← Back to Reviews
in
The Skin I Live In
Director/screenwriter Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother) has given the cinematic concept of the mad scientist a bold and bone-chilling re-imagining in a frightening and claustrophobic thriller called The Skin I Live In which appears initially as two diffrerent stories that eventually morph into one ugly story that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
The 2011 film stars Antonia Banderas as Dr. Robert Ledgard, a widowed plastic surgeon with a mentally ill teenage daughter who is working to develop a new kind of skin that can withstand any kind of punishment and has a young woman captive in the basement of his home who has become his personal guinea pig for this skin that also has transgenic qualities that medical authorities have forbidden Dr. Ledgard to continue working on. The story then flashes back to a traumatic incident revolving around Ledgard's daughter lead to the doctor's revenge in his daughter's name and what he's doing now.
Almodovar initially bamboozles the viewer with this story of a scientist who is obsessed with a medical advancement that is so unprecedented that it has the entire medical community terrified, but we are completely thrown when it comes to light that Dr. Ledgard's work is much more personal and has very little to do with medical notoriety. We learn that this work goes all the way back to the death of his wife, who was burned in a tragic accident and how the futility of his work to save her led to a much more deadly obsession that is difficult to get into here without spoilers.
Almodovar's direction is alternately delicate and atmospheric, creating an almost other-worldly atmosphere for what's happening here. He has created a central character who actually recalls Dr. Frankenstein in his determination, coupled with his obsession and how he will let nothing get in his way.
Antonio Banderas turns in the performance of his career as Dr. Ledgard, a performance that easily trumps last year's Pain and Glory, which earned him his first Oscar nomination. This performance should have gotten him that honor. There is also strong work from Marisa Peredes as his mother and Elena Anaya as the tortured Vera. Outstanding art direction and music are the finishing touches on this one-of-a-kind cinematic journey. Fans of the 2019 Best Picture winner Parasite will definitely have a head start here.
Director/screenwriter Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother) has given the cinematic concept of the mad scientist a bold and bone-chilling re-imagining in a frightening and claustrophobic thriller called The Skin I Live In which appears initially as two diffrerent stories that eventually morph into one ugly story that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
The 2011 film stars Antonia Banderas as Dr. Robert Ledgard, a widowed plastic surgeon with a mentally ill teenage daughter who is working to develop a new kind of skin that can withstand any kind of punishment and has a young woman captive in the basement of his home who has become his personal guinea pig for this skin that also has transgenic qualities that medical authorities have forbidden Dr. Ledgard to continue working on. The story then flashes back to a traumatic incident revolving around Ledgard's daughter lead to the doctor's revenge in his daughter's name and what he's doing now.
Almodovar initially bamboozles the viewer with this story of a scientist who is obsessed with a medical advancement that is so unprecedented that it has the entire medical community terrified, but we are completely thrown when it comes to light that Dr. Ledgard's work is much more personal and has very little to do with medical notoriety. We learn that this work goes all the way back to the death of his wife, who was burned in a tragic accident and how the futility of his work to save her led to a much more deadly obsession that is difficult to get into here without spoilers.
Almodovar's direction is alternately delicate and atmospheric, creating an almost other-worldly atmosphere for what's happening here. He has created a central character who actually recalls Dr. Frankenstein in his determination, coupled with his obsession and how he will let nothing get in his way.
Antonio Banderas turns in the performance of his career as Dr. Ledgard, a performance that easily trumps last year's Pain and Glory, which earned him his first Oscar nomination. This performance should have gotten him that honor. There is also strong work from Marisa Peredes as his mother and Elena Anaya as the tortured Vera. Outstanding art direction and music are the finishing touches on this one-of-a-kind cinematic journey. Fans of the 2019 Best Picture winner Parasite will definitely have a head start here.