The Whisperers

An absolutely riveting (Oscar-nominated) performance by Dame Edith Evans lifts this downbeat story about old age into the ether reserved for UMBERTO D and a few other films with the same subject. Working from the 1961 novel Mrs. Ross, director-screenwriter Forbes fashioned what he hoped would be an important film. It was, but not as much as expected. Evans lives alone in a dark, dank flat. She has companions, though. She hears voices whispering to her through the walls, the pipes, the air. Married for years to Portman, who left her sometime before, she exists on the government dole although she'll never admit it. She prefers to think that the queen is just l...