Some Voices

Synopsis

Some Voices has come a long way from its theatrical origins. The journey started when Elinor Day, then at the BBC, saw Joe Penhall's acclaimed play about two brothers, one of whom is schizophrenic, at London's Royal Court theatre. "I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it," says Day, who commissioned Penhall to adapt it as a film script. "Penhall has such an original vision of the world."



Day took Some Voices with her when she moved to FilmFour, where Paul Webster liked it and agreed to commission re-writes. Penhall reworked the script thoroughly over four years, finding a visual equivalent for the "gothic, heightened naturalism" of the play's dialogue. The result, Penhall says, is "a film based loosely on the play, rather than an adaptation", with the slide back into illness of schizophrenic Ray (Daniel Craig) depicted in imaginative imagery rather than words.



FilmFour brought Simon Cellan Jones on board to direct. Although it is his feature debut, the director had an impressive track record in television, including the Bafta-winning Our Friends In The North.



The story is set in Shepherd's Bush, west London, where Cellan Jones lives and Penhall used to. The film was shot on location in six weeks, with a handheld camera capturing the locals' everyday life. "Every now and again you would get people looking into the camera and yelling, but we would just have to let it go," says Cellan Jones.



Some Voices premiered in Directors' Fortnight at Cannes this year.

Details

Year

2000

Type of film

Features

Director

Simon Cellan Jones

Music

Adrian Johnston.

Dir

Simon Cellan Jones.

Prods

Damian Jones, Graham Broadbent.

Co-prod

Fiona Morham.

Scr

Joe Penhall.

DoP

David Odd.

Prod des

Zoe MacLeod.

Ed

Elen Pierce Lewis.

Main cast

Daniel Craig, David Morrissey, Kelly Macdonald, Julie Graham, Peter McDonald.

Funding

FilmFour.

Genre

Production status

Complete

Please let us know if we need to make any amendments to this Film entry mailing us directly at

Last updated 24th June 2005