“The Skin I Live In” (2011)
People are likely to chide “The Skin I Live In” (adapted from the Thierry Jonquet novel “Tarantula”) for not having the humanity of Almodóvar‘s previous few films. And, truthfully, it does lack the tenderness of “Broken Embraces” and luminous warmth of “Volver” (it even falls short of emotional knottiness of “Bad Education”). But honestly – who fucking cares? “The Skin I Live In” is the most electrically alive Almodóvar film in ages, a balls-to-the-walls high camp thriller about a deranged plastic surgeon (Antonio Banderas, for the first time in two decades) who is keeping a very comely captive in the form of Vera (Elena Anaya). Almodóvar, who has never shied away from narrative complexity, folds the narrative back on itself, stretching it apart like warm taffy, letting the multiple mysteries slowly reveal themselves. There are some that will be turned off by the film’s truly outré plot twists and somewhat hammy double entendres. It’s great to see Banderas back with Almodóvar and if Penélope Cruz is too busy doing “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies from the next few years, we at least know he’s got an ace leading lady in magnetic Anaya. [A]
Not To Forget: Eagle-eyed Almodóvar watchers will have spotted that there are a couple of gaps in this list; namely, his second and third pictures, which for a variety of reasons we weren’t able to check out before deadline. 1982’s “Labyrinth of Passion” isn’t, at present, available on Region 1 DVD and as a manic, Billy Wilder-influenced comedy about the affair between a pop star and a gay Middle-Eastern prince, it’s not terribly hard to see why. The film wasn’t one of his best-received by any means, but we’d certainly like to check it out at some point.
Meanwhile, 1983’s “Dark Habits” is like a bonkers “Black Narcissus,” following a cabaret singer hiding out with a group of fallen nuns. It was the director’s first brush with real controversy — it was turned down by Cannes, and kept out of the official selection at Venice thanks to apparently blasphemous content, which really only makes us want to see it more…
