"The things the love of a mad man can do." Marilla
☆☆☆☆☆ Masterpiece
La Piel Que Habito - The Skin I Live In (2011) is mad, bad and dangerous.
Directed by Pedro Almodovar.
Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paderes among others.
I had not read or seen anything about Pedros' film, before viewing it. About half way through the film I had an OMG! moment of what Pedro was up to. I spent the rest of the film marveling at his creation.
Almodovar based his film on Thierry Jonquet's French Novel, Mygale. It took 10 years for Pedro to conceive the story. Almodovar was attracted to the magnitude of the vendetta of the main character. Pedro calls it a horror film without the screams or frights. Pedro keeps Antonio's monstrous secret hidden for much of the film. Ben Wheatley's, Kill List (2011), like Pedro, gradually reveals its story by manipulating its audience. Both film makers add layers of psychological drama so that when their secrets are revealed to the audience it has a greater impact.
The cast is superb all around. Marisa is funny, endearing and wierd. She has the energy to invigorate any and all scenes she is in. Elena under plays her character to keep Pedro's secret. Anayas eyes are so expressive through the mask she wears throughout most of the film. Antonio is reaching Cary Grant territory with his suave, but dark character, who keeps everyone emotionally at arms length. Banderas is clinically bone chilling in his performance. If ever an actor could fill the shoes of Cary Grant's in, An Affair To Remember (1957) it would be Banderas. In the scene below note the anger inside Antonio's calm exterior.
