Touched with Fire

Touched With Fire, definitely not an easy watch at times, tells the story of two young poets falling in love while battling bipolar disorder.

The cinematography can only be described as breathtaking, and the same could be said about the soundtrack. This film was truly a joy for the eyes and the ears. Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby were fantastic as the two patients, poets, lovers. The only thing that felt a bit off was the story - it felt slightly confusing at times, maybe moving a little fast?

It might have felt like something was missing from the story, but the honesty and realness made up for it. Definitely worth the watch - while being a visual treat, Touched With Fire also opened my eyes to completely new aspects of mental illness.

Greetings again from the darkness. We all have good days and bad. Sometimes we energetically leap from bed, while other days we barely muster the energy to push off the covers. For those who are bi-polar, those peaks and valleys are mere child's play. When "up", they often are filled with frenetic creativity and hyper-energy. When "down", life holds no purpose and the simplest daily actions are deemed impossible. Medication seems to be their only hope for "normal".

Writer-director-editor-composer Paul Dalio admits much of the story comes directly from his life and that Carla and Marco carry much of him. Katie Holmes plays Carla and Luke Kirby (Take This Waltz, 2011) plays Marco … theirs one of the few on screen meet-cutes to occur in a psychiatric hospital (not counting McMurphy and Chief). When the pendulum swings, Carla frantically scrawls out poetry based on nature and feelings. Marco is also a poet – the rapping kind – but he seems more addicted to the energy and spirit that goes with being up.

The film is really two-in-one … a star-crossed love story and a commentary on treatment (to medicate or not to medicate – that is the question). The writings and work of clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison play a vital role here, and she even appears as herself in a critical scene. Carla really wants to get "right", especially when she discovers she is pregnant. Marco, on the other hand, spends much of his time trying to maintain the "high" as he finds life so much more fulfilling and interesting when not medicated. Marco uses the track record of many suspected bi-polar types as proof that greatness is near – Emily Dickinson, Tchaikovsky, and Van Gogh.

Bradley Cooper was Oscar nominated for his bi-polar role in Silver Linings Playbook, and both movies pay some attention to the challenges faced by families. Carla's parents are played by Christine Lahti and Bruce Altman, while Griffin Dunne is Marco's dad. The best intentions often fail miserably, leaving all parties feeling frustrated and emotionally distraught. The movie seems to make the argument that medication is the only real hope if a sufferer wants to live anything approaching a normal life, and it's Ms. Jamison's stated contention that medication will neither change the personality nor negatively impact creativity.

Katie Holmes offers up her best work since Pieces of April in 2000. Of course, there was a "marriage" mixed in there that stomped down her career. This role reminds that she is capable of finding the core of a deep character. Welcome back. Spike Lee is listed as a Producer here, and Mr. Dalio says Lee, who was his NYU Film School professor, encouraged him to explore this facet of his affliction. Dalio's wife Kristina Nikolova shared cinematographer duties with Alexander Stanishev.

The film, previously entitled "Mania Days", does a nice job of showing us the extremism involved with being bi-polar, as well as the challenges that come from being part of the medical field or familial support staff.

Carla Lucia (Katie Holmes) is a struggling poet. Her mother Sara suggests going to check out her files at the hospital. Marco (Luke Kirby) is a borderline hoarder. His father George finds him in a mess after he stopped taking his medication. He is picked up by the cops. Carla and Marco end up in the psychiatric hospital together.

It's intriguing as a character study of these two with mental issues. It's less appealing as a romance. His troubled nature makes it more difficult. Their instability makes the movie a rambling journey. Katie Holmes provides a good performance. She doesn't have to be the cute spunky girl which allows her to stretch. There is some good work here even if it doesn't all pull together.

Touched With Fire is a story based on the real life story of the director,Paul Dalio, ironically I think this is the reason why the movie seems to wrap up so neatly.

From the point of view of the film, manic-depressive is something certain people have that make them express emotion on a deeper level. It does not come off as dangerous at all in the film considering the film is about two poets who suffer form it

The movie is not convincing at ail that it's dangerous to be guided by your emotions, on one level it seems like that's exactly what the filmmaker wants you to take away, but certain points in the film make me uncertain.

One point that does come across really well is the idea that two people who seem so right for each other, are in fact the exact opposite.

It's a great strangely done romantic comedy about two people who are fighting the world alone, until they found each other. It was very passionate.

Katie Holmes was good in the movie too.

But it still bothers me that the movie does a lackluster job in having a firm foot on the illness these two carry. Weather positive or negative, I did not get the point.

As much as I wish I could, it would not be fair to give this film a higher rating than I have, the reason being that I understand why it is completely impossible for the vast majority of viewers to ever find this film as moving as I do. Those of us who are members of the elite craft that Marco mentions all see this movie through a completely different lens than those who do not live every day of our lives with this thing that can be just as accurately categorized as an illness as a gift.

Paul Dalio, writer, director, editor and composer of this film, has been through the experience of being hospitalized with a manic episode and subsequently diagnosed and medicated. Using his artistic gift for film making, he has created a story that attempts to show the world what it's like to experience life with bipolar disorder. It is a very nice story that does a good job of deeply exploring the subject matter. However, although he clearly has a gift for storytelling, Dalio's attempt creates something that may be difficult or impossible for most of his audience to relate to. Those of us with bipolar have the same experience when watching this movie as the boomer generation has when watching Forrest Gump - constantly saying to ourselves, "Wow, yeah, I remember that." Everyone else sees something very different, and I could easily understand if the majority of people who see this movie either don't understand it or find it mediocre.

It may be a while before the world is really ready for this movie. Psychology is still a fairly new subject that has only been studied in depth by more than just a few people for the last sixty years or so. I do hope the day will soon come when bipolar disorder will be much better understood by everybody. If that day ever does arrive, then and only then will this movie ever become the classic that I believe it deserves to be.