Strangeness & Charm
Noting the strange and charming things in life through wrting, photos, and music.
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Movie Critique: The Skin We Live In. MAJOR SPOILERS
In this mind-binding thriller, Antonio Banderas portrays a renowned plastic surgeon in Spain. After his wife burns to death in a fatal car crash, Banderas seeks to re-engineer the human skin to perfection: impossible to burn. In the meantime, he also wants revenge for his daughter’s rape, which leads her to the psychiatric hospital until she throws herself out a window in her own despair. In short, Banderas finds the boy (Vincent) who rapped his daughter, gives Vincent a complete sex change for punishment, and tests the new skin created on him.
I cannot decide whether I enjoyed this movie or not. The plot is complex and twisted, which is what usually appeals to me in a movie. It is not until the last thirty minutes that everything finally comes together. Its the type of movie where you feel like you are inside the movie until the person next to you just can’t take the suspense and leaves the theater, while pulling you out of your trace while they wake in front of you. Some aspects of the movie, however, lean towards science fiction or futuristic ideals , which becomes annoying in a plot that is present day. Banderas made Vincent look identical to his diseased wife from the sound of her voice to the size of her hands. Completely turning a mans body to look like a females is not only impossible, but it would take much longer that a few years to get in done. But who knows, his medical genius which allows him to create mystical skin may also give him the right to switch actors and fool everyone into believing its the same person.
Therefore, if this movie really is science fiction, then it is safe to believe that everyone in the future will be ultra-dramatic. It becomes very reasonable to question Banderas motive for giving Vincent the unwanted sex change. First, it is obvious that Banderas is a belligerent, crazy madman who does not have a strong grasp on reality. For instance, from what is shown, his daughter is not raped, but she voluntarily goes with Vincent, and was too high to remember what actually happened when she woke up the next morning. The daughter also has psychological issues from the beginning. What type of sixteen-year-old girl loses her sanity from making out with a cute boy in the forest? Or maybe it because of all the pills she popped before hand. This is hard, just thinking about all the unrealistic drama makes me want to go crazy, even though I was laughing at it while I was watching the movie.
Besides the lunatics, however, the movie deserves a good rating for its originality. Who would have guessed that any man is capably of falling in love with his daughter’s ‘rapist,’ even is that man is a crazy as Banderas? Totally unpredictable. So I praise this movie for giving me an interesting two hours, but it still does not make my favorite movie list.
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A Strange Sighting
This is real.
From September to March, the sky fills the town with its depression. A blanket of gray, looming clouds stretches as far as any eye can see, always on the brink of some type of precipitation. Today is no exception. I think its noon, but its hard to tell with no visible sun to gage to time, and no lunchtime traffic present on the road. Wait… what road? The unpaved trail behind me that rolls softly into nowhere can barely be considered a road by any standard. My vision in front of me remains empty, besides a large wheat field and one small farm house with a thin line of smoke pushing its way out of the chimney. People still use wood burning fireplaces in 2011? Maybe the cracking of the fire reminds the residents of the home that its almost Christmas.
Lost in my thoughts, I look towards the gray sky and notice a slight change in color. Its turing purple; the wind whips harshly around me, almost forcing me to the ground.
How long have I been standing here?
In the distance, a funnel is forming from the clouds that resemble something quite deadly. The whole earth seems to tremble. A dog howls somewhere far away, sensing the storm. As promised, the clouds finally release the pinned up water. The rain turns to ice before it falls on the wheat. I’m drenched still. I smile. The beauty of nature overwhelms me.
Click-clack click-clack. Behind me, from the road, a pony approaches me; whining and bucking. His black coat and dark eyes make me shiver, but he looks like he would make a charming and valiant warhorse. He seems terrified of the ever-present storm. ”Hold it, boy!” I call out to the horse, “What is there to be afraid of?”
“I fear the storm. Only the foolish stare dumbfounded at the dangers of nature,” the horse replies.
“Ah! but fear leads to cowardliness, and cowards always perish.”
“That may be true in a battle, but the only way to defeat a storm is to outrun it! If I were as large a horse as my father I would carry you on my back. But alas! I am just a pony. I must leave you to fight for yourself.”
So the pony runs. To my surprise, however, he runs towards the storm, and is caught up in the funnel. This seems strange to me. I laugh and sit down in the field.
Then, I woke up.
