THE SKIN I LIVE IN Review: The Ballsiest, Best Film of 2011
Gorgeously mounted and superbly acted, Pedro Almodóvar doesn't make this bracingly intense, off-the-wall story an excuse to forsake the humanist interests that populate his best works. And this sits proudly among them.
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rating: 4.5
The first thing to say about Pedro Almodóvar's latest film, The Skin I Live In, is not to read too much about it before you see it. While less mindful critics will frivolously give away the film's secrets without adequate warning, the decision made in this review is to skirt around the plot as much as is possible. Believe me, it's for your own good, for the film's dark twists and turns are about to become the worst-kept secrets since the ending of The Sixth Sense. Nevertheless, trust the ever-reliable Almodóvar to transform a story that, when unspooled and read aloud to your friends, sounds like something The Sun might cobble together during a slow news week, into a hilarious, thrilling, unexpectedly human and superbly realised film about the nature of revenge and identity. While it's an unmistakable Almodóvar production thanks to regal cinematography, lush direction and a darkly witty screenplay, The Skin I Live In marks a drastic thematic departure for the director, transposing his more subdued, dialogue-heavy style into a bombastic though still talkative horror thriller of literally unbelievable dimensions. What can be said of the plot is this; genius plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) is haunted by personal turmoil kickstarted with the death of his wife in a car accident. Spurred on by this, he manages to cultivate a skin which cannot be burned, and his guinea pig is a woman, Vera (Elena Anaya), who he holds captive in his vast, seemingly inescapable mansion. The hints - if there are any - will stop there, because it's a film best left cobwebbed and wrapped up until you leave the cinema, likely fascinated and definitely disturbed by what you have just seen. What's important is that The Skin I Live In is not only the year's best thriller thus far, but it's the best film, full stop. Beginning with a sedate, enigmatic opening act which sets the dominoes up and rests the edifice in place, Almodóvar moves to strike in the latter two thirds through liberal yet crucial use of flashbacks and multiple perspectives to detail a thoroughly gripping and terrifying revenge story.![](https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2011/08/skin2-600x338.jpg)
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