Greetings,
There are a lot of movies that I like. There are fewer that I love. But there are a mere handful which I can say had a deep effect on me. I had been anticipating seeing the film about which I will speak for a very, very long time. From the moment I saw the trailer, I was drawn in to what I thought the story might be, and it was a story I felt may hit extremely close to home. For so many reasons, it did. Everybody, Touched With Fire.
Touched With Fire is the story of two poets, Carla and Marco, who meet whilst spending time in a mental hospital as they both deal with their bipolar condition. At first, they are not exactly fond of one another, but soon they make a connection. And rest assured, this is not done in the typical, tropes-y rom-com way. In fact, everything that could make this film predictable, somehow does not. Perhaps, because the subject matter is one that needs to be approached from a near fearless perspective.
Once Carla and Marco start to really see one another, in ways that only they can, their feelings begin to grow, but due to their illness, they push each other to become manic and things begin to spin out of control. They have no desire to take their much needed medication, because they believe, I think, that their "cure" is each other. Their families want them to recover in a conventional and proven manner, but they feel as though no one can truly understand them, except for, again, each other. As their story progresses, they begin to be forced to make choices that they fear could destroy the creativity and passion that they love, but choices that could ultimately save their lives.
This film is an adaptation of a book also called Touched With Fire, but it is not a typical adaptation. The book, written by Kay Redfield Jamison, is a nonfiction that explores the relationship between bipolar disorder and artistic creativity, citing a staggering amount of writers and artists who are considered geniuses, but who also dealt with this illness somewhere on the spectrum. The writer/director of this film, Paul Dalio, took his own history with the disorder and melded it into what the book was about to develop this screenplay. Both Dalio and Jamison have cameos in the film, the former as a patient and the latter as herself, trying to convince the couple that taking the medication will not destroy their creativity but help them to channel it, to focus it, and to get the work done, something she herself has experienced.
One of the best things about the film is how visuals were used, particularly colors. Marco is someone who loves the nighttime, calling himself Luna, surrendering to his manic state, and his scenes are drenched in shades of blue and gray, like the moon. Carla loves the light, finding herself lost and panicked when night falls, and her scenes are filled with shades of orange and yellow, like the sun. This theme is used to show the journey of their relationship, and it's done in a brilliant way. Brilliant because, as I watched the film, I could sense a difference between them that was not being expressed only with words, but I didn't know exactly what it was. After hearing Dalio talk about how they had done this thing with the colors, it become wonderfully obvious. Artistic decisions like this should be subtle initially and blatant afterward. Mission accomplished.
Another thing that helped this movie soar was the acting. Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby were amazing in the roles of Carla and Marco. Their chemistry was some of the best and believable I have ever seen, and that was incredibly important when telling the story of these characters. These two actors were heartbreaking, in the best way, and practically transcendent. But they were supported by some other great actors as well, particularly Christine Lahti and Bruce Altman as Carla's parents and Griffin Dunne as Marco's father. They beautifully portray the effect that this illness has, not only on the afflicted, but everyone around them, trying desperately to help, understand and just survive. Again, heartbreaking, in the best way.
And now to speak on a more personal note... As I mentioned, this film had a deep effect on me, as did the book from which it spawned. I can relate to Carla and Marco very much, albeit not to their extremes, but somewhere in their vicinity. I know the feelings by which we are overtaken as we're drawn into another world that seems so much greater than the real one. I know the highs we get from seeing everything with a vision that was not gifted to everyone. And I know how other people who don't understand us look at us, judge us and make assumptions about us. Some of them see a mess that can never be cleaned up, but we know it's pieces of chaos just waiting to be used for something greater than itself. And being the ones to make that happen is a job with which we are tasked. It's a difficult way to live at times, but it's our life. We find ways to live it, to survive, and to turn whatever darkness that crosses our paths into something beautiful.
So, let me finish by saying that Touched With Fire is a wonderful film. It can be arduous to watch in some moments, but it can serve a purpose to help people be understood, and for some people to understand themselves. It shows every one of us that we are all capable of taking control and leading ourselves done paths where we can breathe, where we can create, where we can live.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
