COLD SOULS


Directed & and written by - Sophie Barthes


We viewed this movie at a preview screening on Mon 23 November.


MA'S VIEW :  This somewhat bizarre comedy requires a willing suspension of disbelief, being based on the premise that one's soul can be removed from the body for storage when it becomes too burdensome and even replaced by another more suitable to one's current lifestyle.  Paul Giamatti plays the himself, a New York stage actor who attributes the difficulties he is having with the role of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the state of his own troubled soul.  Once rid of it, he feels "lighter" and "freer" but his acting becomes correspondingly lightweight so, he decides to opt for a black market Russian soul to improve his grasp on the character - with great success.  However, he comes to feel even more burdened by the intensity of this new soul which he describes as "too large" for his life; he wants his own soul back but in the mean time it has been smuggled to Russia to satisfy the needs of an aspiring actress.

This complicated and ingenious plot becomes a vehicle for an amusing and thought-provoking examination of the concept of "the soul" and what it means to have one or not.  Giamatti is afraid to look into his soul, an option at the point of removal, but finds he cannot face life without it.  The souls of Russian poets are in great demand in America but when it is suggested that the trade should be reversed, the Russian agent asks "what Russian would want an American soul?"

I enjoyed this movie; the humour was off-beat, the acting very good and it sent me away thinking - always a good sign!  The ending was a bit unsatisfying but this is theatre of the absurd played well which made it easy to suspend disbelief - unlike its contemporary The Time Traveller's Wife which took itself far too seriously!

8/10

PEPE'S VIEW:

This movie is based on the very interesting premise that one's soul could be removed to make life more simple and uncomplicated.  One scene in the movie that particularly appealed to me was when the now soulless Giamatti was sitting listening to some of  his wife's friends discussing how to help a friend/relative who was on life support , he suggested helpfully that they could just "turn it off".  A  soul-less remark for sure.  The title "Cold Souls" refers on one level to the cold storage of the souls and on the other to the characters involved - particularly the architect of the scheme Dr Flinstein ( David Strathairn) and his counterpart in Russia who masterminded "soul trafficking".

The austere cinemtography of the scenes in Russia reflected a country populated with people who had sold their souls to the USA - do I detect a not so gentle reference to the "westernization" of Eastern Block countries?

The concept that the "soul mule", whose job it was to carry the souls of Russians to America had remnants of each person's soul left behind after each extraction made for an interesting thought provoking addition to the movie especially as Paul felt a closer attachment to her after part of his soul was left in her body because she "stole" it to satisfy her boss's mistress who wanted to be a famous American actor.

The only part of the movie that I found a little trite and unnecessary was the actual physical representation of the souls as being like chick peas, jellybeans etc.  This to me did not add anything to the movie which otherwise was extremely innovative and thought provoking and more than a little amusing.

I enjoyed the movie very much.

8/10