁interesting . ▁The ▁Washington ▁Post ▁critic ▁Stephen ▁Hunter ▁ass essed ▁the ▁score ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁strong est ▁element ▁of ▁the ▁film , ▁and ▁the ▁story ▁to ▁be ▁intr igu ing ▁and ▁occasionally ▁" mac ab re ". ▁X an ▁Bro oks ' ▁The ▁Independent ▁review ▁compared ▁the ▁production ▁design ▁unf av ou rab ly ▁to ▁a ▁BBC ▁work ▁for ▁students . ▁Laura ▁Kelly ▁of ▁the ▁Sun - S entin el ▁called