TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US is written and directed by Michael Petroni, the writer of such weak scripts as those for QUEEN OF THE DAMNED and THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS. Although his writing abilities remain in question, Petroni demonstrate a real gift as a director in TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US, creating an always intriguing mood. But the movie, which is a near miss, feels like a short story whose thin narrative was stretched just beyond its breaking point.
Sam Franks (Guy Pearce, MEMENTO) is an unhappy doctor who is reluctantly returning to his small Australian hometown in order to bury his father. On the train on his way there, he meets Ruby (Helena Bonham Carter, FIGHT CLUB), a mysterious woman who causes him to experience flashbacks to a key episode in his childhood.
The parallel and more interesting of the two stories concerns Sam as a 15-year-old, played with touching reserve by Lindley Joyner. A shy boy, Sam has an intense friendship with Silvy Lewis (Brooke Harman), an equally shy girl who wears leg braces, probably because of polio. Their friendship consists of nights staring at the stars and days and nights lazing by the local river. That this idyllic mood will be shattered seems obvious, but the exact event that causes their bubble to break isn't.
Cinematographer Roger Lanser lights the daytime with the constant golden glow of the setting sun and the night with the warmth of a full moon. He is outdone by composer Dale Cornelius who creates a hauntingly beautiful score that fills every frame. The movie may be a near miss, but it is a lovely miss.
TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US runs 1:37. It is rated R for "a scene of sexuality" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 21, 2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.
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