Human Voice (2014)

Long time after the end of film, zou feel it as an experience. because it is more than an admirable film. but one touching in profound sense. the performance of Sophia Loren is magnificent. as lot of her career. Edoardo Ponti gives a lovelz gift to his mother and that is not a surprise . but the gift is normal. as recognition of an admirable work. for a spectacular short film using the presence, the voice, the skils of an unique actress and few details for atmosphere. Sophia Loren. and her Angela.

This was a real treat for me. I didn't previously realize, before watching Sophia Loren's interview about 'A Special Day' (both that interview and 'Human Voice' are extras on The Criterion Collection release for that film) that this was a beloved role and film that actresses, as they got older, wanted to perform. I also didn't know about this play, despite being a Jean Cocteau enthusiast. This is the first film I have seen directed by Ponti, the son of Loren and the famous producer, Carlo Ponti. His work here is top-notch, especially the cinematography, and I can't for the life of me believe that Loren is 79-80 years old when this was filmed. I don't know her secret Fountain of Youth, but I for one will definitely have what she's having, as we tend to say. I exquisitely hope this isn't the last we've seen of the legendary thespian, but it's definitely worthy of, as she said in the aforementioned interview, the third-best performance she feels she has ever made.

It's impossible not to be captured by Sophia Loren's performance. She certainly retains her earthy beauty at the age of seventy-nine. And, although this movie is less than thirty minutes long, Ms. Loren is still able to perform a wide range of heartfelt emotions that draw in the viewer. At the end, one wishes this film were longer. Although I don't speak Italian, I love listening to this beautiful language, especially as spoken by the ultimate professional that is Ms. Loren. I also liked the "small" roles such as that of the maid. The maid was perfectly cast and her veal parmigiana looked delicious. Also, bravo to the director, Mr. Ponti. I highly recommend this film.

"La voce umana" or "The Human Voice" is a 25-minute Italian live action short film from last year. The director and writer is Swiss filmmaker Edoardo Ponti (husband to Sasha Alexander from NCIS) and he and Erri De Luca adapted a play by Jean Cocteau for this little movie. It is basically a one-woman show for Italian Academy Award winning actress Sophia Loren, in her 80s now. We follow her phone call to her significant other, in which he apparently is ending the relationship. We see and hear her suffer, we see and hear her be or pretend to be strong etc. I must say Loren was okay, but in terms of the story, I just wasn't impressed. Not even enough material for under 30 minutes in my opinion, which made this a fairly disappointing watch. if you still want to check it out, make sure you have subtitles unless you are fluent in Italian. But I don't recommend the watch.