Michael C. (Serious Film) here with one of my most anticipated titles of 2011.
Dr. Banderas and his monster?
Dammit, Pedro. I just can't stay mad at you.
Even as he never reaches the emotional impact you expect from an Almodóvar production - as is the case with The Skin I Live In - his filmmaking is so alive in every moment one can't help forgiving him his flaws. Is this a top tier work from the man who made All About My Mother? No. Was I still glued to the screen in every moment as I am with few films? Hell, yes.
To call The Skin I Live In "Almodovar does Frankenstein" is both an accurate description and wildly reductive. Accurate in that, yes, Antonio Banderes plays a mad surgeon with a creation of his own held captive in his mansion. It is reductive because Pedro is not about to be satisfied simply delivering his take on lightning bolts and things jumping at you out of the darkness. The horror in Skin is of a far more unsettling variety involving attacks not just on one's safety but on one's sanity. It touches on Almodovar's familiar themes of sexuality, identity, and stopping everything dead so we can watch a beautiful woman sing a beautiful song.
more sans spoilers after the jump.
I have to tread lightly here because much of the story depends on twists that blindside us not just with their unexpectedness, but with their audacity. It is best going in to know as little as possible, so I will simply suggest you think back to the jaw-dropping "Shrinking Lover" sequence from Talk to Her and imagine it blown up to feature length. This will give you a good sense of the gonzo level the story is operating on.
The main problem with Skin I Live In its that Almodovar doesn't fully commit to the horror genre. I appreciate his determination to subvert horror conventions by telling this twisted tale with a more or less straight face, but this material cries out for operatic swooning. The final confrontation between Banderas and his creation could be a moment to rival Elsa Lanchester hissing at Boris Karloff, yet it barely registers an uptick in pulse. Only the fantastic score from Ablerto Iglesias seems to correctly register that fevered melodrama is the order of the day.
Having said all that I can't deny the film made an impression on me. It is a film that figuratively and literally burrows under the skin. It makes me hopeful that this will not be Pedro's only foray into the horror genre since his unparalleled imagination proves a great fit for tales of the macabre. If he would just take his foot off the brake and attack the material with the gusto we know he is capable of, he would surely produce some sort of unhinged masterpiece. Instead we get the disturbing, but not quite satisfying, tale spun here.
Previously on NYFF
Goodbye First Love whispers its pain to Kurt.
Party of Shame Nathaniel drops Fassbender's magic name.
Hugo is under construction but Nathaniel likes the blueprint.
My Week With Marilyn entertains Nathaniel only when its On Set With Marilyn.
Shame leaves a messy emotional trail for Michael to follow.
Quick Opinions Nathaniel's quick takes on films he didnt review.
Martha Marcy May Marlene inducts Nathaniel to its growing cult.
The Kid With a Bike races into Kurt's hearts.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World is music to Michael's ears.
A Separation floors Nathaniel. A frontrunner for the Oscar?
The Student makes Nathaniel cram for quizzes that never come.
Carnage raises its voice at Nathaniel but doesn't quite scream.
Miss Bala wins the "must-see crown" from judge Michael.
Tahrir drops Michael right down in the titular Square.
A Dangerous Method excites Kurt... not in that way, perv!
The Loneliest Planet brushes against Nathaniel's skin.
Melancholia shows Michael the end of von Trier's world.