I am quite embarrassed to admit that I have only seen Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In a few weeks ago. The reviews I've read from were very positive, so I thought I'd give it a try. Since my viewing, I haven't talked about it to anyone, or even written about it anywhere, because, well, it's such a hard film to swallow, much less stomach. The plot is difficult to summarize, because, there are so many twists in this film that it would be hard to tell anyone what it's about without accidentally revealing the whole film. One can explain it very sparsely - an enigmatic surgeon and a female captive. One can explain it even more through its themes - identity, obsession, power, destructive relationships. One can even explain the whole film by simply describing it as "a very, very twisted version of a Hitchcock movie."
It is a horror film disturbing in the psychology of its characters rather than in the violence it portrays, which is also quite gruesome. And while the film is not for everyone - Almodovar's films are a sort of acquired taste, you either love them wholeheartedly or vehemently despise them - it is tough to argue against the fact the Almodovar and company have created a film that, although it borrows from films before it, crawls into the viewer's head and stays there. I was drained the first time I watched it, but maybe I'll be adventurous and watch it for a second or third time. Whatever the case, I feel this is a great film, one that deserves all the acclaim and recognition its gotten, and one that also deserves all the hate its been given too.
