All elements of a classic haunted-house story are present and accounted
for in “Voice from the Stone”. The impressive first feature is remarkably assured
and elegantly mounted. “Voice from the Stone” is a supernatural-thriller,
almost Hitchcockian, film directed by Eric Howell and adapted by screenwriter Andrew
Shaw from the Italian novel La Voce Della
Pietra by Silvio Raffo.
“Voice from the Stone” is a genteel mood piece rather than a full-on
fright fest.
I think rather than jump scares and genre clichés, “Voice from the Stone”
is a beautiful horror movie, truly, one made for patient grown-ups and with
every technical element refined and buffed to a high gloss. It seems like the
director’s principle is to create a mood not of fear, but of growing unease on
the part of the young woman character, Verena (played by Emilia Clarke).
Set in the 1950s Tuscany, “Voice from the Stone” looks to emulate the
gothic horror vibe like “Rebecca” combined with some gruesome flourishes straight
out to Edgar Allan Poe. It tells a story of a nurse named Verena who has been
hired by a widower Klaus (played by Marton Csokas) to care for son named Jakob
(played by Edward Dring) who hasn’t uttered a word since his mother’s sudden
death 7 and half months ago, and the boy has a unique habit to listen to the
castle walls to hear his dead mother murmurs from beyond the grave.
As a nurse, Verena is self-assured, tender but determined to persuade
Jakob that the-dead-do-not-speak and
that the boy must stop listening at the walls in the hope of hearing his mother’s
voice. Isolated in the castle, Verena found herself delves into the background
of Jakob’s lovely pianist mother, Malvina (played by Caterina Murino), and the
deeper she goes the more she begins to believe that she, too, hears the mother’s
voice whispering from beyond the grave, and that somehow she is slowly, surely
becoming like the family’s dead matriarch.
The main point of the film, i think, is the eerie but artistically
beautiful scenes and atmosphere, thanks to the cinematographer Peter Simonite for
making every image a masterpiece worthy of framing. Creating a distinctly
feminine fright film that is more in love with baroque architecture, swirling
mist, broken statues, intricately-designed costumes and suffocating
supernatural mystery.
In my opinion, although the horror touches are kept to a minimum, well-
mostly in the form of the estate’s creepy groundskeeper (played by Remo
Girone), the film nicely leverages the eerie qualities of the setting; a
crumbling, centuries-old stone building, complete with mausoleum, that lends
the film’s title only the most explicit level of meaning. Also, i have been questioned the word “Voice”
from the title (implicitly) and just realised that it has more to do with
characters’ psychological states, rather than any literal poltergeist.
Something that i didn’t
see it coming. Lol
Another point is of course the score. “Voice from the Stone” is a
gorgeous bauble of a chiller, with a sensual, minimalist cello and piano based
score by Michael Wandmacher that aids in building an ambiguous, romantic and
melancholy world for the emotionally-troubled characters to inhabit, not to
mention Amy Lee’s vocal in the credit roll.
Chill!
Overall, “Voice from the Stone” is a handsome, old-fashioned film. Something
that is my type of horror film because i am a big baby for jump scares kind of
horror films. Fans of haunted-house movies may be disappointed by its plot but
anyone who knows the depth of grief and who recognizes the seemingly
insurmountable wall it seems to build around you and the rest of the world,
will feel the chills that this film delivers deep in the bones.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar