Forgotten Friday Flick – “The Skin I Live In”
Over the next five weeks leading up to both various Top Ten Films of 2017 lists on this site, as well as celebrating the year’s end, I’m going to be reposting now MIA reviews of my #1 films from the last five years to provide all film fans in the dark of such captivating cinema a pinch of glorious five-star movie light – welcome to Forgotten Friday Flick! This week we’re heading all the way back to 2011 for a damn fine feature that captured not only controversy with it’s spicy story, but also my top film for that year. A creepy and moody cautionary tale of love and revenge (and not necessarily in that order!), this one lingers long for all who dare to witness it. So let’s head back, strap in and heed to movie director tour guide Pedro Almodóvar as he takes us on a unique journey known as…The Skin I Live In.
Director Pedro Almodóvar has always has a flair for taking the usual and making it distinctively and deliciously unusual. But his odd opus entitled The Skin I Live In is so different, so perverse and so jaw dropping that it marks shocking new territory even for a seasoned pro like Almodóvar himself – and I loved every twisted minute of it.
Almodóvar regular Antonio Banderas plays surgeon Robert Ledgard, a burdened man who becomes obsessed with creating a new skin after his wife is severely burned in a car crash. Add to that a daughter who is slowly become mentally ill and Robert’s obsession with a current patient he is treating and the good doctor ultimately finds himself at a personal crossroads.
Vague as hell, but that’s all you get. The Skin I Live In is riddled with twists, turns, reveals and so many head shaking moments that it’s best to go in knowing nothing. What I can tell you is that this is Almodóvar is truly at his best here, mixing his career long affinities for offbeat love and sex with a tale that’s utterly uncommon. But amidst the disconcerting story elements, he still creates a movie that engrosses with every lush and lurid frame. Plus the teaming of the director with his male muse Banderas never disappoints (still think their previous Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is Banderas’ best work!) and their collaboration this time around adds even more movie meat to both character and content. But also of note as new patient Vera Cruz is amazing actress Elena Anaya, who spools out serious dramatic surprises that makes for one equally engrossing and yet totally disturbing performance you can’t take your eyes off of. Though everything about the film serves to tantalize and hypnotize set in a world gone askew – welcome to Almodóvar land.
So while this dissection of the film may be a tad thin, thankfully the layered and thoughtful The Skin I Live In is not. Laced with heavy doses of sex, sin, deceit and unnatural love, Pedro and company have handcrafted the finest five-star film work – one you MUST experience for yourself.
Jason Coleman
I'm a passionate and opinionated film critic/movie journalist with over 20 years of experience in writing about film - now exclusively for WhySoBlu.com. Previous sites include nine years at Starpulse.com where I created Forgotten Friday Flick back in 2011, before that as Senior Entertainment Editor for The213.net and 213 Magazine, as well as a staff writer for JoBlo.com. My other love is doing cool events for the regular guy with my company Flicks For Fans alongside my friend, partner and Joblo.com writer James "Jimmy O" Oster. Check us out at www.Facebook.com/FlicksForFans.
