Touched with Fire (2016)

For 20 years I have been conflicted with the validity of being diagnosed bi-polar. By chance, I caught this film on TV. I didn't see much connection while I watched it, but the next morning, I started thinking about the movie and my past experiences/difficulties,and I started crying. It was a near perfect match being that I am more manic than depressive and the movie shows what bi-polar mania looks on someone. It was refreshing to be able to relate. I have since excepted my diagnosis, because I now know it to be true inside myself.

Wow. How did I miss hearing about this movie? In the past, Katie Holmes has been hit and miss with her acting mainly due to miscasting, but here she is spot on---watch closely. Great to see her giving a masterful performance. The acting alone by both Holmes and Luke Kirby kept me watching to the end. Subject matter is a bit of a downer but fascinatingly portrayed. (Although not the focus of the plot, the movie illustrates what daily lives of people suffering from manic-depressive disorder can be like, both from trying to hold down jobs to their uncontrollable thirst for highs. And the movie succeeds in showing how even psychologically unbalanced individuals are able to fall in love.) It's the best movie on manic-depressive disorder since 'Mr. Jones' (Richard Gere, Lena Olin--which I also highly recommend for the acting!). I hope Holmes is recognized for her excellent work here.

This film tells the story of a man and a woman who meet each other in a psychiatric ward in a hospital. They bond over poetry and other artistic aspects, yet they trigger each other's manic illness that naturally causes much concern to the people around them."Touched With Fire" is the name of a poetry book that I had to study in my GCSE English literature course. Hence, I wanted to watch this film. To my surprise, the story is very because it is real and convincing. The two bipolar patients behave exactly like what people having a relapse behaves. Their highs and lows are realistically portrayed by the director and the acting talents. When the guy proclaims his love for manic relapses, it is almost heartbreaking to watch. It is unusual that a film can portray bipolar lives so accurately. I really like the fact that Kay Jamieson, the author of "The Unquiet Mind", has a cameo in the film as well. "Touched With Fire" is really a hidden gem.

Not an easy watch, and I'm sure not for everyone, this film takes an insightful look at bipolar disorder. I will say the movie opened my eyes to a number of aspects of the illness. Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby are both excellent in their lead roles here as Carla and Marco. They're both poets and have bipolar disorder, and while being treated at a mental hospital they form am instant chemistry. After their release, they will eventually try and start a relationship, despite all the hurdles and obstacles facing them and their parents fears and protestations.Carla and Marco throw away their meds, believing that allowing their manic phases to thrive will enhance their creativity. However, when Carla becomes pregnant with their child, they will each have to make decisions whether to continue on the wild ride they're on or start taking their meds again and stabilize.Filmmaker Paul Dalio. making his directorial debut here, has infused his own experiences with bipolar disorder into the movie. Plus, author and renowned psychologist Kay Jamison, who herself appears late in the film, discusses her battles with bipolar disorder with Carla and Marco. Jamison, in her book "Touched With Fire", has shown how many great artists and authors throughout history have suffered from this mental illness, including Hemingway, Tchaikovsky, Edgar Allen Poe, and Lord Byron (among many others).All in all, as mentioned, not an easy watch and not an escape film, but the movie, despite its rough spots, kept me engaged and interested enough to want to know how it would all play out. Plus, I learned quite a lot about bipolar disorder along the way.