WILD ATTRACTION WILD ATTRACTION - Earthstar

The Movie MysticBy Stephen SimonIt feels so good to have a movie towrite about again. For those of youwho have followed this column forthe last seven years, please know that, aslong as films like Cold Souls are released,I will continue this column, even thoughit will be on an irregular basis.Now, to the film.Cold Souls is a jaw-dropping, originalfilm, with the only possible comparisonbeing to Eternal Sunshine of theSpotless Mind, one of my favorite filmsin Spiritual Cinema.In Cold Souls, the gifted actor PaulGiamatti plays himself as an actor who ishaving an impossible time connecting tothe character Uncle Vanya that he is aboutto portray on stage. He feels so incapableof connecting to the seemingly soullesscharacter that he must portray that, in desperation,he visits a clinic where souls areextracted and placed in storage.Even though he is skeptical aboutremoving his soul, he agrees to theprocess because he is promised that hisconstant inner turmoil will be relievedonce his soul is extracted. The soulextraction itselfis painless andquick. While herefuses theoption of looking into his soul tosee its essence, he is persuaded tosee what it looks like after theextraction. Whereas other souls heis shown have the appearance oflarge fruit, it turns out his soullooks like a chickpea!Yes, much of the first two-thirds ofthe film is extremely humorous asGiamatti explores the soul extraction,then has to live without a soul, thenchooses to try out another soul as a temporaryreplacement.Ultimately, he realizes how emptyhe feels. He then begs to have his ownsoul re-implanted only to discover that ithas been pirated and sold on the blackmarket to the wife of a Russian soultraffickerwho yearns to be an actressand wants the soul of a famousAmerican actor. She has been told thatGiamatti’s soul is actually the soul of AlPacino and is utterly delighted.The last act of the film takes on amuch more serious tone as Giamattitravels to Russia to reclaim his soul withthe human “mule” who has been traffickingsouls back and forth. Thewoman whose soul he temporarilyborrowed was also in Russia. Hisdesire to find her leads the film in atragic direction here as well. Not toworry, the film does end well.“Original” is way too weak aword for Cold Souls. The constantlyinventive screenplay by writer/directorSophie Barthelme immerses usso completely in the concept of thefilm that we are absolutely sweptalong in its audacity, humor, drama,and pathos.From a spiritual standpoint, thefilm is breathtaking as it delves intoour personal relationship with ourown soul. The film is very careful,and brilliant, to say very early onthat the soul-extractors have no realidea what the soul is and does. Theyjust know how to extract it. Thisconceit is crucial because it gives usin the audience the opportunity todecide for ourselves the importance andfunctions of our soul.Paul Giamatti (Sideways, JohnAdams, etc.) is one of my very favoriteactors and it is hard to imagine anyone elseplaying this role. His restless unhappiness,skepticism, hope, humor, and empathy ashe evolves through the film capture us andhold us in his thrall. What would it reallybe like to have to live without a soul? Or aborrowed soul? What does our soul reallymean to us? All these questions and emotionsplay out in Giamatti’s face and bodythroughout the film.Films that ask but don’t answer thebig questions about who we are and whywe are here are indeed the “soul” ofSpiritual Cinema. Cold Souls will provokethose questions for you, yourfriends, and your loved ones. What agreat gift that is to those of us who havebeen starved for this kind of spiritualfilm for such a long time.Let the discussions begin.Stephen Simon co-founded www.Spiritualcinemacircle.com. He also producedsuch films as Somewhere In Timeand What Dreams May Come, and bothdirected and produced Indigo and the filmversion of Conversations With God.www.earthstarmag.com OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2009 EARTH STAR 45