Cold Souls – 35mm

In this 2009 surrealist comedy by French-American filmmaker Sophie Barthes, Paul Giamatti portrays a fictionalised version of himself, as an actor so engrossed in his works that he struggles disassociating himself from the characters he portrays. His mind is a muddled mix of all the emotions and troubles of his characters, and his own soul seems to get lost in the melange. To try to control this situation, Paul visits a clinic that provides a “soul storage” service, leaving him with a more manageable 5% of his soul. Problems arise however, when his soul is lost in a trafficking scheme, and Paul must work hard to retrieve the rest of himself.

Barthes’ script was based on a dream she had in which she found herself in a similar facility that would eventually be portrayed in Cold Souls. The resulting film is a witty visual treat, reminiscent both in subject-matter and tone of Being John Malkovich, but with its own, unique identity, all anchored on an excellent performance by Paul Giamatti.

Sophie Barthes

USA

2009

35mm

101 min

English dialogue, Norwegian subtitles

Written by Henrik Bernhard Stangeland