Duel for the Voices is a British musical comedy-drama inspired by real events. It amuses, moves and uplifts the spirit.
The Voice Duel tells the story of the wives of soldiers who stay at the Flitcroft military base, while their husbands and partners go on a mission to Afghanistan. Kate and Lisa are tasked with organizing activities for women to break away from constant worry and fear. They come up with the idea of creating a choir. At first, they learn to sing well, but as time goes on, they not only make progress, but also get closer to each other. Unexpectedly, the choir is invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London during the Remembrance Festival celebrations. The film is inspired by real events.
Watching the film, you immediately associate it with the production of A Nun in Disguise. It is so accurate that even the heroines themselves jokingly confirm it, adding that only the mafia killers are missing. Instead of Whoopi Goldberg teaching singing in Duel for Voices, we have two rival women. Kate and Lisa have different visions of the choir as well as their approach to teaching. One wants to dominate the other. They are also different from the experiences of being the wife or mother of a soldier. And although the differences between them are emphasized at every step, the competition lacks greater fire, clarity and color. This is also due to the fact that this rivalry is not the main axis of the film, which should not distract from what the plot wants to tell, i.e. the stressful lives of women waiting for their husbands to return from the war. Nevertheless, Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan perform their roles brilliantly, although the two combined do not match Goldberg's charisma.
A duel for voices is a music film in which we can hear some famous melodies and songs performed by a female choir. The girls make progress with each song, and it's tempting to join in the singing or humming under their breaths. Of course, wives do not lack hidden talents or ambitious anti-talents that must be properly directed. It is important that each of them is interesting, distinctive and arouses sympathy in its own way. However, it has to be said that we focus our attention mainly on three women (Kate, Lisa, Annie), and the other wives are supporting characters, whose development does not take place. That's okay, because the three of them represent the entire female garrison community well.
The film is perfectly balanced in terms of emotions that are not lacking. The beginning is comedic, light and pleasant to get to know the protagonists and let the singers spread their wings. When it comes to drama, it appropriately hits the feelings of viewers to move them to tears. When there is crisis and conflict, the tension increases as it should. And the finale is, of course, an accumulation of all the accumulated emotions in one beautiful song. Cinema classics in a very good, well-thought-out and unflattering edition.
However, the story is a minor drawback, which does not surprise. It's easy to predict how the story will unfold. Only the song at the Royal Albert Hall, for those unfamiliar with the history of The Military Wives Choirs, can be a nice surprise. After all, the script is so well written that predictability does not bother. There are no empty phrases here or any effort to make big, philosophical speeches. It is written so that the film is as life-like and human as possible. So that it fulfills its function like a choir for women, that is, uplifting.
The duel for voices shows that the most important thing in the painting is vocal or personality rivalry, and it is not. It is about uniting women in difficult times. I understand that soldiers in Poland are not as highly respected as in Great Britain, and an attempt at a literal translation using military nomenclature might not be attractive to viewers. But in this way, we miss the heart of the film, its greatest strength, which lies in these brave wives of soldiers. Besides, Military Wives (original title) is the real name of the choirs that the production was based on.
Duel for voices is not an outstanding work, but with a very well written script. It presents a slightly different piece of life that is full of music, warmth, but also drama. There is no shortage of emotions here. It's a good, careful cinema where you can both smile and shed a tear. And it didn't need the mafia at all.
