Review of Some Voices

Introduction

The Film on Four series has produced some classic British movies with titles such as The Debt Collector and East is East. These, amongst many others, have proved that armed with a decent script and some fine acting talent, we can compete with the big boys of Hollywood.

This film is a finely tuned, realistic look at mental illness, centering around a really likeable guy called Ray. Newly discharged from psychiatric hospital, Ray enters the care of his slightly over-bearing brother and eventually meets the enigmatic Laura, who he falls deeply in love with. All appears to go well at the start, with Ray helping out at his brother`s cafe. It is only when Ray neglects to take his medication, however, that he gradually falls back into a world of flashbacks and mysterious voices.

Video

The 16:9 anamorphic picture is very well presented and has plenty of detail. Colours are accurate and there is no noticeable banding or other compression problems.

Audio

For a largely dialogue-driven movie, the clarity of the centre channel is obviously all-important. Here we have no problems at all, with all vocals clear and easily distinguished over the music tracks.

There are a few surround effects that are nicely delivered and the various sounds and sights of London are superbly portrayed.

Features

A few extras add to the overall quality of the movie and are worthy additions. Firstly we have a short featurette with snippets of interviews with the cast and some behind-the-scenes footage.

The director Simon Gellan Jones provides the commentary which is an interesting and lucid presentation with lots of additional information being shared on the various scenes from the movie. He proves to be an enthusiastic and knowledgeable narrator and adds a great deal to the proceedings.

Also included is the theatrical trailer and a series of short interviews with the cast. These prove slightly annoying as they break each segment with a title screen that is often on-screen for longer than the interviewee.

Finally we have an on-location report with scenes from filming in the streets of London. Apparently the film company failed to obtain permission for filming, so the movie is full of genuine moments as the poor people of London witness Ray going slowly out of control. The end result adds to the overall look of the movie and is as realistic as you will hope to get.

Conclusion

I was very impressed by this movie. The subject of mental illness is largely overlooked or glossed-over by the media - whether it be on TV or film. Here we have a sensible, gritty, often humorous and finely acted movie with a fantastic acting talent in Daniel Craig (Ray) and Kelly MacDonald (Laura). Ray is extremely happy-go-lucky and is very difficult not to feel for him as the movie progresses.

I can thoroughly recommend this disk to fans of realistic drama and the quality of the director`s commentary makes this purchase even more worthwhile.