Her Master's Voice

You may not want to watch this after falling in love with Nina Conti and especially her blunt, brutally honest counterpart Monkey in Christopher Guest's one-season series, Family Tree, where she... or, they... stole the entire show, because just imaging such a cute woman even younger having an affair with an old man with eyebrows that resemble scarecrows in distress is gross enough, she has to keep mentioning it. That's the movie though, inheriting a zany but dead British actor's puppets and going to a dummy-talker (can't spell the V word) convention, and there are some talented people showcased, but not enough Monkey. Monkey is the best, ever, and there needs to be more of him. More Monkey. More. Monkey.

Nina Conti's film begins with the film-maker asking herself a peculiar question - is this a documentary? - which leads one to wonder, how doesn't she know? Bt the truth is, it is both a documentary and a performance, for Conti, a ventriloquist, is undoubtedly acting for the camera, yet also seems to reveal the extent to which so many practitioners of her art really do live through their creations. Conti seems more natural, almost, in character than as herself - and this is in effect why her former lover first encouraged her to take up the art, as a way of unleashing her creative side. Now he is dead, and this film is a kind of homage to him. Aside from Conti's own genius, what makes this potentially bizarre film work is what it has to say about the way that human beings choose their own characters; and how some of us manage to escape from them.

Nina Conti starts by introducing herself, her monkey puppet, and her mentor Ken Campbell. When she is filming this documentary, Campbell has already died, and left all his ventril-o-quipment to her. In honor of Ken, she wants to bring the puppets to the ventriloquists' convention and to the dummy graveyard in Kentucky, Venthaven. Because of that (and possibly the need for income,) now there's a video recording of her trip to Kentucky. Fun connection: Ken Campbell was "Bartlett" in Fish Called Wanda. There's an overhanging sadness for part of the film, partly due to the rain falling, (which makes it difficult to carry puppets around), as well as the fact that Nina had been considering giving up the act but before she could talk with Ken about it, he had passed away. There's also a lot of humor in here... we watch as Nina carts a (really large) "dummy" of Ken Campbell around. and the games and interviews with the various puppeteers. The best part of all of this is that she treats all the puppets like members of a big family. At one point, she takes the "Granny" doll into the pool with her, and even dunks her under the water. Fun stuff. Written and directed by Nina herself. Very well done, and it's the perfect memorium to Ken.

A life's journey in an hour. Nina Conti, now deservedly world famous, is given the gift of finding the gift she's been given: understanding through the art of ventriloquism. Here is how (and as importantly, why) she began. And why she continues. Few bits of film are brilliant; this is. Perfect.

A bleak attempt of Nina Conti (daughter of actor Tom Conti) to rekindle her career as a ventriloquist.

Through her grinned teeth Nina manages to voice several puppets that sound somewhat similar to herself in a confusing, and sometimes muffled, manner. On the premise of mourning the death of a previous and much older lover her obvious contempt towards the art of ventriloquism is clear as she unceremoniously stuffs said lover's puppets into a suitcase and heads to the Vent Haven Convention. It is here she wonders alone, avoiding contact with more talented ventriloquists as she contemplates her future and ponders over what to do with the puppets she "inherited" from her previous lover.

This so-called documentary is bland and without much of a point other than to showcase Nina Conti's contempt towards an industry she feels she is trapped in (and Nina replacing a 'p' with a 'k' sounds like a 'k')

The only saving grace for this confusing yawn fest is that she apparently gives the only professional ventriloquist dummy in her possession to a young boy at the Vent Haven Convention who no doubt already is more skilled and dedicated than she.