Voice from the Stone - Call from the beyond

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Movie
German title Voice from the Stone - Call from the beyond
Original title Voice from the Stone
Country of production United States , Italy
original language English
Publishing year 2017
length 94 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Eric Dennis Howell
script Andrew Shaw
production Dean Zanuck
Stefano Gallini-Durante
music Michael Wandmacher
camera Peter Simonite
cut Clayton Condit
occupation

Voice from the Stone - Call from the Beyond (Original title: Voice from the Stone ) is an American film drama with mystery and thriller elements from 2017 . It is based on the novel La voce della pietra ( Voice from the Stone ) by the Italian writer Silvio Raffo and was shot in Italy. It represents the feature film debut of the director Eric Dennis Howell .

action

Italy in the 1950s: the boy Jakob Rivi is on the deathbed of his mother Malvina, who consoled him with her last words that another woman will come and love him, but that his next words will call her back.

Months later, the nanny Verena arrives at the Rivis' property because Klaus - Jacob's father - needs help for his son. He has not spoken a word since his mother's death. After Klaus has received Verena and warned her about the task ahead, Verena takes on the task anyway and gets to know Jakob, who, however, appears to be silent and largely disinterested in her. When Jakob runs away from her, Verena also gets to know the dismissive employee of the Rivis, Alessio, and Lilia, the mother of the late Malvina. She learns that the property has been in the family for 1200 years and that Malvina was the first family member to prefer a career as a successful pianist to the family-run stone mine. The mine flooded them, and Jakob regularly goes swimming there.

Finally Verena discovers Jakob in his room, where he seems to be listening, pressed against the wall. She learns from his father that he seems to hear his mother there. Annoyed at not having been informed about this earlier, Verena doubts whether she can successfully care for Jakob and suggests professional treatment, which Klaus refuses. When she was thinking in the courtyard, she saw Jakob on a tower of the house. Worried that the boy will jump to his death, she rushes to the tower, realizing that she is already too worried about Jacob to leave him. The next day she follows him with Alessio to the family mausoleum, where Jakob listens to his mother's tombstone. From Alessio she learns that 40 generations of the Rivis are already resting in the mausoleum. Her attempt to convince Jakob that the voices he thinks he hears come from his imagination does not get through to the boy. Jakob also refuses to play the piano for her, as he did with his mother, and Verena herself cannot play the piano.

Verena now speaks frequently to Lilia, who attests to her similarities with the deceased and who seems to enjoy having someone again to look after. Meanwhile, Verena is more and more fascinated by the voices Jakob thinks he hears, and now tries to hear the voices in the wall herself. When she damaged her dress on one occasion, Lilia gave her a Malvinas dress. When Klaus sees her in the clothes of his deceased wife, he is initially angry, but then allows her to continue wearing the clothes. Later he approaches her with the request to model him in his workshop, where an unfinished stone sculpture of his wife is waiting to be completed. When she is standing naked for the sculpture, she imagines sleeping with Klaus.

When she sees Jakob on the wall in his room one more time, she crouches down next to him and then hears the voice in the wall herself, whereupon she realizes with shock that the boy doesn't seem to have any delusions. While she actually gets together with Klaus over the next few days and Jakob seems to be opening up to her, Verena herself is increasingly confused. She talks to a painting by Malvina and promises to take care of Klaus and Jakob and asks them to leave. However, since Jakob still doesn't say anything, Klaus, who is overwhelmed by his feelings towards Verena, announces his resignation. Verena, now suffering from a fever, does not want to go and begs Jakob to speak so that she will not be sent away, but when she wants to ask Lilia for advice and learns that she committed suicide after Malvina's death and therefore died before her arrival , she flees the house in a panic. Alessio follows her, and when she collapses in the driveway, he brings her back into the house. There Verena suffers from feverish dreams in which she is walled up with Malvina and fears that she will suffer the same fate as Malvina, who died of fever.

When she finally wakes up again, Jakob speaks to her for the first time and says that he misses his mother. Verena replies that she is here now. She wears the ring of the deceased and now plays the piano perfectly and stays with the family.

production

Delayed start of production

With Voice from the Stone , the 1996 novel La voce della pietra by the Italian writer Silvio Raffo was adapted in the form of a feature film. The first script for this was written by Mark Wheaton back in 2009, after Dean Zanuck and Stefano Gallini-Durante promoted the project as producers . As a director for the film was Japanese Hideo Nakata committed. It took until 2011 to make concrete production plans public, but filming for Voice from the Stone should begin this summer . However, Nakata left the project as a director and Eric D. Howell was brought in as a replacement, and a new script was written by Andrew Shaw. For Howell, who until then had mainly made short films , including Ana's Playground , which has won several film festivals , Voice from the Stone marks his debut as a feature film director.

In the course of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2011 , the production company K5 International, which was to take over the international marketing of the film, began selling the rights for Voice from the Stone alongside titles such as Vehicle 19 with Paul Walker and Toast with Helena Bonham Carter . It was also announced in Cannes that Maggie Gyllenhaal would take on the leading role in Voice from the Stone . There were also reports at the time that Mads Mikkelsen had also been cast for a role in the film, but these were not confirmed. However, filming did not begin in 2011, and the film's planned release for 2012 did not materialize.

The producers Zanuck and Gallini-Durante did not drop the project and were able to shoot Voice from the Stone in 2014 together with the original screenwriter Mark Wheaton as executive producer in cooperation with the newly founded production company “Code39 Films” and the “Producer Capital Fund” reschedule. With “13 Films” another sponsor was found for the project, who also took over the international marketing instead of K5 International. British actress Emilia Clarke , who had become popular with the television series Game of Thrones , was hired to play the lead role of Verena in June 2014. In the run-up to the 35th American Film Market , an annual film fair in the United States , it was announced that Marton Csokas would take on another leading role in the film. Other roles were cast with the Italian actors Caterina Murino , Remo Girone , Lisa Gastoni and Edward Dring , the latter being his role as Jakob being his acting debut in an international feature film.

Filming in Italy

Filming was scheduled for November 2014. Since the story is set in Italy, Howell and the producers wanted to film on locations in Italy as well. The shooting was finally divided between the Castello di Celsa near Siena in Tuscany , which was used for the outdoor shots, and the Montecalvello in Viterbo for indoor shots. Additional shooting took place in the Cinecitta Studios in Rome. Filming, scheduled for November, started on schedule and ended after 35 days on December 23, 2014.

Marketing and Publishing

To promote the marketing of the film, 13 Films presented Voice from the Stone for European marketing companies at the European Film Market in Berlin in February 2015 . In the course of the event, a first photo of Emilia Clarke in her role as Verena was made available for promotional purposes. At the Cannes Film Festival in May 2015, 13 Films continued to advertise the film and show new footage. In November 2016, the North American marketing rights for Voice from the Stone were sold to Momentum Pictures as part of the 36th American Film Market .

On March 14, 2017, Momentum Pictures published the first trailer for the film, the launch date in selected cinemas and the simultaneous release as video-on-demand fell on April 28, 2017. In Europe, the film was produced as a direct-to-DVD production released. In Germany, Ascot Elite has been distributing the film since June 30, 2017, in Great Britain the film celebrated its premiere on August 25 at FrightFest 2017, where it is distributed by Signature Entertainment.

Film music

Track List (Soundtrack)
  1. La Rocciosa - 1:13
  2. Ninna Nanna - 0:56
  3. The Anteroom - 2:12
  4. Resonance - 1:22
  5. Malvina - 1:48
  6. The Tower - 2:34
  7. Mausoleum - 2:31
  8. Whisper - 1:29
  9. I Did This for Her - 2:41
  10. Shift - 1:30
  11. Give Me Your Hands - 1:14
  12. I Will Always Be Your Mother - 1:27
  13. Carving - 1:50
  14. Emerge - 1:34
  15. What I Ask - 2:10
  16. The Dress - 1:37
  17. The Pose - 3:43
  18. Voice - 2:52
  19. You're Hurting Him - 1:05
  20. Picnic - 1:06
  21. Forbidden - 2:50
  22. Pietra - 1:03
  23. We Must Help Her - 2:40
  24. Run - 2:18
  25. I Must Leave - 1:37
  26. Collapse - 2:05
  27. Fever - 1:30
  28. Another Will Come - 1:59
  29. The Garden - 1:33

At the beginning of the production Michael Wandmacher , who was acquainted with Howell, was asked by him to compose the score for Voice from the Stone . Due to his early involvement in the project, he was able to develop the score in coordination with Howell and had plenty of room for experiments. Wandmacher, who up to this point had mainly accompanied video games and more action-heavy films like Underworld: Blood Wars with a more aggressive musical style, had to reorient himself for the film. He focused on a small orchestra and solo basic pieces, often played by just one or two instruments, to create a quieter, more atmospheric sound.

In the post-production of the film, during the sound work at Skywalker Sound , the director decided to contact Amy Lee , the singer of the rock group Evanescence , to participate in a film song. After Lee expressed interest and shown an unfinished version of the film, she took a liking to the project. On the very first day she wrote a 40 to 45 second draft for a suitable film song. She then worked on the song Speak To Me in close collaboration with Howell and Wandmacher in the studios of the Skywalker Ranch . Amy Lee's single Speak To Me was released on March 17, 2017, and the accompanying music video was released on March 23, which was also directed by Eric Howell. The album with Michael Wandmacher's film music was released digitally on April 28, 2017, it contains 29 pieces of music.

reception

During its screening at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, Voice from the Stone was voted second in the audience vote in the New American Visions category. Composer Michael Wandmacher was nominated for the Public Choice Award of the World Soundtrack Awards with his film music. Apart from that, the film received mixed reviews and ratings: On the film rating site Rotten Tomatoes , the film was rated as “Rotten” with just 38% based on 21 reviews and scored 42/100 points based on seven collected reviews on Metacritic . With almost 5,000 votes from users of the Internet Movie Database , the film achieved an average rating of 5.2 / 10 points.

Susan Wloszczyna from RogerEbert.com attests to the fact that the film has a successful camera work and a good production design, but they have to do all the work. The vague plot is not very engaging and nothing disturbing or creepy would happen for too long before the plot then turns too abruptly. She also criticizes the actors' stilted representations, which give the impression that they are playing “against the inside of a stone wall that excludes the audience.” Soren Andersen of the Seattle Times also praises the camerawork by Peter Simonite and Davide De Stefanos Production design, but also finds the film an "impressive first work" overall. Voice from the Stone is “more of an elegant mood film than a relentless festival of fear”, and Emilia Clarke, with her “wonderfully expressive face”, makes a significant contribution to making the film a genre classic, which he rates 3.5 out of 4 stars . Colin Covert from the Star Tribune comes to the same rating, who finds the film “visually outstanding” and “detailed”. The film has "the will to tell a story that arouses anxiety in the viewer, but spares them red fountains of gore ." In LA Weekly, April Wolfe attested that debutant Howell had mostly good atmospheric control of the film, but saw problems through Clichés: With "cheesy scenes with one-dimensional characters [...] he undermined his efforts to create horror or even to redefine a genre." In the New York Observer , Rex Reed describes the film as a "copy of Edgar Allen Poe's works", the Camera work is the only thing that works on Voice from the Stone , while he rates Andrew Shaw's script as "artificial and illogical". The performers are "not allowed to ever show a sense of real character development."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Voice from the Stone - Call from the Beyond . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; accessed on 23 September 2017). Template: FSK / maintenance / type not set and Par. 1 longer than 4 characters
  2. ↑ Tatiana Siegel: Nakata to direct 'Voice From the Stone'. Variety , November 5, 2009, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  3. ^ Dave McNary: Duo net rights to 'Butterfly'. Variety , March 18, 2011, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Eric D. Howell. Internet Movie Database , accessed September 23, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Diana Lodderhose: Strand signs 'Here'. Variety , May 10, 2011, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Diana Lodderhose: Gyllenhaal to topline 'Stone'. Variety , May 18, 2011, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Ryan Turek: Teaser Art for Voice from the Stone With Maggie Gyllenhaal. ComingSoon.net, October 12, 2011, accessed on September 23, 2017 .
  8. ^ Voice from the Stone. (No longer available online.) K5 International, archived from the original on August 21, 2012 ; accessed on September 23, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.k5international.com
  9. ↑ Jeff Sneider: 'Game of Thrones' Star Emilia Clarke to Lead Thriller 'Voice From the Stone'. TheWrap, July 16, 2014, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  10. ↑ a b Linda Ge: Marton Csokas Joining Emilia Clarke in Thriller 'Voice From the Stone'. TheWrap, November 3, 2014, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  11. ↑ a b c Tatiana Siegel: Emilia Clarke to Star in Indie Psychological Thriller 'Voice From the Stone'. The Hollywood Reporter , June 16, 2014, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Dave McNary: AFM Opens in Glow of Good Film News. Variety , November 5, 2014, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  13. ↑ a b Dave McNary: AFM: Emilia Clarke's 'Voice From the Stone' Bought by Momentum (EXCLUSIVE). Variety , November 4, 2014, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  14. ↑ a b c Derek Anderson: Q&A: VOICE FROM THE STONE Director Eric D. Howell on Working with Emilia Clarke & Filming in Italy. DailyDead.com, May 5, 2017, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  15. ↑ a b Steve Barton: AFM 2016: Emilia Clarke Hears a Voice from the Stone. DreadCentral.com, April 11, 2016, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Nick Vivarelli: Rome's Cinecitta Studios Lures 'Ben Hur' Redo And Other Hollywood Pics. Variety , November 24, 2014, accessed September 21, 2017 .
  17. ^ Voice From The Stone Wrapped Filming. emilia-clarke.net, December 23, 2014, accessed on September 24, 2017 (English).
  18. ↑ Berlin's Top Buzz Titles. Variety , February 5, 2015, accessed September 20, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Steve Barton: EFM 2015: First Look at Emilia Clarke in Voice From the Stone. DreadCentral.com, February 9, 2015, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  20. ^ Carole Horst: Cannes: 13 Films, Brand Inc. Sign Multiple Film Deal. Variety , May 16, 2015, accessed September 22, 2017 .
  21. ^ Scott Roxborough: AFM: Emilia Clarke's 'Voice From the Stone' Nabbed by Momentum for North America. The Hollywood Reporter , November 4, 2016, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  22. ↑ VOICE FROM THE STONE - Official Trailer. (Video) Momentum Pictures via YouTube , March 14, 2017, accessed on September 24, 2017 .
  23. ↑ Steve Barton: Trailer Lets You Hear the Voice from the Stone. DreadCentral.com, March 14, 2017, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  24. ^ Voice from the Stone. Ascot Elite, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  25. ^ Voice from the Stone. FrightFest.co.uk, accessed September 23, 2017 .
  26. ↑ a b Exclusive Interview: Composer Michael Wandmacher discusses his Voice from the Stone score and more. FlickeringMyth.com, September 16, 2017, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Christina Radish: Amy Lee on Her Musical Contribution to the Inspirational Film 'Voice from the Stone'. Collider, May 2, 2017, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  28. ^ Daniel Kreps: Hear Evanescence Singer Amy Lee's Ghostly New Ballad 'Speak to Me'. Rolling Stone , March 17, 2017, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  29. ↑ 'Voice from the Stone' Score Album Details. Film Music Reporter, April 27, 2017, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  30. ↑ a b Voice from the Stone. Internet Movie Database , accessed September 23, 2017 .
  31. ^ WSA voting. World Soundtrack Awards, accessed September 24, 2017 .
  32. ^ Voice from the Stone. Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved September 23, 2017 .
  33. ^ Voice from the Stone. Metacritic , accessed September 23, 2017 .
  34. ^ Susan Wloszczyna: Voice from the Stone. RogerEbert.com, April 28, 2017, accessed on September 23, 2017 (English): "[…] it often feels as if the cast were acting from inside a stone wall, keeping the audience shut out"
  35. ^ Soren Andersen: 'Voice from the Stone' review: a riveting tale within haunted-castle walls. The Seattle Times, April 27, 2017, accessed on September 23, 2017 (English): "impressive first feature" / "a genteel mood piece rather than a full-on fright fest" / "her wonderfully expressive face"
  36. ^ Colin Covert: Emilia Clarke's 'Voice From the Stone' is an eerie guessing game. Star Tribune, May 4, 2017, accessed on September 23, 2017 (English): "[…] willingness to tell a story that draws viewers into anxiety while sparing them red fountains of gore."
  37. ↑ April Wolfe: Voice From the Stone Can't Transcend Horror Cheese. LA Weekly, April 26, 2017, accessed on September 23, 2017 (English): "cheesy scenes with one-dimensional characters undermine Howell's efforts to spook, let alone redefine a genre"
  38. ^ Rex Reed: Emilia Clarke Talks to Walls in Dreary Ghost Story 'Voice From the Stone'. New York Observer, April 28, 2017, accessed on September 23, 2017 (English): "Edgar Allen Poe ripoff" / "contrived, illogical narrative" / "no sense of real character development is ever allowed to emerge"