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The Reflecting Skin (1990) r
The Reflecting Skin is a dark story about a young boy, Seth, in rural USA during the 50's. It's bleak and cruel journey through childhood that has very little joy to offer. Even the long awaited return of his brother from the army turns sour as he fall in love with an English widow, who Seth believes to be a vampire, living nearby.
Cinematography is absolutely beautiful with rich and colorful shots often with high contrast mix of light and dark colors. Fields, dusty roads and crumbling farms offer fitting setting for the tragic story. Also, unlike many films focusing on the visuals, The Reflecting Skin does not prolong its shots for no reason but retains fluent pacing with its story.
Script is mostly fine. There are things that don't seem logical but most likely they weren't meant to be. Seth's view of the world is distorted and that same warped world is offered to viewer as well. Acting is the weakest part of the film. Viggo Mortensen was really wooden as Seth's brother. Lindsay Duncan as the English Widow was probably the best actor. Jeremy Cooper as Seth was OK but the scenes with other children seemed really forced at times.
I loved the visuals and ruthlessness of the story. Ending is great and definitely different from the norm. Mediocre acting and some small issues with the script lower the rating but good movie none the less. It reminded me somewhat of Poison for the Fairies which isn't visually as stunning but has better acting and slightly better script.
Recommended movies: Poison for the Fairies (1984), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), I Kill Giants (2017)
The Reflecting Skin is a dark story about a young boy, Seth, in rural USA during the 50's. It's bleak and cruel journey through childhood that has very little joy to offer. Even the long awaited return of his brother from the army turns sour as he fall in love with an English widow, who Seth believes to be a vampire, living nearby.
Cinematography is absolutely beautiful with rich and colorful shots often with high contrast mix of light and dark colors. Fields, dusty roads and crumbling farms offer fitting setting for the tragic story. Also, unlike many films focusing on the visuals, The Reflecting Skin does not prolong its shots for no reason but retains fluent pacing with its story.
Script is mostly fine. There are things that don't seem logical but most likely they weren't meant to be. Seth's view of the world is distorted and that same warped world is offered to viewer as well. Acting is the weakest part of the film. Viggo Mortensen was really wooden as Seth's brother. Lindsay Duncan as the English Widow was probably the best actor. Jeremy Cooper as Seth was OK but the scenes with other children seemed really forced at times.
I loved the visuals and ruthlessness of the story. Ending is great and definitely different from the norm. Mediocre acting and some small issues with the script lower the rating but good movie none the less. It reminded me somewhat of Poison for the Fairies which isn't visually as stunning but has better acting and slightly better script.
Recommended movies: Poison for the Fairies (1984), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), I Kill Giants (2017)