Cold Souls
How can something so intangible weigh so heavily on somebody? We may have the answer.
Tags: misc dvd 2010 Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Mar 8th, 2010
Let’s get the comparisons out of the way. While Cold Souls is original, it is reminiscent of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I mention this not to be derogatory in any way to the work of writer/director Sophie Barthes, but to give some sort of compass bearing as to the direction Cold Souls has taken.
Paul Giamatti plays a version of himself, an actor preparing for a stage performance of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. The weight of the material is producing an extraordinary burden on him, and in order to lighten up a little, and even perform, he takes the suggestion to temporarily extract his soul. Anybody who has read much Russian literature or attended many plays by Russian playwrights can attest to the fact that the material can weigh heavily on the soul. The premise is quite solid here, and the execution of what follows matches just as well.
We follow Giamatti as he goes in for his initial extraction, watch as he wrestles with the complexities of the issues surrounding the procedure, and then what it is like for somebody to have no soul. The humor is mostly understated, which is perfect. Instead of going for the “big laugh” everybody plays their parts as straight as possible, presenting it all as if this were a drama, which is why Cold Souls works as well as it does.
Things don’t go as planned without a soul, and a while later Giamatti looks for a solution to be able to perform Chekhov’s play without having to bear the burden of his own heavy and debilitating soul. What follows is as much a comedy of errors as it is existential farce.
Part of the film takes place in St. Petersbug, which I found particularly amusing. As somebody that has read Dostoyevsky and even visited the city, these elements of the story struck a chord with me. That doesn’t mean one needs to be familiar with “the Russian condition” in order to appreciate Cold Souls, but it does add another layer of depth.
Special features are fairly paltry, which is disappointing. I would have liked an interview with Sophie Barthes who wrote and directed the film, as well as Paul Giamatti. This isn’t the kind of film that needs a major “behind the scenes” featurette or a full blow audio commentary, but some sort of discussion would have been nice. We get three minutes looking at the design for the machine that performs the procedure of soul extraction and some deleted scenes.
Cold Souls is a very dark and dry comedy that many viewers might not be able to appreciate. Those that take the plunge will be rewarded.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Dark existential comedy + Paul Giamatti |
9.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Lack of substantial special features - Not an outright laugh-fest |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Very well worth the tim, but perhaps only for a certain type of viewer that can appreciate it. | |
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Tags: misc dvd 2010
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Mar 8th, 2010 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
