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Little
Voice
****
Cinema
Releases - January 8, 1999
Rated on a 4-star
scale. UK. Written and directed by Mark Herman; based on the stage play "The
Rise and Fall of Little Voice" by Jim Cartwright. Starring Jane Horrocks,
Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Ewan
McGregor.
Mark Herman's last film, "Brassed Off", was a nice
musical comedy set in the north of England, with thoroughly believable characters
and sharp wit borne out of the realism of the poverty-stricken situation.
His new movie, "Little Voice", follows suit, but has something
new -- poignancy. In fact, it has everything I'd look for in a film of its
type. I've seen it twice, and both times I found it to contain surprise,
life, drama and humour, tied together with plain skill.
We open by spending time in the squalid house
of Mari Huff (Brenda Blethyn), a vulgar tramp who is not improving with age.
Her daughter Laura (Jane Horrocks), who everybody just calls "LV" (Little
Voice), is shy, and hardly talks. Even if this weren't the case, she'd probably
find it hard to get a word in edgeways around her constantly blaring mother,
and so spends most of her time alone in her room. This is the only clean
place in the house, where LV is comforted by a beautiful selection of old
records and a framed picture of her dear departed dad.
One night, Mari manages to drag Ray Say (Michael
Caine) back to the Huff residence. Ray is a failed talent agent whose clients
now consist of truly odious comedy, dance and strip performers. Still, he
could probably get a better woman than Mari, and he's undoubtedly decided
to sleep with her on one of those evenings where alcohol fuels a man's libido
so much that he'd go for a pinball machine with a wig on, if it was offering.
But just as they're about to do the deed, Ray hears LV singing upstairs,
and is spellbound.
It's not that hers is a good singing voice, but
those of Shirley Bassey, Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland
are -- and she can sing them all perfectly, as well as those of an assortment
of other stars. Listening to records all day has got to have an effect, and
for LV, this is it.
It's what Ray's been looking for to get him some
success, and when he finally wins LV round to the idea of singing in public,
he arranges an expensive, classy performance event for her to show what she
can do, complete with the presence of a large band and talent scouts. The
venue itself, the club of the pathetic Mr Boo (Jim Broadbent), could also
get a big boost from this sizzling act, since it's usually a sleazy and dull
establishment, and seems destined for bankruptcy.
There's nothing particularly original in this
set-up, but it still feels unpredictable, since the characters are painted
so believably, and the story seems to be unfolding with the spontaneity of
life. It could, from where I've described up to, go in several directions.
The plan could go wrong. This will leave the characters with chequered pasts
to have to face facts or pay for sins, while the decent people get the peace
they've deserved for a long time, thanks to emotions being brought out into
the open. More likely, everything could turn out well, and all these people,
who've had bad luck all their lives, finally get to look forward to some
happy existence.
I shall not reveal what direction the film does
take, or even if it's one of the above. What I shall reveal was that I felt
in such capable hands whilst watching "Little Voice" that I knew it was going
to excel down whichever road it went, whether whimsical, serious, romantic
or crazy. The film is so well made that it could probably have found a right
note to enter into action-adventure. I guess Herman can now be forgiven for
his dreadful 1991 effort "Blame It on the Bellboy". He handles his actors
as well as Quentin Tarantino or Woody Allen, or perhaps a better comparison
would be Peter Cattaneo, who made a masterful British film in 1997's "The
Full Monty".
Furthermore, Herman has courage in an area where
professional low-budget British directors usually fear to tread -- he can
move his camera around a lot. He doesn't let it get in the way, but it's
alive, it's involved, it's in touch with the emotion and flow of each scene.
Not in a furious manner, like Scorsese's was in "GoodFellas", but more
subliminally, and with a different kind of skill.
Just as clever is the sparse use of special effects
in the film, to add sparkles in the air when music is playing, or to let
LV's treasured black-and-white photo of father come to life against the real
colour surroundings as a fantasy guardian angel figure.
Brenda Blethyn's work here compares with her
Oscar-nominated turn in "Secrets and Lies", and she brings a greater feeling
of authenticity to the role than Julie Walters, the actress who'd have been
given this role a couple of years ago, would have. Caine and Broadbent, as
the cheap, tragic losers, gave performances that reminded me of Burt Reynolds'
acting in the latter half of "Boogie Nights", when his character's good times
had so obviously dried up, and he seemed to keep working to pass the time
whilst waiting for God.
Jane Horrocks, who resumes a role that was written
for her on stage, is amazing. There is simply no question about it. Her
restrained gestures during LV's long periods of silence demand us to feel
care and affection for her, her breakthrough climactic monologue is incredibly
moving, and she even performs all of her own songs. Yes, she performs all
of her own songs, and is so convincing that the filmmakers have made sure
to stress the point in interviews and even put the information at the beginning
of the end credits, lest people think that it was some masterful clean-up
of original recordings put to lip-sync, like the saxophone playing was in
"Bird".
All the characters in "Little Voice" do what great
characters should do -- they earn a special place in our hearts. After months
of fictional people that didn't move me, these people moved me. To put off
seeing "Little Voice" is to deprive yourself of an experience you'll remember
forever. It's a great film, and a spectacular way to begin the
year.
COPYRIGHT© 1999 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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