Cold Souls
Want to Be Soulless?
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Weighed down by your soul? How about taking someone else’s soul? Those are the questions that Sophie Barthes ponders in her feature debut as writer and director. The film, which stars Paul Giamatti as Paul Giamatti, is definitely going to draw comparison to the work of Charlie Kaufman, and that’s fair, but Cold Souls does stand apart from his work. Barthes isn’t as successful as Kaufman is in meandering through the metaphysical and psychological mysteries of life, but Cold Souls proves that she is a truly capable filmmaker.
Like Kaufman’s debut Being John Malkovich, Cold Souls chronicles a philosophically confusing quest of a fictional Paul Giamatti. Also like Kaufman’s magnum opus Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where characters seek out a doctor who can erase their mind, Cold Souls centers around a new company where people can have their souls extracted. But Barthes isn’t merely ripping Kaufman off -- philosophically twisting films of these sort have existed for decades (Bergman or Fellini anyone?) -- however, her basic plot appears to be very close with her acclaimed contemporary. So what should one make of these similarities? Nothing more than mere coincidence in a genre that is tough to master and isn’t attempted as often as many others. But for all of Barthes attempts to create a name in the space (which she definitely does) Paul Giamatti may be the true savior of the film. The best decision Barthes made was to create Giamatti as the film’s protagonist.
Sure his name is Paul Giamatti and he’s a famous actor, but he’s surely not married to a British woman named Claire played by Emily Watson (his real wife is named Elizabeth and is a producer of Cold Souls) and he never gave up his soul. The emotional depth and weight of the film’s subject matter couldn’t be riper for Giamatti. He makes it seem easy to lose yourself in a role -- one could believe this actually happened to him. Despite his best efforts to convince the audience otherwise, however, this is a fictional story.
In this work of fiction, Giamatti is preparing to play the title role in a production of the Chekov play, "Vanya". He can’t seem to get past an emotional brick wall and feels at a loss for how to fully embody his character. After a suggestion from his agent, he visits a new company that claims to extract souls. After much (ahem) soul searching, he decides to free himself of this burden. Feeling a bit hollow at first, he finds that his life is now devoid of any stress or emotional weight. He instantly feels happier, but it’s those around him who notice the new hollowness, which has done nothing to help him act better and is hurting his relationship with his wife. What he discovers is that being soulless only makes him more aloof to the natural struggles of life. When he finally decides he wants his soul back, he and the company, are surprised to discover that it’s missing.
There’s also the story of Nina (Dina Korzun), a Russian soul mule that parallels Giamatti’s search for self-discovery. Because soul extraction is a relatively new business, no laws really exist that restrict “soul trafficking". So there exists an underground business between a Russian businessman (Nina’s brother) and Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn) who runs the New York company. To successfully move souls across the two continents, she must embody them on her trips, allowing her to see into the ones she takes. Her role is silent for most of the film and Korzun plays the part perfectly and mysteriously. Of course, her and Giamatti’s paths will soon cross.
Despite a phenomenal performance by Giamatti, and the rest of the cast, the film doesn’t quite hold together. Barthes direction is adequate and the ambiance is mysterious, but something just feels missing (no pun intended). Perhaps the faults can be found in the writing. While she obviously doesn’t aspire to be Kaufman in tone, he is able to tightly bound heavily philosophical ideas in an intelligently satisfying yet entertaining way. Much of Kaufman can be viewed as comedic and while Barthes has her moments of laughter, Cold Souls remains largely dramatic in scope. Her characters aren’t as inherently funny and she takes them much more seriously. What she could learn (along with many other writers) from Kaufman is how to create a more solid story. She has the pieces there, but they never feel as if they ever fully come together. What Barthes does well is create a quite likeable film that’s entertaining, but doesn’t produce the lasting effects she was most likely hoping for.
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