The Telephone. La Voix humaine

United Kingdom, 1992

Film
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Menotti’s “The Telephone”, appropriately subtitled “L’amour a trois”, is a simple story. Ben unsuccessfully tries to declare his love for Lucy, but is constantly thwarted by the ringing telephone. It is to the telephone, surely the third person of the triangle, that he has to finally resort, in order to convey his message. In “La Voix humaine”, music by Poulenc, text by Cocteau, a woman bids goodbye to her long-time lover prey to wrong numbers, party lines and cuttings off. What should be a highly charged emotional scene is dehumanised, where the normal physical bond of the moment is replaced by the unpredictable link of the telephone wires. Performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

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Collection

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Credits

director

Mike Newman

co-producer

Mike Newman

Paul Meyer

production company

BBC-TV

Decca

Duration

01:05:00:00

Production places
United Kingdom
Production dates
1992

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

304998

Language

French

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

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If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/83740--the-telephone-la-voix-humaine/ |title=The Telephone. La Voix humaine |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=16 July 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}