User reviews

I certainly understand why a lot of the Transformer, Disney Amusement Park and Fast and the Furious fans didn't get this movie at all, but and gave it ridiculously low scores, but this was a very very good film for the adults in the room. It was well written it was very well acted and it was a great production.

This is not an easy film to watch as it is a very strong story as any story about the Holocaust should be. But this film had a lot to say and I thought it said it in a very moving and emotional fashion. I

I believed the story I believed in the characters and I highly recommend this film for adults who can deal with a real story without car chases bombing and constant mayhem.

What a great movie, believable and well scripted. Both lead characters, both young and old are portrayed really well. A good storyline and history. If you enjoy movies relating to WW2 you will find this a touching drama. The musical score is beautiful.

Yes, this is a wonderful and memorable film. The director, Francois Girard, and, I suspect, the same Canadian production company were involved in the 1998 RED VIOLIN. Like that film it takes place over multiple time periods, in this film clearly stated to be 1951, 1986, and the earliest, unidentified time which can be inferred to be sometime between March and September 1939. The scene shifts back and forth a good deal and some critics found this confusing and destructive of continuity but I found no difficulty in following the story line. Memory is not linear and orderly but rather fragmented and out of sequence, particularly when dealing with highly charged emotionally traumatic experiences. This is an exceptionally intelligent screenplay where not everything has to be spelled out. It's true that a key plot point mystery is fairly predictable. Yet the story builds to a wrenching climax in a way you don't see every day in the movies. Tim Roth plays well against type as a quiet, introspective Brit. The score composer, Howard Shore, was involved in composing the impressive music in the Lord of the Rings and does an award-deserving job here. I rate the film at 3.5/4 stars. Strongly recommended for everybody, especially any serious music student as well as anyone of Jewish background, particularly of GenX through to Millennials.

There are some great aspects to this film. The scenes of childhood & the actors in the midst of WW2 are well depicted. Safe relatively in England, far safer than Poland.

The time shifting sequences flipping from one era to another made things stilted & confusing & annoying more than interesting.

Excellent sets in Poland esp Treblinka & in Hampstead where the main character encounters a survivor of Treblinka & then learns about his own family.

Worth watching but this film could have been outstanding.

Exploring the aspect of the holocaust on those who had managed to leave or not but survive makes a great basis for exploring humanity & the challenges of going on after loss.

The story meanders a lot which gets in the way of building a sense of connection to the adults; the earlier scenes when the key characters are still boys manages to build that connection.

The latest movie from the director who gave us the wonderful "The Red Violin".A film about Family, friendship, music and the holocaust. Good performances from all the cast, a good plot and an okay script. This film definitely pulls at the heartstrings.

This is a wonderful and haunting film. It tells the story of two boys who grow up together. They are brothers through circumstances: the violinist child prodigy from the Warsaw Jewish community and the London lad who eventually befriends him when they are brought together. The story revolves around the sudden disappearance, on the day of his virtuoso concert, of the prodigy. Only near the end of the film do we discover why.

The film brilliantly deals with multiple layers and flashbacks, with perfect pacing and quite outstanding acting. The musical score is phenomenal.

This is a film about tragedy and loss, about how trauma lives on. It perfectly weaves the themes of ethnicity and religion.

It's a superb, haunting, film which I have not done justice here. In part that's because I don't want to do a review with spoilers. You have to go and see this film and allow your soul to be transported by the wonderful cinematography, script and musical score.

They don't make films as beautiful and brilliant as this very often. Go see it.

Watched on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Quite the emotional tug. Stitching the movie's three timelines together was interesting, and in parts the dialog -- spartan -- was excellent. The so-called shocker ending was rather ad hoc, but I would recommend this movie.

The Song of Names, a way to remember the names of the dead from the holocaust, is poignant and deeply moving. This film did not do it justice.

Dov, the boy genius from Warsaw is left by his father in London, under the care of an English non-Jewish family, where he can continue to hone his talent of playing the violin. The father returns to Poland to rejoin the rest of his family on the brink of the breakout of world war two.

We are then left with Dov, his journey of life and that of his English "brother" Martin.

Unfortunately, Dov is never very likeable at any of the ages portrayed in the film and to be honest, neither is Martin nor Martin's wife, Helen.

The suffering of those around them, Martin's father, the rabbi, the Jewish survivors in London, the polish girl in Warsaw and Joseph, the other polish violinist, all of whom we only get fleeting glances of, is more affecting than that of the central characters.

I simply don't know what to make of this film.

Watch it by all means, for the music alone and to understand the meaning of the title and maybe you will have a different reaction than I did.

An exquisitely unfolding story that approaches the horror of the Holocaust from a different perspective - that of the many refugees who suspected but were left in the agony of uncertainty. The restrained Britishness of the era is beautifully depicted and - just like some of the most effective and emotive music - times its climax to perfection.

Apparently there were no women, all Jews are also men. I normally like movies with music duels, and still falls very short. none of the characters make connection with the audience, they're motivation is useless and no real plot

This is a fictional story but is built on the realities of the 1940s when Jews in Poland were persecuted and many murdered by the Nazis. The title of the movie is a reference to a way to remember the dead until they could all be written down. They created a Song of Names and in this story is said to take 5 days to sing completely.

The story spans about 1939 to about 1986. It starts with a young boy (David), a violin prodigy, who is placed with a British family in London to be able to study violin while his family return to Poland. He and the family's young son (Martin) eventually become almost like brothers.

In 1951 when the boys are in their early 20s, and David is set up for a concert, he doesn't show up with no clue what happened. Then 35 years later Martin is judging a musical competition and sees a young violinist with a mannerism just like David's, that sparks his search for David.

The reasons are complex and Martin eventually learns what happened. It is a good story that ultimately relies on strong family and friendship bonds.

Good movie, my wife and I watched it at home on BluRay from our public library.

Passing on of oral traditions in the Jewish culture is the backstory. The real story is interesting and well portrayed by Tim Roth and Clyde Owens.

"The Song of Names" is a film with Clive Owen and Tim Roth elegantly directed by Francois Girard. It tells the story of two young boys who develop a friendship over a shared love of music. Young Polish violin prodigy Dovidl Rapoport comes to live with the family of Martin Simmonds in the days preceding the German bombings of London, England during WWII.

The story continues showing different periods of Dovidl and Martin's lives from adolescence to mature adulthood. With the excellent acting, screenplay by Jeffrey Caine and Girard's conscientious direction, the film is a gift to the viewing public!

I assume most negative reviewer here were looking for action - or something. The extreme sadness is not for everyone. This movie had us on the edge of our seat, neither of us with dry eyes. There is quite a twist in the end. Well worth a watch.

This story is so effective and so emotional, that it sends chills right down my spine. I feel so connected with the story and the characters, that I feel their pain and their anguish. It is a wonderful film.

"The Name of Songs" (2019 release from Canada; 113 min.) brings the story of Martin and David. As the movie opens, it is "London 1951" and Martin and his dad have a full venue as they await the arrival of Polish 21 yr. old violin prodigy David. But David is a no-show, and the concert is canceled. We then go "Thirty Five Years Later" and now middle-aged Martin is a judge in a music competition in Newcastle, where a boy Peter has something that once clearly belonged to David. It makes Martin to want to track down David. We then go back even further in time, to 1939 when David and his father are visiting with Martin and his family, and David's father decides to leave David with them (ostensibly so that David can take private music lessons, but likely also to keep David out of Poland, about to be invaded by the Germans). At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film from longtime Canadian director Francois Girard. Here he brings the novel of the same name (from Norman Lebrecht) to the big screen. I haven't read the novel so I cannot comment how closely the movie sticks to the novel. What I can say is that the film seems to be well-intended, but unfortunately is dreadfully boring, devoid from any and all emotion. I didn't notice a single person cracking a smile in the entire movie. I'm not spoiling anything that there is a connection with the Holocaust. And yes, the Holocaust is a very serious matter, and many movies have tackled it in a way that makes your blood boil at what happened and ache for the people who lived through it. But I never felt any connection with any of these characters. Tim Roth (as the adult Martin) tries the best he can with the weak hand he's been dealt. Clive Owen, on the other hand, as the adult David, is simply sleepwalking through the movie. I can't recall a worse performance in Owen's distinguished career. The movie features a ton of classical music, which for me is one of the better aspects of this movie.

"The Song Of Names" premiered at last Fall's Toronto International Film Festival to ho-hum acclaim, and showed up last weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. I went to see it this weekend. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was not attended well (8 people to be exact). Given the nature of the film and, more importantly, how weak a film it is, I cannot see this play much longer in the theater. Of course I encourage you to check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

In the age of phony CGI and juvenile comic books on the screen, it is a rare breath of fresh air to be immersed in a shining example of what the art of cinema can be. "Song of Names" brings thoughtful story telling, emotion, fraternal love and pathos to the screen. The music has the power to bring tears to the eyes of all but the most shallow. Seeing this gem was the highlight of my week.