My Review of "The Song of Names"

The Song of Names was a movie that came out last year. I was fortunate enough to be picked for an early screening to this movie when it first came out but I was too late to respond so I didn't get to watch it until now. I'm a little disappointed because I now realize how great of a movie I missed out on. This movie is complex with multiple layers of story telling. You won't regret watching it.

It all starts out with a big concert. The family that is organizing the concert is concerned that the main performer isn't going to show up and I guess he never shows up. Everything is all a mystery but this builds the intrigue of this movie because we realize how big of a deal this concert was because big names are waiting to watch this concert.

Flash forward 30 odd years later the main character Martin works in the music industry. His family was the family that had had organized that failed concert in the beginning of the movie. He's now part of a panel for adolescents trying to audition for a classical orchestra.

There's a young man that auditions but before he performs he has a very odd ritual before he plays. This ritual reminds Martin of something in the past. He gets a flashback from when he was a child.

In this flashback there's a child by the name of Dovidl around the same age as him. He's a Jewish kid from Poland but his father has to go back to Poland. This is close to World War II and Dovidl's father just wants Dovidl to be safe and develop his violin skills. The father recognizes that Dovidl is basically a violin prodigy and wants a better life for his son.

Martin's father asks to take Dovidl in and promises to raise him as if he's his own until the Dovidl's father comes back. The agreement is made but Martin is of course apprehensive because all of the attention is now directed to Dovidl instead of him. Martin will never attain the same level of skill that Dovidl ever has.

The thing is Dovidl's life isn't any easier. He's being plucked from his family and is constantly worried for their safety. The two young boys come to an understanding and quickly become brothers. Even with their close relationship their personalities are polar opposite from one another. Martin is a play by the rules, straight and narrow individual. Dovidl is a rebellious kid that is extremely competitive. Still the two are able to get along with one another and become very good friends.

There are a number of big things that happen throughout the movie but it all leads up to Dovidl's big concert which is the big concert featured at the beginning of the movie. He disappears and Martin hasn't seen him for over 30 years since. There have been no clues or anything until this young man that comes in to audition for the orchestra.

This leads to a winding series of clues that Martin explores to find his long lost brother. The whole movie is basically Martin piecing together what had happened to Dovidl and finding out why he had missed out on the biggest concert of his life.

I like how the movie unwound and really placed us in the shoes of Martin on his journey for the truth. We understand how many levels of family Dovidl had to deal with. He not only had to worry about his religious community, he had his biological family, adoptive family and his musical family. That's a lot to take for a young man. It's a lot for anyone to deal with and we soon realize why he's a little jerk when he was younger and I guess in his older age. There are so many layers to his character.

Martin's frustrations are also complicated as well but they kind of pale in comparison to Dovidl's situation. He can only see things in a narrow tunnel vision of his own perspective. In a way he never really gets out of this point of view until close to the end. There are life lessons that he learns throughout the movie.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. I thought it had a lot of different layers that I didn't think they'd be exploring. Everything makes logical sense when everything is explained in the end. I have to give this movie an 8 out of 10. It is something that not a lot of people will think they'll enjoy but it may surprise them if they give this movie a chance.