Little Voice (1998)

Director:

Mark Herman

Writers:

Jim Cartwright (play)
Mark Herman (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Music

Tagline:

Finding your own voice can be magic.

Plot:

The pathetically shy LV lives the life of a recluse listening to her late fathers old records in her room and in the process driving her abusive...

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Shy | Ghost | Music Store | Telephone Repairman

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Brenda Blethyn	...	Mari Hoff
Jane Horrocks	...	LV
Ewan McGregor	...	Billy
Philip Jackson	...	George
Annette Badland	...	Sadie
Michael Caine	...	Ray Say
Jim Broadbent	...	Mr. Boo
Adam Fogerty	...	Bouncer
James Welsh	...	Bouncer
Karen Gregory	...	Stripper
Fred Feast	...	Arthur
Graham Turner	...	LV's Dad
George Oliver	...	Pawnbroker
Virgil Tracy	...	Loan Advisor
Dick Van Winkle	...	Money Lender

Also Known As:

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | USA:R (certificate #35929) | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Mike Reid turned down a role.

Quotes:

Billy: But when you see 'um fly and better yet, come back well... It's dead exciting!

Movie Connections:

Features "The Judy Garland Show" (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Man that Got Away

a review for American audiences

An absorbing, fanciful, and sometimes astonishing film, Little Voice is a modern fairy tale that owes a bit to both pop psychology and, of all things, the musical Annie. The film thrusts us into the peculiarly flawed world of a young woman still living in her childhood home. Her nickname, LV (Little Voice) is pronounced in her mother's thick, northern English accent as "Elvie." In fact, her chief problem is her caustic mother, played with tragicomic skill by Brenda Blethyn, who received an Oscar nomination for the role.

Blethyn's Mrs. Hoff is in many ways like the awful Miss Hannigan of Annie's orphanage, who, were it not for the story's overall comic mood, would be overwhelmingly evil. Instead, Blethyn invests the role with a horny rowdiness that helps dilute Mrs. Hoff's self-absorption and cruelty. LV, in response, confines herself to her tidy, attic bedroom in her mother's otherwise cluttered house.

Though the timid and virtually silent LV lacks Annie's cheerful spunk, both yearn for their absent parents-LV for her dead father, who appears to her, soundless and gentle, whenever she is frightened.

But what LV usually does in response to her mother's constant stream of verbal abuse and generally noisy demeanor is to play her father's cherished record collection at top volume. It is in the voices of the women on the records that LV communicates with her mother and most other people. Though Jane Horrocks says little in the title role, when LV does make noise, it is in remarkable, pitch-perfect imitation of these women, namely, Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, and even Marilyn Monroe. At first, I was convinced that this was a lip-synch, but Horrocks changes the tempo and inflection to match LV's mood. Indeed, the first thing that appears in the credits at the conclusion of Little Voice is a note that Horrocks sang all of LV's vocal performances. Wow.

Little Voice will remind American audiences of the recent trend in British cinema that embraces down-on-their-luck characters from the UK's industrial north and the shuns the charmless folk who populate Merchant-Ivory-esque period dramas. Little Voice's characters reminded me of both the pitiable unemployed steelworkers of The Full Monty and the rotten Scottish heroin addicts of Trainspotting. Michael Caine combines these comic and serious elements into a convincing performance as Ray, the seedy promoter who wishes to cash in on LV's extraordinary gift. Caine is the foxy Honest John to LV's Pinocchio, and typifies the sense of desperate amorality such characters face when they have pawned their goods and their limbs in order to bankroll a reckless scheme.

With its quirky characterizations and working-class English setting, Little Voice may not be for everyone, but the film's story is timeless, the performances are energetic, and Horrocks's singing might just knock you out of your seat. Little Voice is a truly gratifying film.