Tilda Swinton is superb as the woman on the verge of meltdown. Alone and abandoned, with a dog and her thoughts for company.
Short films are a unique art form all to themselves; difficult to get plots across sometimes, to try and achieve the correct emotions or the exact messages in such a short time frame. The Human Voice felt perfect, you don’t need the back story, you don’t yearn for future revelations, the mystery of it all is the key to what makes it meaningful.
This Pedro Almodóvar film – his first project to be solely in English – stars the great Tilda Swinton as the unnamed woman, who is watching time slowly pass by whilst she waits for her ex-lover to come back and relieve her of her pain – and to collect the rest of his belongings. She and her restless dog have been abandoned, and the sad thing is… neither want to accept this as the truth.
This is a film about a woman’s isolation, her feeling of being lost and unsure whether her life is falling apart, with a lack of self-awareness about the situation. The camera work really does highlight the space in her life, it signifies this woman’s solitude – a self-indulgent solitude. She is plagued by a variety of thoughts swimming around in her head, the close ups, and the zooms call attention to some slight moment of clarity about her situation, developing an understanding, finally. She just needs to project this on to that poor dog.
You can clearly tell that this is based on a play (originally by Jean Cocteau), it is at home on the stage; the set is built in such a way that professes this, and the camera work helps illuminate that as well. And speaking of plays, Swinton is Shakespearean like; very unnerving and unsettling, but equally brilliant as the woman on the verge of a mental breakdown – those who know the reference will appreciate that one.
Don’t rule out the idea that this woman is only talking to herself as well, this could be the solution to her needing clarity about her abandonment. Talking to yourself can work for a better understanding, just don’t let anyone see you doing it and avoid public places. With that being said, the burning of the theatre represents a cleansing of her former life with this supposed man, it is what she needs to move and start afresh.
It is very dialogue heavy and without the back and forth, it is more akin to a monologue because we never find out who she is talking to, we just assume that it is her ex, but it could still be no one. To be the only character (well, apart from the cute dog and the bewildered shop keeper at the beginning) can be very difficult, you have no one to bounce off and create chemistry with, it is you who must stand tall. For an elite performer like Swinton though, it is made to look easy, she can fully express her full range of emotions without restraints.
An unusual little film, but a powerful one. A big performance from Swinton skyrockets a seemingly simple piece about isolation to a stratospheric level. A wonderful short film that covers so many aspects of a woman’s angst, a topic that Almodóvar often uses and excels at portraying. Almodóvar still manages to include many of his recurring themes as well; themes of passion, desire, identity is heavily involved throughout. There is also the added aide of a vibrant colour palate, like so many of his previous films – it is his bread and butter – and as always, it is gorgeous to see and to experience.
The Human Voice is available to watch on MUBI now.
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