The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito)

Antonio Banderas and co-star Elena Anaya

Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar's 2011 film has been in my dvd queue for a while and we finally got a chance to watch it this weekend.  It's often described as psychological thriller, but I'm not sure I would agree.  It doesn't have a lot of the pace psychological thrillers often have, so I would almost call it a psychologically probing but relatively bloodless horror film.  I'm not particularly a fan of the horror genre, and I wasn't particularly a fan of the the movie experience of The Skin I Live In, but it does offer good food for thought.

The film is the story of famous and tortured Spanish plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas).  After his wife is burned to death in a car accident, he develops a replacement for human skin that is resistant to burns, insect bites, and injuries.  He conducts his experiments on a mysterious female patient that he holds prisoner in his private mansion/clinic with the help of his faithful servant Marilia.  The prisoner practices yoga, reads, and tears her clothing to shreds, but she does not seem likely to escape.  One day Marilia receives an unexpected visitor and events are set into motion that change the status quo.

I found this film highly repellent and the horror of it is still bouncing around in my brain.  My complaint is entirely with the content and not with Almodóvar's filmmaking, I think he delivered a good film for the most part.  There was one what I would call "convenient" moment towards the end that felt artificial, but for the most part, the script flows, the acting is excellent, the shots are beautiful and there is great attention to detail and visuals, from wardrobe to the paintings on the walls of the Dr. Ledgard's mansion.

As I was searching for photographs to illustrate my review, I was thinking how many strange and suggestive images I could include that might give hints as to the content of the film or entirely color someone's opinion about it.  The following things occur in the film and there are film stills of these moments floating around the internet: murder, rape, torture, plastic surgery, consentual sex, self-mutilation, and Carnivale.  While it includes all of these horrific things, it's not a flashy, gritty,  excessively violent, or highly experiential film.  There's not a lot of pounding music, it's a quiet, very well paced, and carefully plotted film.  The fact that Almodóvar really takes his time is probably what allows the horror of things to sneak up on and completely shock the viewer the most.

As I mentioned before, I do not like horror films particularly.  I think because this one succeeds very well at delicately exploring a horrifying subject matter, I simply did not enjoy watching it.  That does not mean that others should not watch it and it doesn't mean I'm not recommending you do.  If you enjoy psychological horror films, even without all the blood and guts, I think you would enjoy this film.  At the same time, if you want to be scared, this isn't really the film for you.  It's not frightening, things don't jump out at you.  It's just highly disturbing.  So proceed with caution is my advice.