The Skin I Live In details
| Formats: | 15 DVD, Blu-ray |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya |
| Directors: | Pedro Almodóvar, Pedro Almodovar |
| Genres: | Drama, Thriller - Psychological, World Cinema - Spanish |
| Studio: | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Original title | La piel que habito |
| Collections: | Unmissable World Cinema |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
The Skin I Live In |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 2 hours |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 23 Jan 2012 |
| Main languages: | Spanish |
| Subtitles: | English |
Write your own review
LOVEFiLM Review
-
By Jonathan Crocker from LOVEFiLMTrust us when we say The Skin I Live In leaves you with plenty to talk about, but we want to spoil as few of Pedro Almodovar's secrets as possible...
- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Most helpful review
'The Skin I Live In' will tease and entertain you through to the perverse end.
By Tarumatu (39 reviews) from Brighton, England , 27 Aug 2011[Highly rated reviewer]
Antonio Banderas is reunited with Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who made him famous in his early films such as the hilarious 'Time Me Up, Time Me Down'. Banderas plays Robert Ledgard, a highely regarded but controversial cosmetic surgeon. Ledgard lives with his housekeeper Marilia (Marisa Paredes), and the mysterious Vera (Elena Anaya) who seems to be imprisoned, spending her days dressed in a skin-tone bodysuit.
Almodovar keeps you guessing right from the beginning, and Vera is the most intriguing, is she Ledgards patient, perhaps his daughter or even his wife? An intruder initiates a change in Ledgard and Vera's relationship. The story unfolds through numerous flashbacks involving Ledgard's daughter and Vicente, who both met at a party, establishing the nature of Ledgards actions to come.
Ledgard is haunted by his wife's severe burns following a car accident, he becomes obsessed with healing her, working day and night on skin tissue experiments. Ledgards obsession pushes him to experiment with ‘transgenesis’ – an illegal form of genetic engineering on humans.
Not only does the plot keep you guessing but you keep asking yourself 'is this a horror movie, a revenge thriller, a dark comedy or a suspense thriller?'. In fact it's all of these and much more.
The incredibly beautiful Anaya is a fantastic foil to Banderas, growing in her role and gaining greater significance and complexity as the film unravels, and it is she as Vera who defines the film. Banderas is a charismatic lead, every inch the Spanish Cary Grant, stylish and charming, but with an unnerving menace. You can even empathise with Banderas' humanistic portrayal of Ledgard, traumatised by his pain and loss. You do, until <em>that</em> moment!
Staple Almodovar themes of identity, flesh, sex and power are all present, but it's the quite ridiculous twist which completes this film. You soon realise this cruel joke has depth, and very real implications, not least the premise of the act of male aggression and penetration, sexual or otherwise.
There are several cinematic references and homages throughout this film but Almodovar still manages to make 'The Skin I Live In' all his own, this absurdly twisted psychological horror could not have been directed by anyone other than Almodovar.
Almodovar's films are renowned for their twists and absurdities, plus a healthy dollop of comedy and kitsch, but nothing as sinister and altogether bonkers as 'The Skin I Live In'. The brilliance of Almodovar is his ability to normalise the odd and the absurd, 'The Skin I Live In' will tease and entertain you through to the perverse end.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (32) Yes |
- No (20)
All reviews
(156)Fabulous, overblown fable
By a customer , 15 Dec 2012Over-the-top, ridiculous, but well acted and well worth watching. And I agree with other reviewers: don't ask to know any more about the plot....- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (0)
Could have been a great film
By a customer , 20 Nov 2012But the story was pushed too far so this psychological thriller became comical in places and left you no longer believing in the characters or the plot.
The film is a talking point with friends and colleagues who have also seen it because the twist is quite shocking. Although not so much for my flatmate who fell asleep half way through and missed the big reveal!
I have sat on the fence and given it half marks – the film looks stylish, the acting is for the most part good, but you are left feeling disappointed as it could have been so much better.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (2) Yes |
- No (0)
The king is not wearing any clothes...or skin
By Rogdeb (20 reviews) from Harleston , 29 Oct 2012Look, I like Banderas and Anaya a lot - but what an absolutely appalling film to waste their acting talent on - do not spend time on this movie please - the daft story or the vaguely elegant cinematography is not the problem - its the totally vacuous, unreal and plain wrong emotional messaging that makes this soooo bad - I just pressed the fast forward and read the subtitles after the first 20 minutes when the nutter in the tiger suit turned up - its a boringly tame horror movie at best. Just meaningless twaddle really, stop thinking about it now!- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (2)
Mind Blowing!
By a customer , 25 Oct 2012I've watched so many movies over the years that I always end up knowing what's going to happen in most of them, or they remind me of another movie that I've seen before.
This movie was fresh as hell! I was hooked on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The acting is amazing, the storyline superb and it didn't even bother me that the film was in subtitles. I would love to have a brain movie eraser so that I could watch this film over and over again!- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (1)
Take a chance...
By T-Boy58 (1 review) , 24 Oct 2012I really don't know what attracted me to this film. I've hadn't seen any trailers or read a synopsis. I can only surmise that it was all in the title. Like Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials', the title triggers something in the imagination that draws you to it.
I'm really glad I new little about this film before I watched it, and if this is the first review you read, the best suggestion is not to read any others, get the film, stick with it all the way and your reward will be great.- Was this review helpful to you?
- (0) Yes |
- No (1)
