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DVD Description
From acclaimed director Pedro Almodovar comes The Skin I Live In…
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After 12 years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig…
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After 12 years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig…
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
A sense of camp horror (or should that be 'a camp sense of horror'?) has lurked in the background of several Almodóvar movies, but here it's allowed to take centre stage in an engrossing, flashback-heavy tale of a plastic surgeon's attempts to create artificial skin. Antonio Banderas is suitably creepy in the lead role and Elena Anaya is a vision of flawless, silver screen beauty as the subject of his experiments, but the real stars here are the style and the ideas. Almodóvar has always enjoyed blurring the boundaries between genres and your enjoyment of his latest effort will almost certainly depend on the extent to which you're willing to follow the leaps he makes from melodrama to sci-fi to psychological thriller and, of course, to horror. It's worth sticking out the twisted ride, especially as there's an intriguing - not to mention provocative - revelation about two-thirds of the way through.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
A fascinating and powerful departure for Almodovar, or perhaps more
accurately more an terrific hybrid of the best of his old and new.
This has the darker, more actively perversely disturbing and violent themes
of some of his early work like 'Matador' but shot and directed with the
far smoother and more mature hand he has developed over the years. It
also uses the more complex and fractured time structure style of
Almodovar's more recent work, to great effect.
In the end it's a gorgeous looking, philosophically complex mystery and
horror film. Although not gory, this is a disturbing work, both on a
literal story level, and also for the questions it raises about sexual and personal
identity, love, sado-masochism, and passion run amok.
These themes are all Almodovar touchstones, but delivered here with a
visually stunning icy touch, and with much more complete logic than in
his early works, which often felt less fully thought through, and had
more frustrating plot holes and character leaps.
Not a 'scary' film, but a creepy, moody and highly effective one. A
dark fairy tale as told by, say Stanley Kubrick.
It's good to see Antonio Banderas reunited with Almodovar, and he
delivers a wonderfully complex and quirky modern day Dr. Frankenstein.
Less emotional than my two very favorite Almodovar films (Talk to Her,
All About My Mother), but its exciting to see this extremely talented
film maker continue to evolve and grow, and I think this represents
work that can stand among his best.
accurately more an terrific hybrid of the best of his old and new.
This has the darker, more actively perversely disturbing and violent themes
of some of his early work like 'Matador' but shot and directed with the
far smoother and more mature hand he has developed over the years. It
also uses the more complex and fractured time structure style of
Almodovar's more recent work, to great effect.
In the end it's a gorgeous looking, philosophically complex mystery and
horror film. Although not gory, this is a disturbing work, both on a
literal story level, and also for the questions it raises about sexual and personal
identity, love, sado-masochism, and passion run amok.
These themes are all Almodovar touchstones, but delivered here with a
visually stunning icy touch, and with much more complete logic than in
his early works, which often felt less fully thought through, and had
more frustrating plot holes and character leaps.
Not a 'scary' film, but a creepy, moody and highly effective one. A
dark fairy tale as told by, say Stanley Kubrick.
It's good to see Antonio Banderas reunited with Almodovar, and he
delivers a wonderfully complex and quirky modern day Dr. Frankenstein.
Less emotional than my two very favorite Almodovar films (Talk to Her,
All About My Mother), but its exciting to see this extremely talented
film maker continue to evolve and grow, and I think this represents
work that can stand among his best.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
lmodovar is so celebrated as a film director that one expects any criticism to be construed by "connoisseurs" of his art as a sign of one's own lack of sensibility.
I can live with a ludicrous plot and tolerate a certain level of sex and violence for a good reason, but I want something more as well. In this case, a criminally insane surgeon, grief-stricken by the loss of his wife in a car which caught alight, is bent on developing a skin immune to burning. He uses as a guinea pig a beautiful young woman called Vera who is a prisoner in his house, continuously observed via camera on vast screens. How and why does she resemble so much his dead wife? Is the surgeon falling in love with his own creation, thus making himself too vulnerable? So far so good, but the plot proceeds in jerky steps and unrealistic scenes so that I began to lose interest. At one point, the maid has to explain to Vera what is going on, a crude device for relieving the audience of its growing perplexity.
It is true that scenes are often visually very striking. With infinite care, Almodovar has paid attention to every detail of a shot. In particular, he displays his love of fabrics, colours, textures and costumes. The arrival of the maid's violent son, dressed as a tiger, provides a cue to indulge this love. This also provides an example of the bizarre, sinister, no holds barred physicality beloved by Almodovar. Fabrics also give rise to striking images - the dummies in the shop window of a fashion store - where we encounter Vicente, another key character in Almodovar`s crazy weaving of violent sexual fantasies with rational explanations.
Eventually the strands of the plot twine together to achieve an ending which reviewers have described as a twist, although it seemed to me quite predictable.
Even admirers of Almodovar admit this film is "tosh" but love it for the visual effects. Doesn't a film need to be more than a beautifully embroidered duvet cover in an unsettling (when you know the facts) sex scene, the guzzling of scraps of torn dresses in a hoover nozzle, the curves of a slender body in a yoga pose, or a startling red gown in a shop window?
"A Clockwork Orange", although withdrawn by Kubrick himself for its "gratuitous violence" shows by comparison how a bizarre and visually striking tale can also have a coherent plot and a thought-provoking message.
I can live with a ludicrous plot and tolerate a certain level of sex and violence for a good reason, but I want something more as well. In this case, a criminally insane surgeon, grief-stricken by the loss of his wife in a car which caught alight, is bent on developing a skin immune to burning. He uses as a guinea pig a beautiful young woman called Vera who is a prisoner in his house, continuously observed via camera on vast screens. How and why does she resemble so much his dead wife? Is the surgeon falling in love with his own creation, thus making himself too vulnerable? So far so good, but the plot proceeds in jerky steps and unrealistic scenes so that I began to lose interest. At one point, the maid has to explain to Vera what is going on, a crude device for relieving the audience of its growing perplexity.
It is true that scenes are often visually very striking. With infinite care, Almodovar has paid attention to every detail of a shot. In particular, he displays his love of fabrics, colours, textures and costumes. The arrival of the maid's violent son, dressed as a tiger, provides a cue to indulge this love. This also provides an example of the bizarre, sinister, no holds barred physicality beloved by Almodovar. Fabrics also give rise to striking images - the dummies in the shop window of a fashion store - where we encounter Vicente, another key character in Almodovar`s crazy weaving of violent sexual fantasies with rational explanations.
Eventually the strands of the plot twine together to achieve an ending which reviewers have described as a twist, although it seemed to me quite predictable.
Even admirers of Almodovar admit this film is "tosh" but love it for the visual effects. Doesn't a film need to be more than a beautifully embroidered duvet cover in an unsettling (when you know the facts) sex scene, the guzzling of scraps of torn dresses in a hoover nozzle, the curves of a slender body in a yoga pose, or a startling red gown in a shop window?
"A Clockwork Orange", although withdrawn by Kubrick himself for its "gratuitous violence" shows by comparison how a bizarre and visually striking tale can also have a coherent plot and a thought-provoking message.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Forced subtitles
Just a bit of information on the blu-ray release: The english subtitles are forced.
Otherwise it's a nice and sharp release of the film, that is recommended for anyone... Read more
Otherwise it's a nice and sharp release of the film, that is recommended for anyone... Read more
Published 3 hours ago by Meretseger
Implausible guff...
Looks nice - slightly disturbing and out there, seems intriguing for a while, has a stunning leading lady to keep us from pressing the eject button, we wait and wait for the plot... Read more
Published 1 month ago by ChrisG
BASURA TOTAL; TOTAL RUBBISH
What happened to Almodovar. I loved every film he made but this one is lamentable. He lost the plot; there is no story and is a mixture of unconnected themes. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Perthi
Movie Review
If you like Pedro Almodavar movies you will enjoy this. The ending is perfect and brings all the story together.
Published 2 months ago by Geoff
Not for everyone!
Ok, so it's been 24 hours since I watched this movie and it is still in my head.
One of the big things that excites me about a film is the user reviews by some (very)... Read more
One of the big things that excites me about a film is the user reviews by some (very)... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. D. Williams
A surreal, slightly disturbing and immensely captivating masterpiece.
In true Euro' cinema fashion, "The Skin I Live In" delivers a superb and riveting tale of good ol' fashioned bitterness, revenge, unexpected love and large helping of "just plain... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nathaniel Browne
A Tale of Revenge
All of Almodovar's films have an interesting take on sexuality and identity, and tend to subvert them in interesting and inventive ways. Read more
Published 2 months ago by David
A unique treat.
Almodovar's latest film,featuring an extreme act of revenge, gains from repeated viewings. Initially it appears to be a mystery thriller which the viewer has to unravel. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr. P. W. Jones
one of the best films I've seen in a long time
Film reviews will always vary from one person to another, and what one thinks is cinematic brilliance another will see as boring tosh. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dale N. Kenworthy
almodovar :D
I love this film, it is excellently acted, an original story, well directed and produced. Funny, disturbing and entertaining to say the least.
Would highly recommend.
Would highly recommend.
Published 3 months ago by S. Mcfarlane
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