|
|
|
|
 |
The Movie:
 After
creating two making-of documentaries about the excellent
Christophe Gans film, Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des
Loups), Pascal Laugier finally had a chance to make a
feature film of his own. With financial (and moral) support from
Gans, Laugier set out to create the haunting tale of a young
women sent to look after a decaying, abandoned orphanage in the
remote French Alps. The building, and its few inhabitants, harbor
some deep, dark secrets that even Laugier seems to have trouble
fully explicating. House of Voices, originally titled Saint
Ange, is an ambitious first feature that tries so hard to be
more than just another confusing thriller or simple ghost story,
but unfortunately somewhere along the line the film seems to lose
its way.
Virginie Ledoyen's character, Anna Jurin, is the aforementioned
young lady who takes residence in the orphanage a decade after
the end of WWII. Keeping a few secrets of her own, Anna discovers
that also living in the orphanage are Helenka, the veteran cook
of the facility, and Judith, the only remaining orphan who
resides in a seemingly constant state of childhood. It doesn't
take long before Ledoyen – really the only familiar face in
the film, at least for an American audience – starts to get
some eerie vibes from Judith and the building itself. Shut down
after the mysterious death of one of the orphans Saint Ange, Anna
soon learns, holds some very dark secrets that it
appears Headmistress Francard has been trying for years to keep
secret. That basic outline is the basis for your typical ghost
story aspect of House of Voices. What Laugier tries to
do with his film, however, is much more ambitious than just that
(probably to a fault).
 Laugier,
of course, provides the requisite creep tactics to get his film
moving. We see the "mysterious" death of the young
orphan as the film opens, which proves to be one of the more
effective scenes in the film. There is certainly a creepy
atmosphere that Laugier creates with lighting, sound, and the
whispered voices of the children. Not to mention a very dank,
dirty bathroom that comes to play a rather large part in House
of Voices. From that scene forward, however, Laugier's film
slows to a crawl for the majority of its remainder. Sure, we get
the incredibly disturbing Judith – who reminds me a bit too
much (in overall creepiness and physical characteristics) of
Zelda from Pet Semetary – and a building full of
spooky noises, but Laugier seems to focus more on Anna's internal
struggle for much of the film rather than her connection to the
orphanage itself. We get a pretty clear sense of her past and her
current struggles, but the director takes her link to Saint Ange
a bit too lightly, simply assuming the audience will understand
why she cares so much for the secrets the building keeps.
Unfortunately, we don't fully understand it, and this is where House
of Voices loses some of its steam.
 The
film's fairly confusing sequence of events takes a very drastic
turn in the third act. Without giving too much away, the final
third of the film makes it appear as if Laugier is trying to turn
House of Voices into a David Lynch/David Cronenberg
hybrid. Anna's journey in this section of the film not only
defies logic, but also becomes way too surreal for its own good.
The footage is clearly ripe with symbolism and you get a sense
that Laugier knows exactly what he wants to
say, but isn't really sure how to say it. Ledoyen soldiers on as
the best thing the film has going for it by playing it all very
straight. It's quite obvious, however, that the material is in
over its head at this point. House of Voices tries to
wrap it all up nicely with a few scenes much more grounded in
reality, but by now the film has managed to lose much of its
credibility with anything resembling reality. It's a shame too
because, while slow, the film does have some great atmosphere and
some general creepiness up until that third act.
Despite the downfalls of the film's conclusion there are a few
more things to like about House of Voices. The main cast
is generally very good throughout the film. Maintaining tension
with basically just the three main actresses, Virginie Ledoyen,
Lou Doillon, and Dorina Lazar do a fine job of carrying much of
the film. There are times, of course, when Doillon can be caught
overacting or when Lazar's English isn't up to par, but the good
aspects of their performances easily outweigh the bad. The
orphanage itself plays a major role in the film and its gloomy
appearance always seems to cast a shadow of impending doom for
its inhabitants. Pascal Laugier certainly knows how to create a
good-looking film. It's just when he lets his story spiral out of
control that he begins to have problems.
 If
you plan on checking out House of Voices thinking that
you're going to get a French version of The Others or a
simple ghost story about an abandoned orphanage, you might as
well just not bother. Shot simultaneously in both French and
English, Pascal Laugier's film has the potential to be a solid
creepfest, but some shaky English from the actors and
far-too-surreal conclusion turns House of Voices into
ambitious, but ultimately sub-par, first feature. If only the
Laugier had kept it in the actor's native tongue, released it as Saint
Ange, and kept the simplicity of the ghost story that exists
in the film's first act, he might have had something special. In
its current form, however, House of Voices tries too
hard to be cerebral and weighty, and ultimately ends up being a
mildly entertaining, atmospheric thriller. At least for its first
two-thirds, that is.
The DVD
Video:
 House
of Voices is presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
format that doesn't hold up quite as well as I had hoped, but
still does a fine job with the source material. The film has a
layer of graininess that fluctuates throughout the film. Darker
scenes are often riddled with grain while brighter scenes appear
much cleaner. Detail isn't as sharp as it could be, and the muted
color palette of the film sometimes looks a bit soft. Flesh tones
are accurate, however, and shadows and lighting come across
fairly well. There are a few instances of spots and some very
slight scratches on the print, but no compression artifacts to be
found. A little noticeable edge enhancement appears at times, but
it's very minimal. An adequate visual presentation, this transfer
manages to get the job done without really raising any eyebrows.
Sound:
 The
audio on this disc is presented in an English Dolby
Digital 5.1 format that carries the overall soundtrack well. You
may be wondering why a French film would include only an English
audio track. I thought the same exact thing, until a little
further investigation reveals that House of Voices was
filmed simultaneously in English and in French. It would
have absolutely been great to have the French track included on
this disc as well, but at least the English isn't a dub track, as
the original actors all recorded their own parts during filming.
The track itself, nevertheless, does a fine job of balancing the
sound effects, Joseph Loduca score, and dialogue. Speech is
always clear, crisp, and distinct (even though some of the
actor's English appears to be really bad), and spatial
separation is just fine across the front channels. The surrounds
don't get a whole lot of action, but they do help carry the
soundtrack and provide some surround effects during a few key
moments in the film. The .1 LFE channel seems a bit underused
throughout the film, and there is a slightly noticeable level
fluctuation overall in the track. Just like the visual
presentation, however, this is an adequate audio track that
manages to suffice without really providing anything extra.
Extras:
For a low-budget French film with the only recognizable face
being that of Virginie Ledoyen, Universal has provided a few nice
extras to round out this disc.
 First
up is a fairly exhaustive behind-the-scenes feature called "The
Making of House of Voices."
Originally titled "Saint Ange: Behind the
Mirror," this nearly hour-long documentary takes the
fly-on-the-wall approach as it catches the cast and crew on the
set of the film. The participants speak in both English and
French throughout the feature, switching between the two very
quickly at times, so English subtitles are almost always present
on the screen. While this isn't the most informative feature of
this sort that I've seen – at times it becomes quite
repetitive – this documentary does manage to have a great
sense of urgency to it. You really get the sense that Christophe
Gans has provided Pascal Laugier with his one great shot at
making a quality film. Laugier appears hurried, but confident,
and works furiously to get his vision across. The most
interesting parts of the feature are when Laugier is working with
his actors, as we get to see them go back and forth so seamlessly
between the two different languages while discussing their
scenes. Just like the film itself, this documentary is clearly
very ambitious. It may not be a great feature, but it is often
informative and entertaining.
 Also
included on this disc are seven deleted scenes
that run approximately twenty minutes long. As with many deleted
scenes, these are mostly extended sequences from scenes that
already appear in the film. There are, however, some nice bits
with Anna exploring more of the large orphanage and even a little
more skin for those wanting to see even more of Virginie Ledoyen.
The curious thing about these deleted scenes is that they are all
presented in French with optional English subtitles. This is all
fine and good, but that makes me wonder why they couldn't have
just included the original French soundtrack for the film as
well. These scenes, however, might not be all that significant,
but they are a welcome addition to this disc.
Finally, when you insert the disc there are trailers
for My Summer of Love, Cry Wolf, and Land
of the Dead. These trailers are easily skipped but,
mysteriously, don't appear anywhere on the special features menu.
Final Thoughts:
 There's
a part of me that wishes Christophe Gans would have taken all
that Brotherhood of the Wolf money and used it to
finance his own project rather than give Pascal Laugier the
chance to take his story to the places he takes it in House
of Voices. The film is effectively creepy for its first
two-thirds, but fails to capitalize on any of the momentum by
tossing the viewer into a very surreal third act that tries way
too hard to appear like a combination of David Lynch and David
Cronenberg. House of Voices, nevertheless, shows that
Laugier does have some chops. He just has to learn when to rein
his story in a little more effectively.
Universal's disc provides adequate audio and visual
presentations, and even a few nice extra features that actually
work to make the film itself slightly more interesting. It would
have been nice to have the original French language track
included as well, but at least the English track isn't a dub.
Still, House of Voices isn't quite good enough to
warrant much more than a rental. Not even for the diehard
Virginie Ledoyen fans who want to see a little bit of skin. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Special Offers
|
|
|
| DVD Blowouts
|
|
|
| Special Offers
|
|
|
|
Buy: