The Skin I Live In (2011)

I love this film so much. I first saw it about nine months ago and it amazed me. It was the first real film I’d seen Antonio Banderas in (I don’t think Shrek 2 really counts), and I love him. His acting in this as a creepy twisted scientist/surgeon is superb and it both scares and fascinates you.

I didn’t know all that much about the plot when I first saw this – the trailer is spectacularly useless in terms of giving you a feel for the story and pace – and online synopses don’t give you much to go on either. 

After the death of his wife in a fire several years previously, the creepy twisted surgeon has devoted his time to creating a magic skin – resistant to burns and insect bites and has been testing it on a human subject – Vera – whom he keeps locked in a room in his house. In between experiments and treatments, Vera (played by the ridiculously beautiful Elena Anaya) spends her time doing yoga and creating pieces of art from scraps of material. As you do. Her frustration with being locked up soon becomes apparent though and you begin to wonder how long she’s been there, and how she got to be there in the first place.

All becomes clear as the film progresses – we’re given the full story little bit by little bit. There’s a limit to what can be said without spoiling it all but suffice to say this film has the best “Oh my God!” moment I’ve ever seen. That point in the story when all these little scraps of knowledge all come together and leaves you with your mouth hanging open in shock, horror, and complete awe. That’s what it did to me anyway.

The only negative thing I can say about this (apart from a slight raised eyebrow at some of the weirder moments) is a scene in the middle of the film. They introduce some flashbacks to give us some of the history of the characters and they’ve chosen to do so through dreams. It seemed a bit lazy and I’m sure there’s a better way of doing it.

The skin I live in is shocking, it’s disturbing, and it’s completely engrossing. It’s reasonably slowly paced which shows excellent restraint by the writer/director Pedro Almodóvar who has directed some other quality films (Volver for example) and I’m definitely going to try to see many more of them. Having said that he also wrote and directed Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! – again starring Banderas. That was just weird. His next film, I’m So Excited, stars Penelope Cruz and Banderas yet again and I look forward to seeing it. I’ve got no idea what it’s about but its Spanish title – Los Amantes Pasajeros – translates as The Passing Lovers. I suppose that’s some clue.