'The Skin I Live In'

'The Skin I Live In' (R) (3 STARS)

Written By Pedro Almodovar based on the novel "Tarantula"
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Jan Cornet, Marisa Paredes

"The Skin I Live In" is pure Almodovar even if it seems in the beginning that it is a departure. The movie sets up it's story and we are not sure where it is going. It gets a little frustrating at first because we are not sure what Almodovar's point is. I know it is an homage to classic creepy horror movies like George Franju's 1960 film "Eyes Without A Face". I also see a little Douglas Sirk type melodrama there. Though as the film settles and we are done watching we get what we figured we would, a classic Almodovar type movie.

Almodovar reunites with one of his early career mainstays in Antonio Banderas. Almodovar and Banderas collaborated on a lot of movies in the 80's and as early as "Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". They have not worked together since 1990 when they worked on one of Almodovar's weakest movies "Tie Me Up Tie Me Down". I am happy to say "The Skin I Live In" is a better movie then their last one together. Banderas plays a plastic surgeon who has developed a skin that can't burn. He is researching it, he says, for advancements in helping burn victims. There are of course more sinister reasons he is developing that skin. He has a subject who is his guinea pig, a beautiful woman named Vera Cruz.

The movie starts out introducing this plot and it is a good set up. I then felt Almodovar was losing a little control when in the middle he introduces characters like his daughter and another young man his daughter winds up with. I still was compelled by the movie because it is a beautiful movie to look at. I love the location of the house they use and I love the dark tones of the photography. Antonio Banderas has given one of his best dramatic performances in a long time that doesn't involve a cartoon cat. He always underplays what could have become a silly mad doctor type of performance and that makes him scarier and more sinister.

This is not one of Almodovar's best movies and sometimes it seems like an exercise in homage. He definitely knows where to place his camera and how to make his movie look effective still but I was worried where he was going with the story. By the end though I had a big smile on my face because by the end I was satisfied with how all the loose ends of the story were taken care of. The last half hour is very effective and compelling and by the end I knew I had seen a classic Almodovar type soap opera that is a good one if not one of his best.

I love how creepy and sinister the movie is and besides liking Banderas a lot I also liked the performance by the beautiful Elena Anaya as Vera. This is a slight departure for Almodovar in style with the same attention to detail as Almodovar usually has. I like how Almodovar is influenced by many genres of films and filmmakers. In the future I can see another young filmmaker that will make an Almodovar type homage and he will have big shoes to fill.