I see my feet
URGA MOTW
Cold Souls
Sorry for the late review... been busy with work since Tuesday, and I forgot :)
Cold Souls is Science Fiction that probably wouldn't be classified as Science Fiction by anyone who isn't a SF fan. You know, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
It simply starts with the concept "What if your soul could be removed?" and then the story unfolds from there, and it's all about the characters.
Actor Paul Giamatti (Paul Giamatti) is feeling the burden of his soul while attempting to play Uncle Vanya in the Chekov play, and feels that it's hard for him to divorce his real self from the emotionally miserable character. After reading an article about the new technology of soul storage, he goes along to check it out, and is finally convinced to have his soul removed and stored. Initially, life is better, and he manages to find different and more interesting ways to play his character. However, the rest of life seems lifeless - he shirks away from his wife, and nothing is interesting. So after a week or so, he wants his soul back, but is once again convinced to give something else a try - "soul rental", so he has the soul of a Russian poet implanted. This soul, and many others, have been illegally trafficked from Russia, where the soul trade is a big black market business. One such soul mule (who carries the souls inside themselves when crossing the borders) is Nina. There's more to the story, of course, but I'll leave that for you to find out.
First time writer/director Sophie Barthes has taken an interesting concept and run with it. Having an actor play "himself" is an interesting take, and Paul Giamatti is well enough known but not such a huge star to make this work well. Soulless people aren't boring or like zombies, they just have no extremes of emotion, and Giammati shows this well. The very short glimpses of residuals from the poet's soul makes Paul wish to find out more about her, and this is portrayed well enough that so does the audience. The idea of a soul trafficking industry cropping up if such technology existed is not so far fetched, but how would you place a value on a human soul?
The film doesn't explore the "what is a soul?" concept too deeply (rather just giving us the "I don't know" answer) but allows each of the characters to put forward their own answer - is it just a gland in our brains? or the real core of being human? Is it memories, upbringing, personality? Or the everlasting essence that makes a person a person rather than just a body? If I have no soul, am I me? If I have someone else's soul in my body, am I them? All such questions are posed, but none are really answered, which of course is the right thing to do - allowing audiences to make up their own minds.
The soft focus style of filming is used a lot, but it works well to indicate the characters' slight detachment from harsh reality when they are experiencing pieces of other people's souls. The plot unravels in a fairly slow, controlled, and calm manner, and even the climax and resolution avoids Hollywood cliches. All in all, the film is quiet, introspective, and beautiful - just like our souls.
8/10
Cold Souls
Sorry for the late review... been busy with work since Tuesday, and I forgot :)
Cold Souls is Science Fiction that probably wouldn't be classified as Science Fiction by anyone who isn't a SF fan. You know, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
It simply starts with the concept "What if your soul could be removed?" and then the story unfolds from there, and it's all about the characters.
Actor Paul Giamatti (Paul Giamatti) is feeling the burden of his soul while attempting to play Uncle Vanya in the Chekov play, and feels that it's hard for him to divorce his real self from the emotionally miserable character. After reading an article about the new technology of soul storage, he goes along to check it out, and is finally convinced to have his soul removed and stored. Initially, life is better, and he manages to find different and more interesting ways to play his character. However, the rest of life seems lifeless - he shirks away from his wife, and nothing is interesting. So after a week or so, he wants his soul back, but is once again convinced to give something else a try - "soul rental", so he has the soul of a Russian poet implanted. This soul, and many others, have been illegally trafficked from Russia, where the soul trade is a big black market business. One such soul mule (who carries the souls inside themselves when crossing the borders) is Nina. There's more to the story, of course, but I'll leave that for you to find out.
First time writer/director Sophie Barthes has taken an interesting concept and run with it. Having an actor play "himself" is an interesting take, and Paul Giamatti is well enough known but not such a huge star to make this work well. Soulless people aren't boring or like zombies, they just have no extremes of emotion, and Giammati shows this well. The very short glimpses of residuals from the poet's soul makes Paul wish to find out more about her, and this is portrayed well enough that so does the audience. The idea of a soul trafficking industry cropping up if such technology existed is not so far fetched, but how would you place a value on a human soul?
The film doesn't explore the "what is a soul?" concept too deeply (rather just giving us the "I don't know" answer) but allows each of the characters to put forward their own answer - is it just a gland in our brains? or the real core of being human? Is it memories, upbringing, personality? Or the everlasting essence that makes a person a person rather than just a body? If I have no soul, am I me? If I have someone else's soul in my body, am I them? All such questions are posed, but none are really answered, which of course is the right thing to do - allowing audiences to make up their own minds.
The soft focus style of filming is used a lot, but it works well to indicate the characters' slight detachment from harsh reality when they are experiencing pieces of other people's souls. The plot unravels in a fairly slow, controlled, and calm manner, and even the climax and resolution avoids Hollywood cliches. All in all, the film is quiet, introspective, and beautiful - just like our souls.
8/10