The Skin I Live In

Pedro Almodóvar is, as they say, the preeminent director in Spain, and he has a large international following. I haven’t seen many of his films, but of those I have seen, I’ve been intrigued. He’s made films in both Spanish and English, and some of them have enjoyed success on this side of the Atlantic, such as Volver and Broken Embraces. I think I’ll put more of his films on my “to see” list.

What he gives us here is no less than a mad scientist. Antonio Banderas is a filthy rich doctor whose wife burned to death in a car crash some years ago. Since then he’s been obsessed with developing a new type of artificial skin. But there’s much more going on. Who is that lovely woman imprisoned on the second floor of his palatial estate? Why does he seem to be rebuilding her, putting new patches of skin on her? Was she horribly burned? The story bounces back and forth over time, and we see his only daughter being driven mad by a rape, and killing herself. We see the good doctor kidnap the rapist, and then employ a truly astonishing form of vengeance, to the point where you begin to actually feel sorry for the bastard, something I didn’t think was possible. But … I can’t tell you more without issuing a spoiler warning, and I don’t want to, because it was such a revelation.

There is a great amount of nudity and sex, some of it brutal. Be warned. Other than that, it is a beautiful movie to behold, full of brilliant colors and white light. It’s a movie I will be thinking about for a long time.