-Stephen Holden, THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Riveting. Chilling. Draws from the body horror of David Cronenberg and the feminine paranoia of Roman Polanski's REPULSION."
-Scott Tobias, THE ONION
"A body horror tour-de-force. Witty. Beautiful, Terrifying."
-Dennis Lim, VILLAGE VOICE
"A gorgeous, uncommonly assured and provocative debut unsettling. Arresting."
-Mike D'Angelo, TIME OUT NEW YORK
IN MY SKIN ranks as one of the most powerful directorial debuts in recent years. Previously the cypher Tatiana of REGARDE LA MER, Marina De Van, director and star of IN MY SKIN, delves deep into the mind of Esther, a corporate analyst. After suffering a deep gash to her leg during an accident, Esther becomes fascinated with her own skin. What begins as caresses, tugs, and pinches soon unravels into cuts, slices, and ruptures. Esther transgresses her own skin and begins to experiment with self-cannibalism and auto-eroticism. Despite its graphic and sometimes disgusting imagery, IN MY SKIN is a fascinating film that has a quiet beauty and touches on the connection between transgression and transcendence.
Suggested Supplemental Screenings: REPULSION (Roman Polanski, 1965), CRASH (David Cronenberg, 1996), and MARTYRS (Pascal Laugier, 2008)
I did not like the film overall. The final half of the film there is pretty much no narrative, which was really frustrating. The self mutilation scenes were really grotesque and made me cringe, which was actually very good on De Van's part. She seemed to have every thing going on for her in life, with her seemingly loving boyfriend wanting to move in with her, getting a new promotion, etc. This left me questioning her motives for cutting herself. She reaches out for help when she tells her friend that she cut herself, but then she kind of back peddles and doesn't really want to talk about it. I thought it was strange how she didn't want to discuss it with her boyfriend who seemed genuinely concerned about her. The film in its entirety is just strange. She obviously devoted a lot of time to developing her character, and preparing for her role and such, but I feel the lack of narrative is creative and interesting in some ways, but it is just not entertaining in any way. It doesn't really give you much to think about, unless you used to be a cutter. Otherwise, it was just an uncomfortable 90 minutes. The sound was incredible. The crunching when she was biting her skin almost made me leave the theater. I really wanted to know more about her reasons for cutting herself, or more about her past.
ReplyDeleteI thought the movie left much to be desired in terms of a plot. There was obviously a story in the escalation of the intensity of Esther's self-mutilation, but with the focus being so much on that, everything else--scenes of her interactions at work, her "friendship" (frienemyship), her romance--seemed gratuitous. They did not provide a reason for Esther's behavior, and in fact they only brought up more questions. There was not enough in Esther's life to make her seek the materialization of any internal pain--or was there? Certainly some things were less than perfect: her job was boring, perhaps stressful to her, and despite her physical connection with her boyfriend she seemed to lack a real confidante (moreover, she was in denial of her refusal to connect with him in a non-carnal way). Had the character a more rounded life, her complete fascination and desire of self-discovery would have been a more convincing reason.
ReplyDeleteFucking gross. (Pardon the French, pun intended) With all the cutting in the movie I was really hoping there would be a gun and it could be used on her.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning was fine, I liked her use of side by side images in the opening credit, however using split screen in the movie I find more juvenile than artistic. This is a great example of discussing form vs. content because from the dinner scene on, there was nothing of the content I cared to explore any further. But her camera movement was interesting, moving around the scene showing us certain things until it found its subject. She succeeded in disturbing and questioning the fragmented body and self mutilation, but once she started gnawing away at her arm and preserving her skin, the grotesqueness overtook the intrigue for me. The dinner scene at first seemed cool with what she was thinking about and what was reality but then it went into her actually cutting her arm. Also, I think she reached out to her friend way too soon, I felt that would be something she'd either do after she realized she wanted help or a while into it after she was comfortable with it. But I didn't believe she would be so casual after her first experimenting.
In My Skin
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I do not even know how I am supposed to react to this movie. I think the entire time I was waiting for something really horrible to happen, and do not get me wrong it freaked me out and I am glad that I got some warning because I probably would have freaked out even more if I did not have warning but I think I would have been a little less tense then I was through out. Also the weird thing about my reactions during the film was that I could not stop laughing. I do not know if it was because I was trying to make myself feel better with an uncomfortable laugh or if I just thought f it as so obscene that is was funny, but I literally could not stop laughing every time there was even a shot of a knife. Like when she is in the grocery and she has all of these things, but then she has a knife I was just like oh my God and started to crack up. I know that now everyone in the class is going to think I am the weirdest person and it is not even as if I thought it was funny I just had laugh. I had to have my friend watch it with me, because I was too scared to watch it by myself I thought I would turn it off right away and she had the same reaction in the most uncomfortable scenes she would begin to laugh.
One thing that I really about the film was the make-up we talked a bit about it in class, but they did an amazing job perfecting even the infected look, and I know how hard that can be to achieve because I worked in the art department on a horror film and setting up gashes took a lot of time and money and it did not even come out to half as good as this films special effects did. I do not know how they did the skin stretching in the tub, but I do know that she spent a lot of time preparing for this film so maybe she lost a bunch of weight and her skin was stretched but it was a grossly awesome look.
I absolutely hated the way that it ended though I mean just her standing still I do not know if she was dead or she was just so intense that she was completely concentrated on one thing but it did not offer any solutions to the problems that she faced through out the film. It literally is just her sitting in a bed I do not know what I am suppose to take away from the film other then people like to control their body in the only way they know how weather it is exercise, diet, or the extreme of cutting. It is the same with anorexia people think that not eating gives them control over their life. That maybe they let the control slip away and this is the only way they know how to get it back, and I feel like she had some of that control taken away and wanted to gain it back and this felt right to her. But then at the same time she had just gotten a promotion at her job, and her love life seemed great, so I do not really understand why she felt out of control so maybe that is not the reason for her cutting.
I felt very short-changed with this movie. I probably have high blood pressure as a result of it now, and there wasn’t even a decent pay off. Had any sort of motive been explained I probably wouldn’t have felt so unnerved by it all. I was this close to throwing up, so that was pretty awesome. This might go down as the most painful viewing experience I’ve ever had. I was rattling with a headache all day that refused to go away, so while she was up on screen destroying herself and swimming in glorious ‘pleasurable’ pain, I was in actual pain. Overall, it was a very joyous viewing experience; one that followed me into my dreams later that night, prompting me to wake up in jump and elbow my boyfriend in the rib.
ReplyDeleteAll ranting aside, it was actually a very interestingly shot film. That dinner scene with the detached arm is fantastically done. That was one moment where the film seemed to be really trying to say something about the human body and self-ownership. Not entirely sure what that message was but I’m sure it makes sense. Still, despite the decent filmmaking and the brilliant use of sound, I couldn’t get past the complete fail at the end. That final shot was aggravating at best. Which reminds me; how did this girl not faint and wind herself up in hospital at any point in time? That logic problem really bothered me. Surely she had serious blood loss by the end of the movie. This movie really aggravated me, on many different levels. It just seemed like there was no rhyme or reason. It was vaguely a commentary on a taboo matter that didn’t really go anywhere. Oh well.
Overall I liked the film. I really liked the cinematography as it was really well presented. The framing of the shots and camera movement here highlights for me. The tone of the film was engaging, however gruesome at points. The violence could have been more revealing if that was the intent but it was mainly off screen which I think is better as it leaves it up to your imagination. Ther performance of the main actor was amazing and for me, enjoyable to watch. I think this film is dealing with some good ideas which I haven't really explored before. The taboo of the content really belnds with its form and expresses pain in a way which is confronting and makes the audience think about it in an analytical way.
ReplyDeleteSo after a week I can finally begin to talk about In My Skin. I can I start by saying: gross . I know that was not going to be the worst film we watched in terms of gore, but it still prevented me from shaving my legs that night.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this is the first time I have noticed the sound in any of the films. I quickly discovered that turning away from the mutilation scenes was more disturbing than actually watching them. I continued this trend when my group watched Inside. It is amazing how much of a difference sound in a film makes. In My Skin rarely shows the actual violence or cutting of flesh, but with the look on her face and sound of the blood and tissue (especially in the tanned skin in bra incident) is more haunting and traumatizing than any other film I have ever seen.
I have always believed that directors should not act in their own films because they so rarely turn out well. De Van’s directorial debut is both seductive and terrifying. She has proven that the passion and dedication a director has for their film can be translated into their own performance. I do not think this film could have had such an impact and strength if any other actress had played the part.
The only issue I had with the film was the ending. There was no definite conclusion or resolution. She goes to work the next morning still covered in blood? Personally, if I was her coworker I would be very concerned for her. I wish there had been a better narrative ending to the film; it lacked the solid resolution my mind craved. I wonder if she got it out of her system or if she has continued to cut herself. I wonder if her relationship and work have been destroyed due to her self-mutilation. And most importantly, I wonder why she did it in the first place.
I can definitely understand why some people would say that In My Skin left them feeling “short-changed.” Although characters and a setting are introduced at the beginning of the movie, there really does not seem to be any sort of plot driving the story forward and there is certainly no resolution at the end. However, I felt that this movie’s purpose wasn’t necessarily to entertain or even explain. This movie, in my opinion, was meant to show the circumstance of a woman who is struggling to find an identity, to be in possession of her own life. In a sense, the fact that there really was no plot made it feel more real because truthfully, in reality things don’t always happen for a clear cut reason and often times people never find resolution to their problems.
ReplyDeleteI did like the way this movie was filmed. The scene in the restaurant where her detached arm is on the table was really excellent. I also really like how they handled the cutting scenes. I’m beginning to realize that when it comes to shocking visuals in movies, the best thing to do is to not show it (at least not all the way.) By forcing these gruesome images to be mental constructs of the audience, we automatically create the worst possible scenario perfectly tailored to our own fears. Having said that, they did a real good job with the sound of the cutting because those noises were just absolutely gut wrenching. The best part of this film, in my opinion, was watching everyone else’s reactions to the cutting scenes.
Marina De Van's an intrepid individual to make a feature film on this subject matter. I've heard about self-mutilation only in whispers through television, or in the more rare real-life acquaintance. To the self-mutilation novice, Esther's case seems like an extreme. When she lays on the floor of her hotel room and nibbles on her arm and leg, her face is soon awash in blood. The violent red mingles with her cadaverous complexion, evoking imagery commonly associated with a vampire. A little extreme, one would think, but who knows? Maybe this is commonplace for those who experience it as reality. This is the kind of stuff usually kept between John Doe and his psychiatrist, however, so De Van has pockets full of courage to throw it onto the screen.
ReplyDeleteThis has been the closest I've gotten to facing the abject in this class. I've been able to face what's been put before me without--for the most part--having to divert my eyes from the subject matter. But this was tough. There have been a few periods in my life when I had to go under the knife for surgery, stitches, etc. Though I didn't have problems with the pain, I certainly did not like to look at the aftermath, a sentiment not shared by Esther. There's also a certain kind of stinging pain that comes with agitating (not to mention chewing on)an unhealed wound that's unpleasant to even think about. What can be worse is the sound. The crunch of skin being damaged or removed, for example--those sounds were almost as unbearable as the imagery. I wonder now what forms this aspect of the abject will take, and if I'll reach a threshold of tolerance (which hasn't happened yet).
From the first scene where she threw herself on a pile of metal, I was entranced and fascinated by her apparent intent to injure herself for pleasure. More precisely, she had been previously desensitized to her nerves, therefore the contact with her inner flesh enlivened her spirits. The blood gives her a rush, as if she recycles her energy through self-consumption. Seems like such a primal animal instinct to treat our own wounds. Keeping the fluids in house I suppose. I like to be scratched and hit hard, but not the extent of serious blood loss (which is another factor that might give her a rush.). Who knows, if I become numb like de Van one day, I might want to slice open my thighs. I will not condone her behavior, but I can appreciate its genuine source. She knows herself, she knows what pleases her, yet the two closest people in her life claim to know she could never intentionally inflict pain upon herself. Wake up. Acceptance? It's her body. People commit suicide, sadly. De Van in this film kills herself slowly, which is a very rich taste of living. I don't wish to bust her chops.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Ozon’s “Regarde La Mer,” I really feel that it’ll take a lot for another film to effect me in such a way. I had heard several things about De Van’s film for a while now, and I really wanted to pick up on what connects this film with something like the work of Haneke or Noe. I really do feel that with this film, and even “Regarde La Mer,” we’re really starting to see if we can draw a line that separates these pictures from genre films.
ReplyDeleteI thought the film worked best as a violent metaphor for an individual’s desire to reconnect with oneself. However, there were instances in the film were I was drawn to believe that the whole act may be symbolically evoking the experiences of a girl, facing physical maturity, becoming a woman – and how society reacts to the change. There seems to be this lack of acceptance and constant fear over what is happening to Esther – something I believe she sees more purely or more innocently. Throughout the film, Esther really seems isolated from the people and places that surround her. I would even like to believe that Esther is distant from herself, but the camera work is so focused on her – often times isolating her as well or rather noting the isolation around her – that a seemingly collisionary relationship begins between Esther and the audience. A strong sense of ambiguity arises; we are unable to completely understand her but can empathize with her struggle. Perhaps this is because De Van makes it a point to see how the outside environment interacts with her. As the film progresses, it seems she finds less and less understanding from the outside and draws deeper and deeper into the internal.
Watching Marina de Van's IN MY SKIN, I couldn't help but be reminded of the philosophical realm. Specifically, the search for the "being called I" for an individual's true essence and core. The film makes very little attempt to explain and express why Esther begins self-mutilating herself, or why she finds such an emotional attachment to pain, or why she continued to "dig into herself" after the conflicts her act creates in her relationships and workplace. What is most striking, though, is how Esther seems surprised that her self-mutilation affects so negatively those around her. It is almost as if she sees a type of normalcy in the act. To a large extent, I think that is because Esther is undergoing an immense and complicated enrapture with this self-mutilation, tapping into this concept of the being called. She is entering into a deep conversation with her body, one that leads to a type of euphoria and exhilaration. Viewing her behavior from an outside perspective and heavily removed from her circumstances and interiority, it would be easy to attribute this "digging-in" to physiological and mental problems, but viewed through a more symbolic realm, her act is quite beautiful. The eating and drinking of her flesh is representative of a "love-of-self," something that fuels her and propels her to continue to cut deeper and deeper, and eventually to preserve her flesh. Never before has she felt such a connection with herself, such an appreciation and admiration for "the self," and the discovery her individual-self, her unique self - which is what this love-of-self comes to be emblematic of - creates such a pull that she is unable to stop. In a strong sense, I think Esther finds an intense elation in this discovery, a happiness. Whenever in danger of losing this happiness - most personified in the scenes in which her flesh rots away - Esther begins to weep, realizing that in the decay of these "skin pieces" she is a losing parts of her self. She is attached to the flesh she eats and preserves, it belongs to her, it is her. I can't possibly describe how moved I was by this film, and any attempts to would not even come close to illustrating the firm hold it had, and continues to have, on me. Haunting, in every way, in all the best ways.
ReplyDeleteOkay I know I'm a little late on this but here goes. I found it hard to draw a purpose from the film In My Skin. I feel like if you're going to show such shocking images in a film or deal with such violent topics it should be for a purpose that is more than just to show gross stuff. With this film it didn't really make me think, or anything like that. It's premise felt like one I had seen before, just with a gory twist. A women who finds herself though _______. This happened to be about self mutilation instead of backpacking though Greece or something lame like that. Anyhoo, I fail to see what the self mutilation adds to this film other than it shows self mutilation, and maybe an aversion to potato chips for awhile. The story also frustrated me, in that it began to build a story with the relationships she has with her friend and boyfriend, and how her self mutilation effects others and herself, but then the film just ended. I felt like it had a chance to say more but the film was getting kinda long so let's just end it. I did however find the scene at dinner with her detached arm very interesting. It was something I had never seen before and I think that best expressed her lack of attachment to her physical body. That nailed it I feel. The rest I feel was just for shock value.
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