Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice

This brilliant, poignant, profound film goes by way too quickly. It is both extremely funny and heart-rending. The interviews with other ventriloquists at the Vent Haven Convention are fascinating, and I wish they had been longer. Such interesting people -- I would have loved to have heard more about how they developed -- and now ply -- their ancient craft. Fascinating too is the puppet that Nina Conti ultimately decides to donate to the Vent Haven Museum (or what Monkey calls "the Memorial"). I didn't anticipate that particular donation, and it raised some interesting questions about why Conti was willing to part with this truly adorable character -- a character far less edgy, far less provocative than many of her other "uniquely bereaved" puppets inherited from Ken Campbell. Conti is a genius, endlessly inventive, an artist with a keen and uncompromising wit, and with a fantastic eye for the every day foibles and mortifications we all endure. She allows us to confront really big questions and to encounter "Eureka" moments about the meaning of being human with her deft, imaginative puppetry and ventriloquism. Four Thumbs Up! (Me and my puppet)...

For anyone who enjoys Nina Conti's irreverent approach to ventriloquism, this film is a must-see. It's a poignant, often hilarious, and only occasionally self-indulgent journey following Nina as she comes to terms with the death of her mentor/lover, Ken Campbell, and grapples with the future of her career in ventriloquism. For most of the film, she is accompanied by her adorable and sassy monkey puppet, Monk (the Id to her Ego). While it might seem that the film has a narrow appeal, it is a deeply intelligent, funny, touching film that anyone who enjoys quirky documentaries (Errol Morris and Christopher Guest--who is billed as executive producer--come to mind) would enjoy.

I liked the fact that this DVD gives the audience a chance to see the reason that Nina started in ventriloquism. I never knew there was a place called Vent Haven. I wish there was more footage of Nina on stage with Monkey. It's both a sad and fun journey for Nina and her audience.

I don't go out of my way to watch ventriloquists perform but I have watched many Nina Conti performances. Her puppets are "vessels" through which she expresses her paranoia, insecurities, heartaches and joy, mixed in a way that makes people laugh. Only great actors can pull off a one person show. Ms. Conti controls the room as she infuses her puppets with the same life that vibrates her soul. The many pieces of Nina Conti connect brilliantly with the audience through a selection of brash, gentle and simple characters. The art is making it appear effortless, as she coordinates the coming alive of weird, edgy characters like Monk who's a bit nasty or, docile old Gran, who makes me sad. In "Her Master's Voice" Nina Conti tries to sort whether she believes in herself enough to continue, (if she wants to continue), as a ventriloquist without her "Master" being reachable. Might be that it's time to throw off the shackles and recognize herself as the 'Master."

I was hoping for a dvd of her routine. This was a story about how she got to where she is. Interesting but not funny. I love her routines on youtube and hoping for more of that.

Lovely little film looks like it was shot with home video equipment, but very, very well. Extremely personal much of the time and very touching. I've attended the Vent Haven Convention and visited the museum, and know some of the people she interviews in the film (Nacho, the distant voice expert is fun to ride an elevator with- he makes it sound like someone is trying to get in after the doors close and falls down the shaft- hilarious). Nina is wonderfully talented and her mentor Ken Campbell would be proud of the originality and unusual structure of this sweet film.

I wanted more after I watched this. Nina is amazing and creative and lives a fascinating life. She’s opened my eyes to a very interesting talent and skill with her comedic personality

Nina is an amazing accomplished performer and so much more. This deep dive into her Id is highly entertaining, wonderfully entertaining, and surprisingly touching. Whether you're into ventriloquism or not is totally immaterial. This is a presentation that truthfully resonates with humanity at large.

There are times when this movie wants to be a light-hearted mockumentary type look at American ventriloquists, but Nina Conti's grief at the death of Ken Campbell is much too compelling an emotion to occupy anything other than centre stage, and so it does (although the interviews with ventriloquists are fun too). The scenes of her reflecting on Ken's life, his voice, and his influence give an astonishingly honest portrait of undigested emotion, and the process of digesting it turns out to be inextricable from the practice of ventriloquism. This is a wise film, as well as being a very funny one.

Hope she does more,love her humour

boring, dull unbelievable. Just not what i was told wouldn't buy more. Have given them away. Sorry NINA your not half as good as Geoff Dunham

I had to send this item back because it didn't work on my machine plus I had to pay nearly six pounds postage to america

Would have liked to view But as it does not play in region 2 was not able to screen,The BLU RAY CHIMPANZEE from the same company worked perfectly;Would very mutch like to get a REGION 2 version as I think NINA CONTI is fantastic