The Skin I Live In / La Piel Que Habito (2011)
Cert: 15 / 117 mins / Dir. Pedro Almodóvar / Trailer
Okay, this may well be the most fucked up tale of rape, murder, domestic imprisonment and forced gender reassignment surgery I've seen this year. I'd like to say that The Skin I Live In isn't quite as weird as I've made it sound, but it pretty much is.
Pedro Almodóvar directs and pens the screenplay like a modern-day Hitchcock, bringing an unrelenting claustrophobia but never losing the narrative thread (although the film starts as borderline-unbelievable and never leaves that zone). Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes and Jan Cornet all act their nuts off (literally in one of their cases), as the story of unhinged dermatological surgeon Robert Ledgard (Banderas) weaves its merry way through twelve years of chloroformed, incestuous turmoil. That Almodóvar does this without resorting to shock-value, relying instead on the escalating weirdness like an arty, less sadistic, Human Centipede, is to his credit. Although it's also worth pointing out that the audience is saved from becoming too emotionally engaged by having pretty much no characters to root for*1.
The film isn't without its moments of dark humour, but they're very dark indeed, and few and far between. It certainly sits oddly with the director's later film, 2013's airline-based satirical comedy I'm So Excited. I'd like to say I'd recommend this film, but the bleak nature of the content will sit uncomfortably with many viewers (and rightly so), and as much as I admire how it's assembled, I can't see me watching it again any time soon.
I haven't. It was a little too arthouse for my local.
I think so.
Probably not, in all honesty.
There isn't.
Antonio Banderas starred in The Expendables 3, as did Captain Solo himself, Harrison Ford.
*1 The sole exception to this being Ledgard's daugher Norma, played with unnerving ease by Blanca Suárez.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
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