Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice (2012)

Wow! Such a good movie.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

What a shame this is not more easily available. In short, I thought this was an astonishing programme. Part tribute to Ken Campbell and part document of Nina Conti's visit to an international ventriloquism conference for a final contemplation of this art-form before giving it up herself (spoiler: she decides to carry on) this documentary riffs on ideas of identity, creativity, grief and regret. Through Conti's relationship with her puppets we are invited to consider our relationship with our own internal monologue and how it often says things which we do not allow to be expressed in conventional ways. In Campbell's words, this voice within us gives expression to what sometimes might be considered "madness" and for ventriloquists provides a legitimate outlet for individualistic expression, the same type of expression that channels our artistry and creativity. This documentary is fascinating, it raises many questions about who we are as individuals, how we present ourselves, what voice or character we choose to put on and what goes unsaid, and is also almost unbearably moving as Conti tackles head on her feelings about her one time mentor and lover Campbell whose unexpected and premature death has driven her on to greater heights within her field almost as a way of somehow keeping him alive. If you get the opportunity, watch this, it really is remarkable television.

I suppose that some ventriloquists and their devoted fans will find fault with this film. (Why does a ventriloquist not want to be a vent any more?; it's like a Hatfield not only being ashamed of being a hillbilly but making a documentary about it; the next family reunion down in the holler is gonna be mighty uncomfortable.) Anyway, the premise of this possibly staged(?) documentary is that Nina Conti is ambivalent about her profession (she is also an actress whose resume includes a few movies and TV series) and about to quit when she learns that her mentor, Ken Campbell, has died. (Everyone but me seems to take seriously the implication that they were lovers, although I take it as distinctly possible that their sexual attraction was never consummated; Freudians will note that Campbell was almost exactly the same age as Nina Conti's father, actor Tom Conti.) I for one do not think that Conti's ventriloquism act stinks, which only added to my puzzlement as to why she would even consider giving it up. (Maybe, as her performance at the Vent Convention suggests, she wants to transcend the traditional limits of what ventriloquism is supposed to be, and that seems a promising direction, judging from her act.)I particularly enjoy Conti's sense of humor, which I found completely disarming. Two examples: Introduced to a half dozen or so figures bequeathed to her by her mentor, Conti gives each of them new names, even though their former owner already named them, and when she simply names the owl figure "Owl," the figure says, "You put a lot of thought into these names, didn't you." Of course that isn't the "figure" speaking, that is the ventriloquist's self-deprecating humor. Later, her performance at a ventriloquism convention begins with her telling her figure, Monkey (she does put a lot of thought into the name thing, doesn't she), that they are standing before a room full of ventriloquists. "No pressure then," says Monkey.One of the things that this film goes into--including in archive footage of Campbell talking about it--is the psychology of ventriloquism. There is also a nice demonstration by Nacho Estrada who deconstructs ventriloquism by removing the traditional figure and bringing in other objects. (I think this is kind of related to where Conti is trying to go with her act.) Most eye-opening for a newcomer to the sociology of ventriloquism is the convention Conti attends. At a rather sterile hotel (Conti finds it depressing), in or near Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky (I'm not sure which, in or near), seemingly hundreds of ventriloquists gather annually and transform the place into a colorful and vibrant community. There is a ventriloquism museum nearby called Vent Haven, where the figures used by past ventriloquists have come to rest. There you will find Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy, the famous figures of the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, father of actress Candace Bergen.I don't know if this rates as a spoiler so I am counting it as one, but I thought it somewhat odd--in view of the fact that the Vent Haven Museum figures are all labeled "Do Not Touch"--that Conti got one of Campbell's figures soaking wet in the hotel swimming pool, then rung it out, then decided that was the one she was going to donate to the museum; can you say doll abuse? She doesn't seem to have done these things with the intention of possibly donating a damaged figure; she was originally going to donate a bulldog figure and penultimately decided not to donate any figure. Finally she changed her mind--or rather, the figure she donated changed her mind. OK, that IS a spoiler.The figure she turned in was a good choice for donation; you realize that when you see the tag placed on the figure by the museum, describing its history.

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.