Starring: Antonio
Banderas, Elena Anaya, Jan Cornet, Marisa Paredes
Review: Well, this
was a ridiculously messed up movie. I
think…I think… it’s messed up in a good way.
If David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick had a love child who turned out to be
Spanish I think he would end up being Pedro Almadovar. Without seeing any of Almadovar’s other films
The Skin I live In shows me that he
has mastered not only the strange subject matter (Lynch) but has shown the
expertise and care of his craft to make it apparent that every shot has a
purpose (Kubrick).
The plot of this film is sticky at best. There is unrequited love, mixed with revenge,
mixed with depression, mixed with a weird Frankenstein angle to wrap it all
together. The film goes to great lengths
to be vague so I will do the same and save the real details of the plot.
Basically, Robert (Banderas) keeps a woman against her will
on his premises. There are allusions to
how she “looks too much like her.” We
don’t really know who they are referring to or if this is something that’s
intentional. Was this woman
kidnapped? Why do they say “she looks
too much like her” when that appears to be something outside of Roberts
control?
Eventually we learn that Robert is a world-renown plastic
surgeon and the plot thickens. While we
have no proof yet, Robert could have used his vast skills to make this person look
like someone he held dear. Whether this
is a wife, a daughter, a girlfriend, a friend, none of that is clear. What is made clear through a speech Robert
gives at a conference is that he has studied facial reconstruction and even
facial transplants extensively.
That’s where I will leave the plot. There is enough there to make it quite
intriguing. Almadovar show’s some deft
skill in wrapping together all these plots into this one movie. There are lots of different emotions and
themes at play and Almadovar is able make sure the movie stays on point. Some of the different aspects can get
confusing, but those are done intentionally by the director.
What makes this a solid film is the care the director
takes. Not a scene of this movie is wasted. Every second has a large impact not only on
the plot but on the characters involved.
It isn’t made apparent how it will affect everything, but eventually it
is made clear.
While there are multiple themes abound in this film, the
overarching one tends to be obsession.
Robert is obsessed with an idea.
His life has gone astray in all the wrong places. He doesn’t yearn for what his life became, he
yearns for what his life once was. At
least, what he thought his life once was.
It is this obsession and his attempt to get back there that drives him
to do things he is not proud of.
Anything that gets in the way of Robert accomplishing his
goal, is destroyed. He doesn’t reflect
on what drove him to do these things, he simply recognizes them to an
impediment to his goal. He was wronged
in his life before and the universe owes it to him to make it right. All his transgressions will be forgiven when
things are placed back in balance yet again.
This review might not make much sense but once you see the
film the pieces will fall into place much more.
If you are into interesting, offbeat, quality cinema this is
worth your time. If you are just looking
for some good entertainment that you don’t have to think too much about, steer
clear of this one.
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