Several years after his childhood friend, a violin prodigy, disappears on the eve of his first solo concert, an Englishman travels throughout Europe to find him.... (Full plot summary below)
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Several years after his childhood friend, a violin prodigy, disappears on the eve of his first solo concert, an Englishman travels throughout Europe to find him.
Leave your thoughts about The Song of Names.
| Original-CinJim SlotekThe pieces are there for a profound piece of work, and The Song of Names’ high points are worth the occasional narrative slog. |
| Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinIt’s a profound, affecting and beautifully told chronicle of faith, family, obsession and the language of music. |
| RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyLiterate, sober, soulful, and considered as it is, the movie is also a little overly scrupulous in its tastefulness. |
| The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThere is much to admire in the fluidity of Girard’s storytelling, in the music (Ray Chen did the violin solos) and in the complicated questions raised about social obligations. Still, the movie never quite justifies the contrivance of its puzzle-box construction. |
| Movie NationRoger MooreThe Song of Names is a more interesting than fascinating mystery than it is a profound statement on memory, loss, tragedy and faith — which was plainly its aim. The conflict is more talked about than keenly felt, the climax something of an over-the-top anti-climax. |
| The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinA somewhat claggy, uneven work with stiff performances from the leads, both of whom seem to be sleep-talking lines as if they learned them in Yiddish first. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorMainly, this movie chatters when it should sing. |
| Slant MagazineMichael Joshua RowinIn the end, the film is unable to bridge the gap between the emotions it elicits and the messages it imparts. |
| San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThere’s a mystery at the heart of The Song of Names, but it isn’t much of a mystery, and once it’s solved, the movie loses what little interest it has. Though not exactly a Holocaust drama, the film is one in which the Holocaust figures tangentially, but crucially. Yet the movie’s overall effect is strangely inert. |
| Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghIt’s an unnecessarily complicated puzzle-box construction that only serves to cheapen the story and diminish its impact |
