Directed by Marjane Satrapi and written by Michael R. Perry, The Voices is the story of a mentally-ill factory worker who lives with a cat and a dog as the former wants him to kill while the latter is trying to make him feel normal. The film is an offbeat horror-comedy that plays into a man coping with his illness just as he is trying to maintain a normal life. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Ella Smith, and Jacki Weaver. The Voices is a chilling yet offbeat film from Marjane Satrapi.
The film revolves around a young man who lives in an apartment above a bowling alley as he falls for a British co-worker at a factory where he asks her out on a date only for things to go wrong due to conversations he has with his dog and cat. It’s a film that is really the exploration of a man who is mentally ill as he’s haunted by childhood memories where he tries to live a normal life in working at a factory in creating bathtubs while he would have frequent visits to a shrink who is making sure he’s taking his medication. Michael R. Perry’s screenplay is straightforward in its narrative as it play into the world that Jerry Hickfang (Ryan Reynolds) lives in as he shares an apartment with his dog Bosco and cat Mr. Whiskers as the former supports Jerry’s desire to fit in and be normal but the latter wants Jerry to kill.
When Jerry befriends the British co-worker Fiona (Gemma Arterton) and sets up a date, he thinks things are going to go well but Fiona unfortunately stood him up to go drinking and do karaoke with other co-workers though she didn’t mean to cancel the date as they later meet as she asks for a ride home where things go wrong. Due to the medication he’s given by his psychiatrist in Dr. Warren (Jacki Weaver), it’s meant to draw out the voices in his head but it would unfortunately have him face reality as well as the memories he had about his childhood. When he doesn’t take his medication, he would have conversations with Bosco and Mr. Whiskers while he sees things that don’t play into the grim ideas of reality even though it would re-emerge every once in a while just as he would befriend another co-worker in Lisa (Anna Kendrick).
Marjane Satrapi’s direction is filled with a lot of quirks but also some striking visuals in the way she portrays small-town American life. Shot largely on location near Berlin, Germany, Satrapi uses the small town locations and woods to play into a world that is sort of isolated from everything else where there is a lot happening but there are also places that have been abandoned such as the bowling alley that Jerry lives above. While Satrapi would use wide shots of the locations including parts of Jerry’s apartment, she does create some unique compositions that play into this element of surrealism with the usage of close-ups and medium shots. Notably in these scenes where Bosco and Mr. Whiskers would talk to Jerry and converse with him as well as a few individuals he would meet and would have these strange conversations with. There is an element of black comedy into what is happening as Satrapi’s scenes showed what Jerry sees in his apartment when he’s not his medications while everyone else would see something very different and disturbing.
Satrapi also play into the film’s flashback scenes to get an understanding of Jerry’s troubled past during its second act where Jerry takes Lisa to his old family home where he plans to do something but bad memories would prevent it. It’s a key moment in the film that would play into Jerry’s mental illness as it is clear he’s getting worse as the ideas of reality and fantasy become blurry as he couldn’t handle the former and what he will face. Even as suspicion would occur over what he does when he’s not at work though it is clear that he’s a man in need of help where Satrapi does emphasize on Jerry’s mental illness as he is someone who unfortunately does bad things even though he doesn’t mean to. Overall, Satrapi crafts a weird yet exhilarating film about a mentally-ill young man who is urged by his cat to kill people.
Cinematographer Maxime Alexandre does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography in creating a usage of heightened colors and lighting for some of the interiors in Jerry’s home to express his idea of fantasy while using more dreary colors to play into the reality that he doesn’t want to face as it would include in some of the film’s exterior shots. Editor Stephanie Roche does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward with some rhythmic cuts towards some of the film’s suspense and humor. Production designer Udo Kramer, with set decorator Karin Betzler and art director Stefan Hauck, does amazing work with the look of the factory that Jerry works as well as his home in how it looks from his view and how it looks from the view of everyone else. Costume designer Bettina Helmi does fantastic work with the costumes with the look of the factory jumpsuits as well as the clothes that the women wear.
Prosthetic makeup designers Tamar Aviv and Jorn Seifert do superb work with the look of some of the makeup effects that is needed for some of the film’s dark violent moments. Special effects supervisor Uli Nefzer, along with visual effects supervisors Manfred Buttner, Antoine Marbach, and Damien Stumpf, does terrific work with the movements of the animals talking as well as some fantasy scenes from the view of Jerry. Sound designer Christian Conrad does incredible work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as some of the sound collages into the things that Jerry hears. The film’s music by Olivier Bernet is wonderful for its music score that feature a few ambient pieces for the playful moments along with orchestral pieces for the suspenseful moments while music supervisor Robin Urdang provide a playful soundtrack of music from Olivier Bernet with Jean Francois Gregoire and the O-Jays.
The casting by Venus Kanani and Mary Vernieu is marvelous as it include some notable small roles from Stephanie Vogt as a news reporter, Valerie Koch as Jerry’s mother in the flashbacks, Paul Brightwell as Jerry’s cruel stepfather in the flashbacks, Gulliver McGrath as the young Jerry, Stanley Townshend as the local sheriff, Paul Chahidi as Jerry’s supervisor, Sam Spruell and Adi Shankar as a couple of co-workers who helped organize a company party, and Ella Smith in a terrific role as Alison as a factory numbers worker who becomes suspicious about Jerry’s behavior and the disappearances in the town. Jacki Weaver is excellent as Dr. Warren as Jerry’s psychiatrist who is trying to understand what he’s feeling while knowing that he’s not been taking his medication prompting her to be concerned about his well-being and his treatment for his illness.
Gemma Arterton is brilliant as Fiona as a British office worker at the factory who befriends Jerry though she didn’t mean to stand him up on their date where she is someone that is flawed although is still a decent person. Anna Kendrick is amazing as Lisa as an office worker in the factory who later goes out with Jerry as she would discover aspects of Jerry’s past but also a disturbing discovery. Finally, there’s Ryan Reynolds in a phenomenal performance as Jerry Hickfang as a well-meaning but troubled factory worker who is mentally-ill as he hears voices where he tries to fit in but finds himself in places that makes him unhinged as Reynolds sells that air of innocence and anguish while he also does the voices of Bosco in an old-man accent and Mr. Whiskers in Scottish accent as they are hilarious in what they say.
The Voices is a sensational film from Marjane Satrapi that features an incredible performance from Ryan Reynolds. Along with its offbeat premise, study of mental illness and childhood trauma, gorgeous visuals, and a top-notch ensemble cast. It’s a film that explores a man dealing with his illness as well as the need to connect where he ends up doing some bad things and try to cope with it. In the end, The Voices is a remarkable film from Marjane Satrapi.
Marjane Satrapi Films: Persepolis - Chicken with Plums - (Gang of the Jotas) – (Radioactive (2019 film))
© thevoid99 2018
Based on Ian Fleming’s stories, Quantum of Solace is the story of James Bond seeking vengeance as he goes after the Quantum organization by targeting an environmentalist trying to control Bolivia’s water supply. Bond is then joined by a woman who is also seeking vengeance for her parents’ murder as the two team up. Directed by Marc Forster and screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis, and Joshua Zetumer, the film picks up where Casino Royale left of as Daniel Craig returns as the role of Bond for the second time. Also starring Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Almaric, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Rory Kinnear, and Judi Dench as M. Quantum of Solace is a decent but very messy film from Marc Forster.
After capturing Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) to find out who he’s working for, James Bond and M interrogate him only for something to go wrong when M’s bodyguard Mitchell (Glenn Foster) tries to kill M as Bond goes on the chase to go after him as they both realize that Mitchell is a double agent. Mr. White has suddenly disappeared as Bond and M found some banknotes at Mitchell’s apartment that is connected to a contact in Haiti. After finding the contact, Bond meets a woman named Camille Montes (Olga Kurylenko) whom the contact was supposed to kill as he learns that she’s the lover of an environmentalist named Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric). Bond watches the meeting as he learns that Montes is really going after a Bolivian general named Medrano (Joaquin Cosio), for killing her family many years ago, while Greene is making a deal with Medrano about getting land in Bolivia.
Bond travels to Austria to follow Greene as he infiltrates a meeting as he captures the pictures of many who are believed to be part of a secret organization known as Quantum. Yet, Bond manages to kill the bodyguard of a man connected to the British prime minister on his way out as M revokes his passports and credit cards forcing Bond to seek help from his old ally Rene Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) who joins him to Bolivia to find out what Greene is up to as they’re met by a MI6 officer named Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton) who wants to take Bond back to London. Instead, Bond takes her to Greene’s party with Mathis to find out what Greene is up to as Montes is also there to find out what is going on. Bond and Montes decide to fly to the land that Greene wants to buy as they are nearly attacked by Bolivian planes where they learn what Greene is up to. With the help of Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), Bond and Montes decides to confront Greene and Medrano to learn about Quantum.
The film is essentially a continuation of its predecessor in Casino Royale where James Bond goes after the people who are running a secret organization that he believes is responsible for the death of someone close to him. Throughout this journey, he learns more about this organization yet his thirst of vengeance eventually starts to become a liability for the MI6 as they try to make sure he doesn’t stray from the mission. It’s a very compelling story that has Bond trying to uncover this organization and seek vengeance as he also helps a woman get her revenge as well. It’s just that the story isn’t given the presentation that could’ve made it more captivating.
The screenplay definitely maintains its sense of mystery and intrigue but it’s very unbalanced with lots of action sequences that loses the luster on its suspense. Still, the script does succeed in making Bond more flawed as he still has a bit of inexperience in him in the way he deals with situations and such as he starts to understand more and more about what it takes to be a 00 agent. Helping him in this mission is Camilla Montes who is this woman seeking revenge for her parents’ death as she starts to piece the puzzle of what Dominic Greene is up to. The Dominic Greene character isn’t a traditional villain as he is really more of an organizer that is working for this mysterious organization yet he’s surrounded by people who will help him do things to make sure they’re taken care of.
Marc Forster’s direction has some moments that are quite engaging in some of the film’s action sequences and dramatic moments but he often delves way too much into action film conventions in terms of their presentation. Fast, choppy editing and shaky camera work give way to moments that almost become nonsensical and very hyperactive that it becomes a bit hard at times to follow through. Another problem with Forster’s direction is that the film has too many action sequences and not enough moments for the film to really invest in its mystery and intrigue despite the way he creates some gorgeous images of the locations and setting. Overall, Forster creates a film that tries to play up to the conventions of action films where it lacks the splendor and intrigue of the James Bond films.
Cinematographer Robert Schaefer does some excellent work with the photography by capturing the beauty of some of the film‘s locations in South America and Europe along with some lovely interior lighting schemes for hotel scenes in Bolivia. Editors Matt Cheese and Rick Pearson do terrible work with the editing as it plays too much into the frenetic fast-cutting style of action films where not much makes a lot of sense while not taking enough time to slow things down for the film‘s dramatic moments. Production designer Dennis Gassner, with set decorator Anna Pinnock and supervising art director Chris Lowe, does superb work with the set pieces such as the suite in the Bolivian hotel as well as General Medrano‘s base for the film‘s climatic face-off.
Costume designer Louise Frogley does nice work with the costumes from the tuxedos and clothes that Bond wears to the dresses that Montes and Fields wear in the party scene. Sound designers James Boyle and Martin Cantwell, along with sound editor Eddy Joseph, do some terrific work with the sound to convey the sense of atmosphere that occurs including the film‘s interrogation scene that is inter-cut with an event in an Italian town. The film’s music by David Arnold is pretty good for its mixture of orchestral bombast as well as plaintive folk music for some scenes set in South America to convey the sense of loss that Bond and Montes are going through. The theme song Another Way to Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys is an okay song with lots of orchestral flairs and guitar bombast but it’s all over the place as it’s just a duet that doesn’t really work.
The casting by Debbie McWilliams is wonderful for the ensemble that is created as it features some noteworthy performances from Simon Kassianides as the Quantum member Yusef, Stana Katic as a Canadian agent Yusef tries to target, Neil Jackson as the contact Bond fights in Haiti, Fernando Guillen Cuervo as Mathis’ Bolivian contact, David Harbour as Felix Leiter’s CIA contact, Glenn Foster as the double-agent Craig Mitchell, and Jesper Christensen as the mysterious Quantum official Mr. White. Other small roles such as Rory Kinner as M’s aide Bill Tanner and Joaquin Cosio as the slimy General Medrano are pretty good though Anatole Taubman as Greene’s henchman Elvis is a weak henchman who sports a very stupid-looking haircut. Gemma Arterton is quite fine as the MI6 official Strawberry Fields who aids Bond at Greene’s party while Giancarlo Giannini is excellent as Mathis who helps Bond go to Bolivia while providing insight about Bond’s thirst for vengeance.
Jeffrey Wright is terrific as Bond’s CIA friend Felix Leiter who goes undercover to find out what Greene is up to as he later helps Bond in going after Greene. Judi Dench is superb as M as she tries to deal with Bond’s tactics as well as whether to trust him with this mission. Mathieu Almaric is all right as the villainous Dominic Greene in trying to organize things for Quantum though he’s not a great villain as Almaric doesn’t really get a lot to do as he’s just a lackey for Quantum. Olga Kurylenko is brilliant as Camilla Montes as this woman who is seeking her own vengeance as she displays a sense of charm to her role in the way she interacts with Bond. Finally, there’s Daniel Craig as James Bond where Craig maintains that same sense of grit and weariness to his role as he also makes Bond more flawed in his pursuits as someone who remains haunted by previous events as it’s another captivating performance from Craig despite the film’s flaws.
Quantum of Solace is a very uneven film from Marc Forster that tries to be more of an action film than a suspense-thriller despite the stellar performances of Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko. The film is definitely one of the weakest films of the James Bond franchise due to the fact that it plays too much into conventional action film territory as it doesn’t invest in much time on the mystery and suspense as well as the fact that it’s also one of Forster’s weaker works as a filmmaker. In the end, Quantum of Solace is an okay but very underwhelming film from Marc Forster.
James Bond Files: The EON Films: Dr. No - From Russia with Love - Goldfinger - Thunderball - You Only Live Twice - On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Diamonds are Forever - Live and Let Die - The Man with the Golden Gun - The Spy Who Loved Me - Moonraker - For Your Eyes Only - Octopussy - A View to a Kill - The Living Daylights - Licence to Kill - GoldenEye - Tomorrow Never Dies - The World is Not Enough - Die Another Day - Casino Royale (2006 film) - Skyfall - SPECTRE - No Time to Die
Non-EON Films: Casino Royale (Climax! TV Episode) - Casino Royale (1967 film) - Never Say Never Again
Bond Documentaries: Bond Girls are Forever - True Bond - Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007
Marc Forster Films: (Everything Put Together) - (Monster’s Ball) - Finding Neverland - (Stay (2005 film)) - Stranger than Fiction - (The Kite Runner) - (Machine Gun Preacher) - (World War Z)
© thevoid99 2012
