Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Voice from the Stone Blu-ray Movie Review

Can you hear me now?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 27, 2017

Fans of classic The Twilight Zone episodes may recall the spooky outing from 1961 entitled “Long Distance Call”, where a little boy (played by Billy Mumy) kept insisting he was talking to his dear, departed grandmother on a toy telephone. Small children’s reactions to deaths of loved ones can be widely variant, and it’s perhaps understandable that many children resort to what adults would see as fantasy or at least magical realist tendencies in their attempts to deal with their grief. Voice from the Stone posits another little boy scarred by the death of a loved one, in this case his famous concert pianist mother. Little Jakob Rivi (Edward Dring) has remained totally mute for over seven months since the passing of Malvina Rivi (Caterina Murino), leaving Jakob’s father and Malvina’s widower Klaus Rivi (Marton Csokas) distraught but also a bit curt with the boy. While it’s never detailed exactly how this connection was forged, a live in nurse and therapist named Verena (Emilia Clarke) is called upon to live at the palatial castle in Tuscany which has been the family home of Malvina’s brood for untold centuries. At least somewhat similarly to that old Twilight Zone episode, it turns out that Jakob is convinced he can hear his mother’s spirit whispering to him through the ancient stone walls of the family fortress, and Verena’s task, aside from simply trying to get Jakob to open up and talk about his trauma, is to ground Jakob in something approaching reality, since of course spirits can’t talk through the stone walls of a castle. Or — can they? Voice from the Stone is incredibly strong on mood, but perhaps less vigorous in the narrative department. The film will probably be a disappointment to those looking for a traditional fright fest or even a typical ghost story, but it weaves a rather potent and hypnotic spell as it tells the tale of Verena’s almost physical assimilation into what she initially thinks is Jakob’s delusion. As such, the film may also bring to mind such efforts as The Innocents, with its intentionally ambiguous take on Henry James’ Turn of the Screw where the viewer is left to wonder whether that film’s live in female helper is imagining things or if there are indeed spirits wafting through the premises. Voice from the Stone ultimately forsakes its ambiguity, though, something that may actually undercut its subliminally spooky mood.

Note: A couple of unavoidable plot points are discussed in the following section. Those wanting to avoid potential spoilers are encouraged to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below.

Voice from the Stone is based on a source novel by Italian author Silvio Raffo, and I have to think that some of the narrative issues with the film probably stem from a literary ambience in the novel that can’t quite be duplicated in a cinematic context. This includes somewhat inconsistent use of voiceover by Verena, used essentially as bookends. But the film also has a bit of an uneasy ride documenting the transformation in the relationship between Verena and Klaus, which morphs from employee-employer into something decidedly more passionate, and which perhaps illogically reminded me a bit of elements in My Cousin Rachel . Had Malvina’s spectral spell on Verena been a bit less ambiguously presented, as it is in the early going, that might have made this particular element more believable, and since the film ultimately eschews any indecision about what’s actually going on, the temporary artifice seems all the more unnecessary.

Also never really very well detailed and therefore not as meaningful as perhaps intended is a subplot involving an old quarry, the former source of Malvina's family's riches, which is now covered with a manmade lake, courtesy of a dam. The "voices" from these particular stones are never loud enough for the audience to hear, figuratively speaking (no pun intended), and therefore the symbolism here is questionable and perhaps too murky to resonate.

More effective, and perhaps even indicative of some smart misdirection on the part of of scenarist Andrew Shaw and director Eric Dennis Howell, is Verena’s relationship with two elderly workers at the castle. This particular aspect reminded me of yet another film, The Others, though I’m happy to state that my prediction that this film was following in that film’s ghostly footsteps turned out to be unfounded. In fact, there’s probably only really one outright allusion to a ghost, and it comes rather late in the film, at which point Verena’s subsumption of Malvina’s essence is already a given.

Still, Voice from the Stone has an almost palpable mood, one made visceral through some beautiful Tuscan location photography and a fine if fairly one note performance by Clarke. Little Dring is called upon to do little more than scowl throughout the film, and the final breakthrough at the end has a probably pretty lamentable piece of dialogue, but the boy has a slightly menacing presence that serves the film’s unsettling ambience rather well (one of the film's most shocking moments comes when Jakob finishes killing a rabbit that has been shot but which isn't "quite dead yet", in a scene that really has nothing to do with the plot but which provides quite a jolt nonetheless). I wasn’t particularly wooed by Csokas, at least in his guise as a romantic interest for Verena, though he does better detailing Klaus’ angst and anger over his wife’s death and the resultant trauma suffered by Jakob.

My colleague Brian Orndorf wasn’t quite as taken by Voice from the Stone as I was, although in his review of the film’s theatrical exhibition he mentions the inescapable atmosphere of the piece. I’d recommend coming to this film without any preconceptions concerning either mystery or thriller aspects, and in fact trying not to even focus on any ghost story element. The film often plays like a dream, and sumptuous visuals, an inviting score and an interesting central performance by Emilia Clarke all help to establish that dreamlike quality surprisingly well, helping the film to overcome some narrative deficits.

Voice from the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Voice from the Stone is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Momentum Pictures with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa as having digitally captured the imagery, and this is by and large a rather nice looking transfer, albeit one often shrouded in fog and mist and other "mystery film" visual tropes. Some of those weather elements, as well as some effulgent light sources, create temporary and minor banding at times, but nothing that I'd term overly distracting or annoying. Aside from some nighttime material, which is tinted toward blue tones, the film is refreshingly free of any aggressive grading, and while the entire film has a kind of autumnal quality without any really bright pops of color, the palette looks natural and well saturated. Detail levels are uniformly very good, especially in close-ups.

Voice from the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Voice from the Stone features a nuanced DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which is rarely "showy", but which provides regular immersion courtesy of ambient environmental sounds as well as the reverberant interiors of the castle. The film has a minimalist but expressive score which resides comfortably in the side and rear channels. Dialogue is also well presented and smartly prioritized. The film really refrains from any traditional horror film sound design clichés, and so low end is a bit tamped down, but the track's fidelity is fine and there are no issues with any distortion or other damage.

Voice from the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Three very brief interviews with Emilia Clarke (which frankly could have just been combined into one featurette) as well as a music video comprise the supplements on this release:

• Emilia Clarke Discusses Voice from the Stone (1080p; 1:13)


• Emilia Clarke Discusses Her Character Verena (1080p; 1:05)


• Emilia Clarke on Working with Marton Csokas (1080p; 1:02) also includes snippets with Csokas being interviewed.


• Amy Lee 'Speak to Me' Music Video (1080p; 5:19)

Voice from the Stone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Voice from the Stone works best as a mood piece, and those willing to just go with its sometimes pretty languorous flow may find enough here to offset some narrative hurdles. The Tuscan locations are often breathtaking, and Emilia Clarke makes for an appealingly vulnerable heroine. Technical merits are generally strong, and with caveats noted, Voice from the Stone comes Recommended.