The Skin I Live In Released 26 August 2011 Director Pedro Almodóvar Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya Writer(s) Pedro Almodóvar Producer(s) Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar Origin Spain Running Time 118 minutes Genre Drama Rating 16

79

Spanish Hitchcock.

It is hard to believe but it’s been twenty-one years since Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas have worked together. Their careers were seemingly intertwined in the early ‘80s as Almodóvar gave Banderas his film debut in Labyrinth of Passion. Further appearances in Almodóvar’s Matador and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown increased his profile but it was his performance in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! that really brought him international acclaim.

So it was off to Hollywood for Banderas where he built himself quite a solid and varied career from appearing in action movies like Desperado and The Mask of Zorro to providing the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek films. In the meantime, Almodóvar kept working in Spain and established himself as one of the highest regarded international directors around with critically acclaimed hits including All About My Mother, Talk to Her and Volver.

They are finally reunited here for a film based on the novel Tarantula by Thierry Jonquet. Banderas plays Robert, a brilliant plastic surgeon who is working on a revolutionary artificial skin. His methods draw scrutiny from the scientific community though. Unknown to them, his test subject is Vera (Elena Anaya) a woman kept locked in a room in his home, where Robert’s servant Marilia (Marisa Paredes) is the only other person she has contact with.

Then Marilia’s son Zeca cons his way into the house.  It turns out he’s a violent criminal on the run. Seeing Vera on a surveillance camera, he breaks into her room and rapes her. Robert comes home to find them and shoots Zeca dead. In the aftermath Marilia tells Vera the sad story of Robert’s wife and daughter who both committed suicide.

In case you think that’s revealing too much of the plot, that’s actually just the opening act. The film then goes into flashback mode as it goes back through the events that led to the current situation. There are quite a few twists along the way and Almodóvar’s recurring themes of obsession and sexual identity crop up. It almost feels like a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic psychological thrillers with its set design, dramatic score and red herrings in the plot.

Banderas gives his best performance in years as the doctor, who despite feeling justified in his actions, is actually a monster. Elena Anaya is also excellent as Vera and Marisa Paredes gives the usual solid support as Marilia.

As with most Almodóvar films, there’s a lot going on and sometimes it threatens to overwhelm the story. However he just about holds it together to produce a very memorable film. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another two decades before he and Banderas collaborate again.

- Jim O’Connor