La voix

I saw this hidden gem at a French film festival in 1992. The film held me spellbound for its entire duration, which is exceptional, since I get bored very easy with mediocre attempts at creating atmosphere and a gripping storyline. La Voix excels on most accounts: great casting (Sami Frey is tailormade for the role as protagonist), mesmerising, moody symbolism in Rome's sunsets- reflecting the sun setting on the bride-to-be's aspirations, inter alia. The climactic ending transforms a great film into an unforgettable experience.

This film has all the aspects of a modern Greek tragedy and transforms sunset-nostalgia into a soul-searching experience for all brides and grooms-to-be. Ouch!

I have only one gigantic gripe with this film: I can't find it anywhere! Anyone out there...?

Pierre Granier -Defferre was once a heir to a long tradition ,the one the highbrows call "cinema de papa" , an unfair pejorative name .His apex was probably "une étrange affaire" where Nathalie Baye was the wife of a man becoming slowly by inexorably ,his boss's slave .

Thus Nathalie Baye was featured in Granier-Defferre 's towering achievement ...and in his worst work .It's hard to tell ,but this "voice " is a big bore , recalling the NV of the early sixties , with privileged people feeling sorry for themselves.Because he's heard a voice in a restaurant where he enjoys a good meal in Rome with his lover , a man recalls a former woman he was in love with : one is told (how original!) his story by flashbacks .Nathalie Baye has nothing to do but listening to this confession,getting jealous along the way .

A ludicrous scene in the ladies 'room gives this bomb the coup de grâce .