The Skin I Live In (Spanish: La piel que habito) is a 2011 Spanish psychological thriller film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It is based on Thierry Jonquet’s novel Mygale, first published in French and then in English under the title Tarantula.
Almodóvar has described the film as “a horror story without screams or frights”. The film was the first collaboration in 21 years between the distinctive director and actor Antonio Banderas.
The movie stars Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, and Roberto Álamo.
Plot:
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Doctor Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her.
After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig…
Reviews:
“It’s the loopiest movie the esteemed director has made to date, and quite possibly the chilliest. I imagine some will shake their heads in bewilderment at some of the plot developments which occur in the film’s second half, but the level of fearless ambition on display is kind of intoxicating.” DVD Verdict
At once tender and savage, reticent in its gore but ferocious in its psychology, this takes Almodóvar into the macabre operating theatre usually thought the province of David Cronenberg but perhaps also home to the most disreputable auteur ever to come out of Spain, Jesus Franco (specifically his Doctor Orloff series).” Empire
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