Voice is an interesting film in the Whispering Corridors film series. Much like every other Korean horror film, it has the trademark "struggling to remember" central plot but unlike the others in the series feels more like an atmospheric memory tragedy dotted with thrilling/suspenseful interludes rather than a true blooded horror flick revolving around a central tragedy. This does not diminish the film's charm or power though as the shift in focus and weight is refreshing given the material and narrative was ably executed and given justice.
The film's portrayal of female relationships offer an interesting nuanced view--one of dependence, obsession, love, lust, mentorship, and manipulation. Some of them might have feminists airing objections over portraying traditional malevolent stereotypes of women-in-power such as the female student using her body/charm as currency to manipulate a professor (albeit also female), the obsessed lover (ala Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction), or the overdependent friend. The redeeming part in these portrayals is the complexity in which they are shown, often juxtaposing two traits in one character (the overdependent friend is actually the manipulative student, etc), giving room for the recognition of the complexity of the woman character.
A really good metaphor utilized in the film is the assertion that memory is connected with the voice, in that the more one forgets, the more one silences that which is gradually forgotten. This metaphor is quite powerful, interesting most especially to me as my thesis for the semester is that of historical revisionism and how the willful revision and forgetting of the truth of the past effectively silences the voices of the victims.
Of the films in the Whispering Corridors series, this is a decent entry though not my favorite (it still is the second film--Memento Mori). It manages to provide glimpses into the complexities of its female characters but never quite pushes the envelope enough, leaving you with the feeling that it could've gone deeper and more into areas in the premise left unexplored by the film.
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