Review: Small Voices (**)

SMALL VOICES
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): **


"I won't just be your teacher," Melinda (Alessandra de Rossi), a new
instructor who looks no older than a teenager, tells her impoverished class
in a remote Philippine village. "I'll be your friend."



Well-shot and well-intentioned but decidedly dull, SMALL VOICES (MGA MUNTING
TINIG) is a formula film that you've seen a hundred times. A group of kids
who are awful at something -- singing in this case -- are trained by a
determined teacher so that they can compete in the big competition that will
end the movie. The only twist this time is that the story is told in
Filipino.



The parents don't like the idea of their kids wasting time on schooling,
much less any after school activity. They need their youngsters to help in
the fields. When they first hear of the possibility of their kids getting
involved in the singing, the parents cause a near riot at the school.



The teacher, of course, prevails and her choir is assembled and trained.
Her sweet demeanor and the kids' insistence eventually win over the
reluctant parents.



A subplot concerns rebels who are off in the jungle fighting the government
for unexplained reasons. On one occasion, the guns, sometimes heard along
with the crickets in the evening, cause sadness for the school. [Mormon
missionaries also wander through the town, but they never speak, and nothing
is ever said about them. We keep waiting for them to be worked into the
story, but they never are.]



With five school groups competing in the songfest, Melinda tells her class
that, if they try hard, they can come in fourth. Any bets on whether her
prediction will come true? I'll give you a hint, the kids' collective
singing abilities are about on a par with the grunting of the local pigs
during all the practices, but, when they get on the stage, they discover
that they suddenly sound like a heavenly choir.



SMALL VOICES runs 1:49. The film is in Filipino with English subtitles. It
is not rated but might be PG for a few violent images and would be
acceptable for kids old enough to be able read subtitles.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, September 19,
2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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