The typical adult male speaks at a so-called fundamental frequency from 85 to 155 Hz. At first this information may seem pointless, but in this film the characters, mostly male, do a lot of talking. They sit opposite each other and talk in clever - so the writer believes - dialogue which follows the same template almost throughout.
This may be represented in logical form, but in a standard way it uses an opening statement, followed by a refutation/contradiction and some clever use of analog/metaphor, with some more exegesis. This pattern tends to occur whether characters sit opposite each other in a formal meeting, or at a lunch table, or anywhere. It is a template.
Because everyone is so well-educated and English in that suppressed, or depressed, way of interacting; they talk at the same level all the way through. That is between 85 to 155 Hz. The women are all pitched in that lower register too. It is not easy keeping awake to such an unvaried vocal pitch and repeated pattern of scenes.
It is a shame because the actors can offer more which might have served the story better and engaged the audience more deeply, even if they been allowed to go to 160Hz.
This is not about plate smashing drama, nor histrionics for its own sake. Variation is a vital element in drama. Shakespeare and Beckett could manage existential tragedy, comedy and smut in different voices. And this is what a dramatist should be able to do, particularly with a complex story. Find a better a writer, any writer, or else film the BBC shipping forecast.
This may be represented in logical form, but in a standard way it uses an opening statement, followed by a refutation/contradiction and some clever use of analog/metaphor, with some more exegesis. This pattern tends to occur whether characters sit opposite each other in a formal meeting, or at a lunch table, or anywhere. It is a template.
Because everyone is so well-educated and English in that suppressed, or depressed, way of interacting; they talk at the same level all the way through. That is between 85 to 155 Hz. The women are all pitched in that lower register too. It is not easy keeping awake to such an unvaried vocal pitch and repeated pattern of scenes.
It is a shame because the actors can offer more which might have served the story better and engaged the audience more deeply, even if they been allowed to go to 160Hz.
This is not about plate smashing drama, nor histrionics for its own sake. Variation is a vital element in drama. Shakespeare and Beckett could manage existential tragedy, comedy and smut in different voices. And this is what a dramatist should be able to do, particularly with a complex story. Find a better a writer, any writer, or else film the BBC shipping forecast.