Queer Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar‘s latest flick is a mad-scientist thriller called La Piel Que Habito (a.k.a. The Skin I Live In). Now open in New York and L.A.—with more cities to come—it gives filmgoers a rollicking good two hours of total disturbance.
The film is adapted from Thierry Jonquet‘s 2003 novel Mygale (Tarantula), about an off-the-hinges plastic surgeon (early Almodovar discovery Antonio Banderas) who develops a synthetic super-skin for a woman he’s kidnapped. Why? Well, that’s where the subplots come in and, not to get too spoilery, it involves a gruesome revenge fantasy for the rape of his daughter.
Think Eyes Without A Face meets Irma Vep meets Dead Ringers, Frankenstein and The Human Centipede, as directed by a gay, Technicolor-obsessed Douglas Sirk.
Adonis-of-Fire
I love Almodovar, he is a genius and I am sure this will be another great movie
Lefty
Oh god, it looks like the slide into tedious overblown pretentious crap continues.
Shame, as All About My Mother is one of the most beautiful, funny and moving films I’ve ever seen. Several of his films are, in fact.
Hope he gets his “mojo” back soon…
Eminent Victorian
Viva Pedro!
Eminent Victorian
No Viva Lefty!
Ian
Ahh… Banderas es muy guapo! Love Almodovar.
Spike
Cool beans !
Pedro
I will translate for the monolinguists out there: There are people obsessed with other people…People that are born unlucky(with bad luck)…and there are those that cause/make mankind to evolve…People that abuse their power…People that were born to fight…People that live in a violent world…And there are people born to survive/there are born survivors. The skin I inhabit/I live in.
I usually like Almadovar, but this really does look like crap. I’ll still watch it though!
guy from greece
Speaking of european gay directors, Michael Cacoyannis, legendary greek film-maker of “Zorba” has passed away
http://gaynewsfromgreece.blogspot.com/2011/07/michael-cacoyannis-legendary-greek-film.html
Lefty
God what an absolute cunt I was in that previous comment.
What I MEANT to say was – if I had a little more class :p – Pedro is one of the greatest directors ever; as great as any – and he’s made some of my favourite films, and one or two of the most beautiful and moving I’ve ever seen. But his most recent films aren’t so much to my taste, but I’ll still go and see this and probably enjoy it. All his films are better than the vast majority of crap that’s out there and I doubt this will be an exception.
Viva Pedro! xxx
Lefty
Also, what a sad, depressing world it would be without Pedro Almodovar films to watch and look forward to. 🙂
Lefty
Anyone who hasn’t seen All About My Mother, go and watch it asap!
Okay, I’ll go away now…
pioneer to the falls
the other trailer is awesome
Alan Brickman
Isabelle Huppert should work with Pedro!
AVEx
Yay Im watching this tonight !!
Cinesnatch
Saw it. It was good. Great twist in the middle.