Flick of The Day: The Skin I Live In / La Piel Que Habito

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has long been one of the most avant garde and visually stunning film-makers out there. His work has always challenged the viewers perceptions and played with reality with films like Talk to Her, Bad Education and the brilliant Volver. His latest film and today's flick of the day, The Skin I Live in, is perhaps his most bizarre creation, an adaptation of a very dark tale by Thierry Jonquet. 

Tarantula: the Skin I Live in

Set in the year 2012 in the city of Toledo, the story focuses on the revolutionary work of skin specialist Robert Ledgard, played by a one time Almodovar regular cast member Antonio Banderas. Robert has developed a revolutionary new form of skin, that cannot burn claiming to have tested only on mice. Meanwhile at his country estate which also serves as his testing ground, he is keeping a beautiful young woman played by Elena Anaya in captivity having tested on her. In a roundabout fashion, it becomes apparent that Robert's motivation is losing his wife in a fiery wreck. In flashbacks, we learn of how he saved her after the accident despite her horrific burns however she ultimately commits suicide. Meanwhile their young daughter Norma, having witnessed this becomes mentally unstable and has to be committed. Years later and a teenage Norma having regained a little of herself is at a large family party on Robert's estate when she is taken advantage of and raped by a local boy. A vengeful Robert tracks down the rapist and abducts him to exact a terrible revenge. To say any more would be to give the game away.

It has to be said, this is a truly odd film. At times, it feels like the kind of run of the mill mad scientist torture porn that has polluted the multiplex for the last few years. Yet as Almodovar has noted, this is a horror film "without screams or frights". He is right in that sense but it is no less scary because of it, for this is as shocking and ending as one could imagine.

Banderas is excellent as the chillingly driven Robert, reminding us of how good an actor he can be given a meaty role, something not seen for many years. Like all of Almodovar's work, the film is predictably pretty with Robert seeming to live an almost idyllic life.

While this would be a departure from his usual work genre wise, it explore many of the same themes that have long been a feature of his work. Questions of identity and of what it means to be human, of sexual identity, of loneliness, betrayal and ultimately death. If there is a problem it is that this sits unevenly on the mad scientist plot. There is an almost laughable level of seriousness  to some of the scenes and when the twist in the tale is revealed, I for one could not stifle a giggle. It's just an Oh Christ moment.

That said, there is enough film making ability on show to make this worth your while. Almodovar is one of the greats of European cinema of the last twenty years and even something as out there as this is worth a look.

All in all, while nowhere near his best work, it includes a fine performance from Banderas and if nothing else will leave you with food for thought.