"Touched with Fire" a Film Focusing on Bipolar Disorder Featuring Katie Holmes

"Touched with Fire" is a film I recommend for numerous reasons.  The main reason being the serious nature of its topic, bipolar disorder, which is handled in both with sensitivity and artistic flair.  The artistry of the movie does not overshadow the significance of disease which most often manifests itself in young adulthood and becomes a lifelong struggle for the individual and their families.  The illness, which has afflicted many great artists (Dickinson, Hemingway, Tchaikovsky, Byron, Wolfe to name but a few) is seen as both a gift and an illness in this dramatic love story revolving around a couple Carla (Katie Holmes) & Marco (Luke Kirby.)  Carla & Marco first meet in the hospital while being treated & monitored for their disorder which was in a state of mania for both.  Unable to sleep (insomnia a main symptom) they feed off each other's manic state; intensifying their mania.  The movie is written & directed by Paul Dalio, who has a bipolar disorder.  Kay Jamison, a psychologist and writer, plays herself in the film.  Jamison counsels the couple on how she manages her bipolar illness by staying on her prescribed medication.  She assures the couple that being medicated hasn't impinged her creativity or productivity.  Jamison calls her medication & treatment "a godsend" that has allowed her to do her work & live a productive life.  The movie aptly portrays the frenetic, disorientation & paranoia that are associated with this mental health issue in a thoughtful and empathetic manner.  The love story between Carla & Marco, finely acted by Holmes & Kirby, is a contrivance that is most effective at showing how shattering a bipolar prognosis can be for a person's life and the lives for those who care for them.  Christine Lahti plays Carla's mother & Griffin Dun Marco's father.  Both actors are superb in evoking strong feelings of love, confusion, helplessness, frustration & devotion.   Poetry is implemented throughout to express both the extreme range of emotions felt at both the manic & depressive phases.  "Touched with Fire" is a princely film that helps to explore what it means to live with bipolar disorder which can only be grasped by those who share the illness or love someone suffering mental health problems.