Sound of My Voice is the second indie film to come out in
the last nine months that bears the strong presence of actress
Brit Marling. As well as starring in the film
she co-wrote and co-produced, the same responsibilities she took on in
the excellent Another Earth, which saw its release late last year. Across these two films she has proven herself
to be one of the most interesting young actresses working at the moment, as
both films and the characters she portrays therein are fascinating.
Cults appear to have been a popular subject at the Sundance
Film Festival in 2011, with Red State, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Sound of My Voice all debuting
there and exploring this strange world from very different angles. Sound of My Voice approaches this by focusing
on Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) as they indoctrinate
themselves into a small cult they’ve heard rumours about, in order to record
and document for a piece of investigative journalism they intend to publish. Everything is secretive and mysterious and hinges
around leader Maggie (Brit Marling), who claims to be not of this time and thus
has knowledge that will help her followers survive what may or may not come to pass
in years to come.
The whole film essentially hangs on the question of whether Maggie
is genuine or a con artist. There’s a
beguiling etherealness to her - she’s always dressed in white and speaks with
conviction and gentleness, but at times tempers this with a pushy harshness. It’s up to the viewer to make their own mind up
as to whether there is any truth here, whilst her hiding place and continual attachment
to oxygen and other medical items help add an aura of authenticity/manipulation. The fact that you wouldn’t expect a leader of
a cult to be an attractive twenty something girl makes the whole thing even
more curious to observe.
Peter and Lorna take on the objective observer role for
us. They’re total sceptics and Peter
particularly, who is a school teacher by day, has reasons for getting involved
and wanting to expose what they believe to be fraudulent craziness. Except as time progresses and their exposure to
Maggie increases along with their involvement, as they need to continue to appear as credible disciples, you question how close they actually are to crossing the line. Issues in their relationship inevitably flair
up and things reach a head, which is all fairly predictable but I
still liked how it was done. I found both
characters interesting and believable enough, as you see them being pulled
in different ways.
The small independent low-budget nature of the film, combined with the way
the cult exists in the basement of some mystery location, adds a sense of
realism that makes you wonder how many similar groups exist hermetically sealed in
their own mundane bubble without anyone knowing. Overall I liked how the film was put together
and my only real complaint lies with it being a bit on the short side as I would’ve
liked just a bit more. The ending could be frustrating for some but I think it was pitched about right.
I really liked Sound of My Voice. I can see it being quite a divisive film as it’s
not exactly entirely original, but it covers an interesting subject and creates
enough ambiguity to allow the audience to believe in whichever way they
choose. The way Marling plays Maggie is
key and she did great job creating a character whom you want to believe but
common sense says you shouldn’t, whilst Denham and Vicius are both convincing
in their roles. The exploration of
belief is interesting, especially when it's presented through such a curious prism. On the basis
of both this and Another Earth, I hope Marling doesn’t get swept
into the Hollywood mainstream in a way that would diminish the potential for her to create further compellingly intriguing indie films.
No comments:
Post a Comment