The Voice (2010 film)
Encyclopedia
The Voice is a 2010 Turkish horror film
, directed by Ümit Ünal
, about a young woman who begins to hear a strange voice whispering to her. The film opened on nationwide general release across Turkey on .
The film was shot on location in Istanbul
, Turkey
.
, states, Surely the film does not present anything new to the genre, but it at least does not smell like a rotten Hollywood rip-off thanks to its spatter of local motifs and cultural references without the usual misogyny of female torture. The strong and weak points of “Ses” seem to stem from the same place -- its high regard for illustrating an intelligent and psychological thriller of depth where the expected scares serve the purpose of the main human story of dysfunctional and traumatized families -- yet the scenes which specifically highlight the drama and not the suspense tend to perform weakly as the emotional dynamic between the characters could have been more engaging, the reviewer adds, before going on to state, For the most part, the film’s real theme (which cannot be revealed at this point for spoilers) is so familiar to Turkish culture that it achieves in portraying a remarkable zeitgeist that no other films of related genres have been able to present. The reviewer concludes, All things considered, Ünal brings a well-crafted tale of agony (the kind of agony that’s worth pondering) with the help of astounding cinematography from Türksoy Gölebeyi, tight editing from Çiçek Kahraman and Natalin Solakoğlu, mesmerizingly painful art direction from Elif Taşçıoğlu and not to mention the powerful sound design (which holds the motif skeleton of the film) by Burak Topalakçı and Sascha Walker. Kudos to the cast and crew, who bring a film catering to all tastes, mainstream and independent.
Emrah Güler, writing for Hürriyet Daily News, calls the film, One of the most anticipated Turkish films of the year, and recommends it to, Those who have become sick of Turkish horror movies with Islamic motifs and poor stories and want to try a fresh look at the genre.
Todd Brown, writing for Twitch Film
, describes the film as, An atmospheric thriller with dark supernatural overtones, that is, The latest title to try to be a true breakout hit to put Turkey on the map for genre film lovers, and comments that it, boasts a very aggressive trailer that promises good things.
Deljhp, writing for 24Framespersecond.net, wites that the film, looks beautifully shot, and absolutely chock full of atmosphere, that really seems to upped the ante again, and also commenting on the trailer adds, Whoever did sound production and score for this, really knows their stuff.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, directed by Ümit Ünal
Ümit Ünal
Ümit Ünal is a film director, screenwriter and author. Born in 1965 in Turkey, he is the scriptwriter for eight Turkish feature films including Teyzem , Hayallerim, Askim ve Sen . He has published one book of stories and two novels. He has been working as a TV commercials director since 1996...
, about a young woman who begins to hear a strange voice whispering to her. The film opened on nationwide general release across Turkey on .
Production
Director Ümit Ünal explained his surprise decision to collaborate with film-critic and novelist Uygar Şirin on this film by stating that, “The script is the best I’ve seen.”The film was shot on location in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
Plot
Derya (Selma Ergeç) works in a bank's call centers to support her elderly mother. One day her life is suddenly turned upside down as she begins to hear a strange voice whispering to her. The source of the voice is a mystery and it tells her things and facts no-one else would know. Word gets out, and many in the community start to believe she is receiving messages from the divine. But soon the voice starts to become louder and louder, its tone becomes more and more threatening and Derya’s life starts spiraling into a nightmare.Release
The film opened in 77 screens across Turkey on at number eleven in the Turkish box office chart with an opening weekend gross of $92,751.Reviews
Emine Yıldırım, writing for Today's ZamanToday's Zaman
Today's Zaman is one of two English-language dailies based in Turkey. Established on January 16, 2007, the newspaper's main competitor is the older Hürriyet Daily News....
, states, Surely the film does not present anything new to the genre, but it at least does not smell like a rotten Hollywood rip-off thanks to its spatter of local motifs and cultural references without the usual misogyny of female torture. The strong and weak points of “Ses” seem to stem from the same place -- its high regard for illustrating an intelligent and psychological thriller of depth where the expected scares serve the purpose of the main human story of dysfunctional and traumatized families -- yet the scenes which specifically highlight the drama and not the suspense tend to perform weakly as the emotional dynamic between the characters could have been more engaging, the reviewer adds, before going on to state, For the most part, the film’s real theme (which cannot be revealed at this point for spoilers) is so familiar to Turkish culture that it achieves in portraying a remarkable zeitgeist that no other films of related genres have been able to present. The reviewer concludes, All things considered, Ünal brings a well-crafted tale of agony (the kind of agony that’s worth pondering) with the help of astounding cinematography from Türksoy Gölebeyi, tight editing from Çiçek Kahraman and Natalin Solakoğlu, mesmerizingly painful art direction from Elif Taşçıoğlu and not to mention the powerful sound design (which holds the motif skeleton of the film) by Burak Topalakçı and Sascha Walker. Kudos to the cast and crew, who bring a film catering to all tastes, mainstream and independent.
Emrah Güler, writing for Hürriyet Daily News, calls the film, One of the most anticipated Turkish films of the year, and recommends it to, Those who have become sick of Turkish horror movies with Islamic motifs and poor stories and want to try a fresh look at the genre.
Todd Brown, writing for Twitch Film
Twitch Film
Twitch Film, also known simply as Twitch, is an English language Canadian website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown, a cinephile with personal interests in arthouse and grindhouse cinema...
, describes the film as, An atmospheric thriller with dark supernatural overtones, that is, The latest title to try to be a true breakout hit to put Turkey on the map for genre film lovers, and comments that it, boasts a very aggressive trailer that promises good things.
Deljhp, writing for 24Framespersecond.net, wites that the film, looks beautifully shot, and absolutely chock full of atmosphere, that really seems to upped the ante again, and also commenting on the trailer adds, Whoever did sound production and score for this, really knows their stuff.