Thirty minutes, one woman, a set of packed suitcases and a dog: that is nearly everything Pedro Almodóvar puts on screen in The Human Voice. The 2020 Spanish short drama stars Tilda Swinton and takes its story from a one-act play by Jean Cocteau about the hours after a lover has walked out.
What is The Human Voice about?
Her lover has left, and his luggage is still standing in the apartment. He is meant to come and collect it, so she stays close to the suitcases and waits, hoping at the very least for a phone call. Time passes and he does not appear. The only company she has is his dog, a restless animal that keeps looking for its owner and cannot grasp that he is gone for good. The short stays with her through that wait, as hope, anger and despair take turns.
About the cast
Tilda Swinton is the first name in the cast and the film is built around her; the premise keeps a single woman at the centre of almost every moment. The remaining credits go to Agustín Almodóvar, Miguel Almodóvar, Pablo Almodóvar, Diego Pajuelo and Carlos García Cambero.
Context & significance
Short films rarely get the attention that features do, and The Human Voice is a useful reminder of what the form can manage. With only half an hour to work with, there is no room for subplots or a large circle of characters, so the drama narrows to one situation: a person who has been abandoned and has not yet accepted it. The source is a stage piece, a one-act play by the French writer Jean Cocteau, and that theatrical origin shows in how contained the story is. The dog matters as well. It gives the woman someone to share the apartment with, and its confusion mirrors her own refusal to believe that the relationship is finished. Viewers have given it a respectable, if not rapturous, reception.
Watching The Human Voice on Ktime
The Human Voice is on K-Time with a Persian dub and Persian subtitles, so it can be watched in Farsi or in its original audio with text on screen. Anyone can read this page, but playback needs a K-Time account login. K-Time is a Persian-focused streaming service for Iranians living abroad, and its menus and search work in Farsi.