Antonio Banderas reunites with acclaimed director Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her) to star in this skin-crawling Spanish thriller. Based on the novel Tarantula by Thierry Jonquet. Winner of Best Foreign Language Film at the 2012 BAFTAs.
A brilliant plastic surgeon (Banderas), haunted by death of his wife 12 years ealier, develops a synthetic skin capable of withstanding all damage. When his research is judged to be unconscionable, he kidnaps a young woman (Elena Anaya, Van Helsing) and keeps her captive in his house in order to continue the experiments.
Perhaps only an auteur of distinguished camp sensibilities like Almodóvar could’ve pulled off something as far-fetched as The Skin I Live In and turned it into a work of uncanny feeling, even if it often goes off the rails and teeters on the edge of absurdity, and not to mention downright, misogyny-pandering trash. Based on Thierry Jonquet's novel Tarantula, the film is a bizarro, deeply perverse melodrama nodding to Hitchcock’s macabre voyeurism and Cronenberg’s body-horror clinicism, and encompassing Almodóvar’s favourite themes (identity, gender roles, family secrets) and various genre standbys (captivity/Stockholm syndrome, revenge, Dr. Frankenstein).
Suffice to say, revealing too much of its twisty plot would ruin the experience, but it basically involves Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas, in his best form in ages), a brilliant but loopy plastic surgeon who keeps a pretty guinea pig (Elena Anaya) locked up his basement to conduct skin experiments on. From here, the narrative fans out into several directions, including a typically lengthy Almodóvarian flashback delving into Ledgard’s tragedy-prone past, and though I guessed the big secret pretty quickly (as some of you might), there’s still something mesmerizing about our queasy dawning realisation of its grand design and the sumptuous, irresistibly lush surfaces of the visuals.
The Skin I Live In is high-art pulp: brazenly kitschy, elegantly creepy, patently ludicrous.
By Aaron Yap, Flicks.co.nz
Almodovar takes on a psychological thriller and produces a cleverly crafted and intriguing premise. An elegantly set up dark pyscho-sexual melodrama ... that just left me unmoved. In the same way that Banderas's character is obsessed with skin, Almodovar's focus is on the style and the exquisite texture of the film, but fails to delve into the psyche of the characters in the way that would make this truly chilling. For all the lush production the story, disappointingly, is only skin deep.
The Husband won tickets to this movie from Flicks. I hadn't realised it was in Spanish, not that it was a bad thing. I think it lent to the setting and characters. Banderas as Dr Ledgard is brilliant. He's cold, calculating and inevitably succumbs to his victim's charms. The movie itself is a bit 'Silence of the Lambs' for the creepy aspect. Some scenes in the lab I found funny, a bit "Dr Frankenstein" for this day and age. I think the poor family was doomed by insanity and I couldn't help feeling that it would end the way it did. The characters were great, the scenery and backgrounds were lovely. I'll have to look up the other movies by Almodovar now.
A bit weird, sick and disgusting...but quite watchable and remains interesting throughout, which is a rare thing considering Antonio Banderas is in the lead role :P...worth a look if you aren't too straight laced. 3 stars.
The trailer had me expecting Silence of the Lambs meets Frankenstein and I wasn't thinking I'd enjoy it. The Spanish setting, culture and architecture transport a kiwi viewer and allows belief to be suspended for this black fairy tale. It is hard to review this without giving vital plot twists away so I will say this is a socially challenging movie, you will be prompted to question your beliefs and morals and sense of justice.
With 'The Skin I Live In' Almodovar is clearly looking to shock and disturb his audience. In fact the film is strongly reminiscent of Kim Ki-duk's best works. Banderas is fantastic as the brooding doctor, whilst Anaya is a knockout. The story leads the audience down unexpected, and occasionally shocking, paths. A disturbing film, but one that is compelling. Recommended, but definitely not for the faint of heart.
Dawdles and dead-ends.
Though I usually take pleasure in Almodovar's sexy darkness, this film induces queasiness.
The year’s classiest horror movie.
Like many lab experiments, this melodramatic hybrid makes for an unstable fusion.
Though Almodóvar has retained the creep factor of his source material, he hasn't fully embraced its darkness.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 15th Mar 2012.
Release date: March 15th 2012.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
