Antonio Banderas: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

1. Robert Ledgard - The Skin I Live In (2011)

After the brilliant lunacy hinted at in Law Of Desire, Pedro Almodovar went fully off-the-grid for the exceptional, brilliantly haunting The Skin I Live In.

The film sees Banderas introduced as Robert Ledgard, a tragic plastic surgeon whose brilliant work in restoring skin was propelled by the death of his wife, and who is further haunted by the death of his daughter who believes he raped her and the necessary murder of his brother. As if that wasn't twisty enough, it turns out Ledgard has a female captive, who it eventually transpires is a gender reassigned young man who Ledgard believes raped his daughter. Inevitably he falls in love with her and the pair attempt to have sex before she kills him in revenge.

It's a stunningly complex and at times hilarious story that presents itself as a psychological thriller, and Banderas' cold, restrained performance is brilliant. He's a contradiction in terms: a walking open wound after his familial trauma who never quite becomes complete monster but who you're certain is a good few steps down the road there.

But what of the films that aren't quite so positively memorable?