In the hands of a madman...
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar,
based on the novel “Tarantula”, by Thierry Jonquet
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Elena
Anaya, Jan Cornet, Marisa Paredes, Blanca Suarez & Roberto Alamo
Plot: Doctor Robert Ledgard is a
successful plastic surgeon living in a secluded where he is keeping “a
patient”, the beautiful Vera, in total isolation. The arrival of the maid’s
criminal son arrives whilst Robert is away triggers a series of recollections
about Robert’s tragic past, how Vera came to be there and what her surgery may
have been for.
Running Time: 120m 19s
The issue of spoilers in reviews
is a tricky one. You must give a small idea of what the plot is but shouldn’t
give away too much. It’s the observer effect in film form – to talk to somebody
about watching a film is to change their experience of watching it. In the case
of Pedro Almodóvar’s new film, The Skin I
Live In, it feels as though to say anything about the content of the film
or even the films it is drawn from is to tamper with it.
Mystery and intrigue permeate
this bizarre but brilliant horror film from its very first minutes. Robert
Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) is a cosmetic surgeon who runs a clinic from his
secluded house, which is inhabited only by himself, his maid (Marisa Paredes)
and a strange patient (Elena Anaya), who spends her days locked in a room,
wearing a full bodystocking and with only a dumb waiter for company. She is monitored
intently by cameras, which Ledgard voyeuristically watches on a huge screen in
his bedroom.
It is a truly strange set-up and,
after an initial, brutal barrage (there is a horrific rape scene which is
pretty unbearable), the film goes into flashbacks which are initially baffling,
but then Almodóvar sets the extraordinary explanation in motion and it is
absolutely compelling.
No doubt, the nature of the
resolution of the plot will challenge the suspension of disbelief for many
viewers. Nevertheless, the film’s two hours fly by in the hands of this master
storyteller. The central mystery is gripping, but even when you seem to be lost
in the film and have no idea where the story is going, you stick with it and
have faith that all will be tied up neatly and satisfyingly.
An easy watch it isn’t though.
This film has a brutality which is thoroughly harsh and it leads to many uncomfortable
moments, and as the plot unfolds everything gets increasingly twisted. This is not
one for the squeamish.
It is so distressing for numerous
reasons, but it is certainly indebted to its actors. In particular, Elena Anaya
as the beautiful Vera, is a beguiling screen presence, whilst Banderas is supremely
controlled and often menacing as the disturbing Dr Ledgard. They tease out the
mystery and heighten the cruelty and insanity of the plot, whilst they’re
framed in Almodóvar’s beautiful and atmospheric world. There are plenty of
little touches which are not just aesthetically pleasing but almost cheekily
intriguing. The décor of Robert’s house is particularly well executed.
It is notable that the story is
perhaps too bizarre and the characters perhaps too distorted by madness for the
film to pack the punch it might. There is a level of distance between the
audience and the characters which cannot quite be crossed entirely, but it does
remain an effective and satisfying film: a modern-day, sci-fi inflected, Hitchcockian
mystery-thriller, portraying a madness and viciousness in obsession and love
which is absorbing, chilling and memorable.
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