by Yazmin Ghonaim

PASSION OF MIND Alain Berliner (2000) Passion of Mind, directed by Alain Berliner (Ma Vie en Rose), is a psychological romantic drama which offers viewers the opportunity to see two distinct stories develop for the same protagonist. A young mother of two and living in the countryside of France, Marie (Demi Moore) has recurrent dreams about being "Marty" (also Demi Moore), a sophisticated and single career woman in Manhattan. Although this situation is clearly established by showing the character enter into deep sleep and into her familiar dream setting, Marie soon realizes, however, that the experiences as Marty are as real as those that ensue from her "real" life. In this manner, Passion of Mind quickly establishes its protagonist's dilemma: Which life is her real life? In order to find out, Marie and Marty consult psychologists, who diagnose a split personality as resulting from heavy fantasizing over a different existence. In the meantime, Marie and Marty encounter a young New York executive (William Fichtner: Drowning Mona) and a European writer (Stellan Skarsgard: Timecode, Deep Blue Sea, My Son the Fanatic, Insomnia), who represent the possibility of love and of helping them solve the overwhelming mystery. Passion of Mind creates mystery by leaving unanswered questions about Marie's and Marty's past and about the origin of the identity dilemma. In fact, it is a difficult task for the viewer to understand either character, simply because of a lack of sufficient information that would favor one possibility over another. At times, the scenes of Marty's world show dominantly blue and gray tones, suggesting a cold atmosphere, while Marie's surroundings are tinged by the warmth of natural yellow and red tones. This choice subtly influences viewers either way, depending on their personal inclinations, but does not define the veracity or falsity of either setting. While each world has differences in visual and narrative depictions, which could also be seen as portraying the characters' different fantasies, Passion of Mind tries to expose the disguised similarities between both worlds, and often duplicates certain circumstances; consequently, however, this also slows down the momentum that the originality of a particular circumstance had set in motion. In spite of this and other weaknesses concerning the unnatural quality of the protagonist's dilemma, Passion of Mind benefits --in the end-- from an ingenious resolution which resonates with the underlying melancholy of its protagonist, and which speaks of the human need to embrace life, love and death.		DVD Music Books Search by keywords:
Outstanding Features: Location Shooting, Color/Lighting Passion of Mind Movie Review © 2000 Cinephiles - All rights reserved Photo © 2000 Paramount Classics