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| The fiercely grey poster for Sophie Barthes' Cold Souls |
QUICK REVIEW:
Paul Giamatti (Sideways (2004)) has a problem: His identification with his part as uncle Vanya in the Chekhov play is overtaking his life, as he discovers a way to rid himself of the oppressive weight of his own soul.
This exciting premise gets life from an outstanding performance from Giamatti, playing himself. He gets secondary help from strong actors David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)), Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under (2001-05)), Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire (2010-13)) and Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves (1996)).
Cold Souls' grotesque situations are at times funny. Writer-director Sophie Barthes (Madame Bovary (2014)), whose feature debut this is, has made the film on a script that's missing a suspense-leg, I think, but has a great character (Giamatti's Russian-souled mule of a man), whom we only really get to understand about an hour into the film.
Still, I liked Cold Souls and recommend it.
Barthes' new adaptation movie Madame Bovary was shown at The Toronto Film Festival, but no further release plans are out yet. It has an exciting cast of Mia Wasikowska, Ezra Miller, Giamatti and others, so Film Excess is very eager to see it.
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| David Strathairn and Paul Giamatti in Sophie Barthes' Cold Souls |
Watch the trailer for the movie here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: 1.1 mil. $
= Flop
[The film was a Sundance hit, and was nominated for Spirit and Gotham awards etc., but only managed to make 0.9 mil. $ in the States (80 % of the gross), and no substantial international earnings, despite generally good reviews.]
What do you think of Cold Souls?
Any information on Madame Bovary is welcomed
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