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VOICE OVER

A Film by Christopher Monger

Ian McNeice gives a finely nuanced performance as radio personality 'Fats' Bannerman who transposes aspects of his lonely, down-at-heel life to Miss Elizabeth , the romantic Regency heroine of his Jane Austen style radio series Thus Engaged. When grim reality violently intrudes into Fats' frail fantasies his ability to separate fact from fiction begins to break down.

A controversial early feature from a now-established Hollywood director, Chris Monger's Voice Over divided the critics -- whose judgments varied from 'sick and disturbing' (Time Out) to 'original and provoking' (The Guardian) -- on its release.

Special Features:

- Dual Format Edition: includes both the Blu-ray and the DVD of the film and the extras
- New High Definition restoration
- Repeater (Chris Monger, 1979, 76 mins): Experimental thriller dealing with a woman's confession of murder.
- llustrated booklet featuring essays, credits and biographical information

BFI Flipside presents
Voice Over
A film by Christopher Monger
Starring Ian McNeice

Unseen for decades, Christopher Monger’s controversial feature Voice Over is released by BFI Flipside in a new HD transfer, mastered from the only surviving print elements. Released in a Dual Format Edition (DVD & Blu-ray discs together), it also contains Monger’s rare experimental feature-length thriller, Repeater.

'Fats' Bannerman is enjoying success as the writer and presenter of Thus Engaged, a romantic radio serial about the lives and loves of a Regency heroine. But when grim reality violently intrudes into Fats' life, his frail fantasies become unbalanced and his ability to separate fact from fiction breaks down, with devastating consequences.

Featuring a compelling central performance from the great British screen actor Ian McNeice (A Life Less Ordinary; Oliver Twist; Doctor Who), this controversial early film from the award-winning Hollywood filmmaker Christopher Monger (The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain and writer of the multi-award winning HBO production Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes) caused a sensation upon its original release, when its subject matter was attacked by feminist groups.

Special features

• Both films presented in High Definition and Standard Definition;
• Newly mastered, under the supervision of director of photography Roland Denning, from the best available archive materials;
• Repeater (Christopher Monger, 1979, 76 mins): deconstructed crime thriller, inspired by the French New Wave, in which a woman’s confession of murder is not as simple as it seems;
• 34-page illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays, biographies, original promotional materials, and recollections by Christopher Monger and Ian McNeice.

Release date: 24 October 2011
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIB1132 / Cert 15
UK / 1981 / colour / English, optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / 108 mins
Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / Region 0 / BFI Flipside title no. 021
Disc 1: BD50 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)
Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (320 kbps)