The Skin I Live In

The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito, in Spanish) is Pedro Almodovar's new film. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, before being released in Spain on September 2, 2011. It was written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, based off of the novel Tarantula, by Thierry Jonquet, and stars Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, and Roberto Alamo.



This review will be quite short, simply because I can't really talk about this film without spoiling it.

I've never seen any of Almodovar's (as he's commonly known) movies before this. So, I went in completely blind to his style of filmmaking. I unfortunately knew the plot of this movie going into it, which was a big mistake. To anyone that wants to see this film, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, read any plot summaries of this film. Did knowing the plot of this film ruin the film for me? No, but all I can think of now is how I would've reacted watching the film blind.

The film is superb. Remember how I said Drive was the best film I've seen this year? This is better. (Also, it has a better ending, I'd argue, but I won't say anything else about this.) The plot, at it's most basic, concerns a plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas, in one of his finest roles to date) who has created a synthetic skin, and also holds a young woman (Elena Anaya) captive. Antonio Banderas needs to do more serious dramatic roles. In this film, we see how far he can go, and he goes far. It's hard to tell if he's obsessed with his projects, or just plain insane, but Banderas does a tremendous job leaving us stupefied. Anaya is also extremely good, but to talk about her role is a spoiler in itself. Let's just say, in her character's situation, Anaya shows true intelligence, and depth. The rest of the cast is also very good, but nothing compared to our two leads.

Almodovar is a terrific writer and director. He has won two Oscars, among countless other awards. He deserves the Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year, but I don't believe this will be nominated, due to its extreme material, and the Academy's idiotic nomination process for Best Foreign Film. From this film, I've noticed that Almodovar has a dark humour, but is also very intelligent with the way he handles his characters.

Overall, watch this film. Not only does it get a 10/10, it also gets the Seal of Brilliance. This is a brilliant film. For my fellow Vancouverites, it is currently playing at VIFF, and it also gets a limited release across America and Canada on October 14. I'll be seeing it again then, and I highly recommend that you see this film as well.