Music: The Tornado That Was Ivry Gitlis

Ivry Gitlis died recently—the wild man of the violin. He gave the impression of complete indifference to whether anyone was listening, having some of the strangest mannerisms in the already eccentric world of classical music. This film captures all of it, with the cameras trained solely on Gitlis as if the orchestra and conductor weren’t there. And why would you want to see anyone else? The man was fascinating. His performances, in my opinion, were uneven. Sometimes his playing was hoarse, rushed, even bizarre. However, his performance here is commanding, with an edge to his tone, a yell in his vibrato, and a chiseled precision in his attack that are all addicting.