In response to shiny, bigger, better American consumerism comes Cold Souls, a metaphysical tragicomedy in which souls can be extracted and traded as commodities. Balancing on a tightrope between deadpan humor and pathos, and between reality and fantasy, the film presents Paul Giamatti as himself, agonizing over his interpretation of Uncle Vanya. Paralyzed with anxiety, he stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-tech company promising to alleviate suffering by deep-freezing souls. Giamatti enlists their services, intending to reinstate his soul once he survives the performance. But complications ensue when a mysterious, soul-trafficking “mule,” transporting product to and from Russia, “borrows” Giamatti's stored soul for an ambitious, but unfortunately talentless, soap-opera actress. Rendered soulless, he is left with no choice but to follow the trail back to bleak St. Petersburg. He comes to value that happiness isn’t merely the absence of pain, but the integration of the full range of emotion into life.Sophie Barthes’s debut feature is strikingly original, not only for its haunting concept but for its poetic execution. Inspired production design and lyrical cinematography create a melancholic, heightened world. Perfectly cast, Giamatti and a gifted ensemble maneuver seamlessly through shifting ontological landscapes without ever betraying the surrealism. With this dazzling accomplishment, Barthes establishes herself as an auteur to reckon with.
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July 13, 2009: Soul Storage Company:
Usually studios save the whole viral marketing thing for buzz movies or potential blockbusters, but the folks behind Paul Giamatti's upcoming COLD SOULS seem to be going balls out with this one, solidifying the paradigm shift in the way movies are being marketed....
July 3, 2009: Review: Cold Souls:
PLOT: Paul Giamatti (playing Paul Giamatti) is having trouble separating himself from his latest role. When he sees an ad in a magazine for a strange new company that specializes in “soul storage”, he decides to have his soul removed as a possible...
June 19, 2009: Giamatti loses soul:
The first trailer for the surreal, Sophie Barthes written and directed sci fi drama COLD SOULS is out and it's more eccentric than flat out mindfuck. In it, Paul Giamatti playing a character named Paul Giamatti reads an ad about a company putting souls...
June 15, 2009: Giamatti's many faces:
One of the buzzed about films at this year's Sundance Film Festival was the surreal mind bender COLD SOULS, in which Paul Giamatti plays an actor, surprisingly also named Paul Giamatti, who wants to put part of his soul in cold storage as he thinks this will...
