Jonathan
Glazer had not directed a feature film since Birth in 2004.
Yet at
Venezia 70, he delivered a 3rd hypnotic film, one of the most aggressively arty cinema pieces in ages.
A vision of our world through the eyes of an alien…
A vision of our world through the eyes of an alien…
This creature (under the rubensian skin of
Scarlett Johansson) wonders the Scottish countryside in a truck, looking for
isolated men.
The men she meets are bored
and horny and can't believe their good fortune.
The alien lures them in with polite, persistent questions, barely hearing the replies.
They are then “consumed” by a viscous fluid…
The alien lures them in with polite, persistent questions, barely hearing the replies.
They are then “consumed” by a viscous fluid…
The routine of these
abductions enables an awareness of the world and its people.
Routine is only an impression.
As it increasingly reveals the main character.
She emerges from her torpor only to slide slowly into fear.
She voluntarily loses control.
As it increasingly reveals the main character.
She emerges from her torpor only to slide slowly into fear.
She voluntarily loses control.
She wants to “blend” in, but cannot succeed…
The TV set is a mystery to her, and the slice of chocolate cake only sticks in her throat.
The TV set is a mystery to her, and the slice of chocolate cake only sticks in her throat.
Curiosity will end up putting the alien in danger
and reverse the power balance
between the prey and its predator...
and reverse the power balance
between the prey and its predator...
Sensory experiences such as Under the Skin defy mere words.
It feels like a feature-length successor to Scotty's nightmare from Vertigo.
In that Hitchcock sequence,
James Stewart's Scotty,
driven mad by an obsession over an outstanding beauty
(who was maybe possessed by some extraneous entity),
imagines marching towards her
in the darkness,
eventually falling
into an open grave
and tumbling
into an abyss.
When Johansson's alien leads suitors back
to her place (a cavernous black hole ),
she strips down
while they follow behind in kind,
barely caring,
as they find themselves
submerged in black goop.
while she continues to stroll forward.
Johansson is superb here,
such a convincing seductress
as the unfeasibly-womanly creature,
inviting normal people
to accept a long awaited sexual oblivion.
“Under the skin” is a combination of a road movie, science-fiction and docu-fiction.
It has numerous scenes filming people walking through the streets, interacting with the American actress without recognizing her.
It feels like a feature-length successor to Scotty's nightmare from Vertigo.
In that Hitchcock sequence,
James Stewart's Scotty,
driven mad by an obsession over an outstanding beauty
(who was maybe possessed by some extraneous entity),
imagines marching towards her
in the darkness,
eventually falling
into an open grave
and tumbling
into an abyss.
When Johansson's alien leads suitors back
to her place (a cavernous black hole ),
she strips down
while they follow behind in kind,
barely caring,
as they find themselves
submerged in black goop.
while she continues to stroll forward.
Johansson is superb here,
such a convincing seductress
as the unfeasibly-womanly creature,
inviting normal people
to accept a long awaited sexual oblivion.
“Under the skin” is a combination of a road movie, science-fiction and docu-fiction.
It has numerous scenes filming people walking through the streets, interacting with the American actress without recognizing her.
For these scenes, Glazer and his crew concealed
cameras
so as to simulate the actress's "infiltrator" aspect,
rather like an extra-terrestrial
who wanders around our world "incognito".
so as to simulate the actress's "infiltrator" aspect,
rather like an extra-terrestrial
who wanders around our world "incognito".
When she falls head-first on a crowded pavement,
passers-by help her to get up,
before resuming their robot-like march…
before resuming their robot-like march…
From these
realistic sequences, the director succeeds in obtaining a cold strangeness.
He leads us between empty seashores and cacophonous nightclubs.
He turns a hidden camera on the streets of Scotland and watches, unnoticed,
as people shop and smoke and tap out their texts.
He leads us between empty seashores and cacophonous nightclubs.
He turns a hidden camera on the streets of Scotland and watches, unnoticed,
as people shop and smoke and tap out their texts.
The film is based on a novel by Michel Faber.
But unlike the book, the screenplay sets aside any
kind of justification,
in order to leave intact
the mystery
surrounding the creature.
in order to leave intact
the mystery
surrounding the creature.
The filmmaker bets on the viewer's free interpretation.
Under the Skin is about an alien who becomes entranced by her feminine qualities,
and how powerful they can be.
Only to pay the price for being a woman (or a man) in the world,
looked at
and lusted over,
in increasingly dangerous scenarios.
And then an additional touch of spice is added to the film, all the more intriguing.
Under the Skin is about an alien who becomes entranced by her feminine qualities,
and how powerful they can be.
Only to pay the price for being a woman (or a man) in the world,
looked at
and lusted over,
in increasingly dangerous scenarios.
And then an additional touch of spice is added to the film, all the more intriguing.
A drowning scene leaves a very young child crying
alone on a beach.
When the tide turns, the blood freezes, putting us in the position of hostages to our own humanity.
A contagious weakness which will have consequences on the creature, too …
When the tide turns, the blood freezes, putting us in the position of hostages to our own humanity.
A contagious weakness which will have consequences on the creature, too …
Under the Skin is an
icy but heartbreaking parable
of love, sex and loneliness.
of love, sex and loneliness.
...Driving on the
road, the alien lady encounters a fellow pariah,
who shops by night
and has no friends.
who shops by night
and has no friends.
A little later we
shall see this figure again, wandering naked
and bewildered on the outskirts of town...
and bewildered on the outskirts of town...
...just another lost soul
who's in search of a home...
Glazer is accessing abstracts
that have no linguistic translation.
Not since Sam Peckinpah
has a director been so surgically precise
with the notion
of emotional violence.
Glazer throws us into a cold black sea
where the only thing that can save us
is a loving connection
to another human being.
However, in this harsh world,
human warmth comes at a premium...
... if at all...
Abandonment
becomes a central theme,
and with Johansson’s growing sense of empathy,
the beating heart of the human voyage
becomes more transparent
just as it grows weaker and weaker,
until it disappears completely.
Just as we are submerged, up to disappearance, in (an unilateral) love story...
A bone-chilling piece of cinema
that sinks in,
Under the Skin leaves an unique,
and oddly beautiful,
scar.
who's in search of a home...
Glazer is accessing abstracts
that have no linguistic translation.
Not since Sam Peckinpah
has a director been so surgically precise
with the notion
of emotional violence.
Glazer throws us into a cold black sea
where the only thing that can save us
is a loving connection
to another human being.
However, in this harsh world,
human warmth comes at a premium...
... if at all...
Abandonment
becomes a central theme,
and with Johansson’s growing sense of empathy,
the beating heart of the human voyage
becomes more transparent
just as it grows weaker and weaker,
until it disappears completely.
Just as we are submerged, up to disappearance, in (an unilateral) love story...
A bone-chilling piece of cinema
that sinks in,
Under the Skin leaves an unique,
and oddly beautiful,
scar.
by
giulia dobre
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