500 Days Of Film Reviews The Skin I Live In And Finds A Deeply Unpleasant Body Horror
Ever since losing his wife in a fire, Dr Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) has been obsessed with creating a form of human skin that could have prevented her death.
His own personal wealth (and his position as a leading plastic surgeon) has enabled him to experiment with and develop this new super skin.
All he needs now is a human ‘guinea pig’ to test it on.
Is It Any Good?
I didn’t enjoy this film at all.
It made me feel really uncomfortable while I was watching it and left an extremely unpleasant taste afterwards.
It is not that I think The Skin I Live In is a bad or poorly made movie. The plot is unsettling - full of twists and turns - and you really do not know where it is all going. Director, Pedro Almodovar, certainly keeps you guessing until the very end.
The acting is strong - Antonio Banderas gives a particularly powerful performance.
The storytelling is interesting, with flashbacks helping you to unravel the identity of Ledgard’s guinea pig.
So, what was it about The Skin I Live In that I didn’t like?
Well, for me, the film just felt horribly exploitative. In addition, events occur that are both extremely cruel and horrific and yet you feel the film has more contempt for than sympathy with its own victims.
I do appreciate the fact that some films are there to challenge and not all movies are concerned with creating a feel good factor.
In which case, you could argue that The Skin I Live In has succeeded - it certainly made me feel uneasy and uncomfortable.
However, despite this, I didn’t like it or enjoy it - not at all.
Have you seen it? What did you think? Feel free to leave a comment in the section below.