I haven't seen it, when was it made?

I have never heard of it. Tell us about it, Riette.

NO? It is an English film, starring Michael Caine and Jane Horrocks. The story goes like this: A girl lives with her mother in fairly poor material circumstances. The mother is a real party animal and very loud (but gives a hysterically funny touch to the movie). The girl never speaks, the mother can't get through to her, and scornfully starts calling her LV (Little Voice). The father died when she was a young girl, and all that LV has left of him are his records. Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Ella Fitzgerald and so on. They are LV's only escape, so when she gets upset, she goes up to her room and listens to these records. They become so imprinted in her head and being that they become her only means of communication and expressing herself. Neither very bright, nor pretty, her one great talent is the voice she never uses. And the only person who makes her cheerful is the young electrician who breeds birds and climbs up to her window sometimes to tell her about them and ask how she is. Sometimes at night or when she feels lonely she sees her father (done in black and white), and she sings fo him the songs from her records, sounding just like these singers who means so much to her and meant so much to him when he was still alive. Michael Caine is a small town talent scout and crook. One night he meets the mother at a party, and when they get home, they start fumbling about loudly, with loud disco music playing. LV gets upset, her father comes to her and she starts singing. He hears this, and recognizes her as his path to fame. He then forces her to perform in a local club. But she hasn't been out of her house for years, and the whole thing bewilders her; her father does not come to her, and she is shouted off the stage. Michael Caine realizes that he has to make her feel safe to make her perform. So he wins her trust and finally gets her to perform, promising her that it would only be once. The big evening comes. This time she sees her father, and the evening is a great success. Michael Caine organizes another performance for the next evening. Her trust is betrayed, she refuses to get out of her bed, her mother shouts terrible things at her, Caine tries to get her out of the house by physical force, but she fights ba k so hard that it starts a fire, and the house with her records is destroyed. Her mother accuses her of throwing away the money they would have made, money which should have been HERS for having raised such a failure of a daughter; finally LV opens her mouth and tells her mother exactly what she thinks of her, and how much she screwed her up. Then walks off to go talk to the young electrician's house. It sounds really corny, but it is a really really stunning film. Extremely funny and sad in places, but putting the kind of message across that ANYONE can identify with.

No, Ri�tte. She walks off to the electrician's house, because she wants to talk to him. Man, that description sounds really screwed up!

Sounds weird! I'll have to look that one up at my movie review website.

Rent it instead. You'll love it.

Where do you come up with these esoteric movies, reeree?

It's not esoteric! My description is at fault, that's all. The only thing it is significant of is as the reason why I should never become a writer. It is really a dead normal, funny and touching movie. Totally down to earth. I mean, pew! Can you imagine ME and esoteric in one pan????