Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Person on the Inside

Movies: The Skin I Live In

Where to start? Pedro Almodovar's latest film, The Skin I Live In, is somehow both violent and delicate. Almodovar is no stranger to dark themes: AIDS, rape, incest, pedophilia, and pain of all kinds pervade his films, yet they still manage to be lovely and hopeful. His main characters are typically women and vulnerable/nontraditional men (crossdressers, gay men, boys, etc). These characters are pillars of strength even after facing abuse at the hands of "stronger" members of society. I love Almodovar's films because they don't patronize or condescend to women and queer men. Almodovar's characters have dignity and, to use the word again, strength that allow them to overcome and transcend their circumstances, no matter how rough.


The Skin I Live In is yet another beautiful and traumatic Almodovar film. It is not gender-normative, the sexuality of the characters is wildly fluid and even bizarre, and it is about a supposedly weak person who thrives under the thumb of a supposedly strong person.

I can't say much more without giving away a huge plot point of the film, which isn't so much of a surprise twist, but still radically changes your understanding of everything that comes before it. So, if you want to see the movie with a fresh slate, I'll say that it is difficult, but worth seeing (if you're a fan of Almodovar's other films, you'll probably love it, or at least know what to expect). If you're squeamish about violence, be prepared for scenes of rape, torture, and murder (not terribly graphic, but still pretty hard to watch). I can tell you that it's about a plastic surgeon, Robert Ledgard (played by Antonio Banderas) who has been developing a synthetic skin that is indestructible ever since the death of his wife, who was horribly burned in a car accident. Ledgard has a beautiful female captive whom he tests the skin on. The second half of the movie reveals who the woman is and how she came to be Ledgard's prisoner.

Now, if you want to know the twist, read ahead!

So, after the death of Ledgard's wife (who threw herself out a window after seeing her burned face), Ledgard's daughter, Norma, is emotionally destroyed. After she begins to recover and is able to socialize with peers, Ledgard takes her to a party where she meets a handsome young man named Vincente. Norma and Vincente sneak out of the party and start to make out in a nearby garden. Vincente fails to pay attention to Norma's increasing distress and proceeds to rape her until she starts screaming. He flees the scene, and Ledgard finds his daughter in a state of shock. She ends up back in a mental institution, with a crippling fear of men, including her father.

Ledgard finds out Vincente is the one who raped his daughter. He hunts the young man down, knocks him out, and chains his up. After starving him for several weeks, Ledgard drugs Vincente and performs surgery on him--specifically, a vaginoplasty. Vincente is completely broken at this point and just trying to mentally survive. Ledgard, over many months and years, turns Vincente into a woman--Vera--with the use of plastic surgery and drugs.

Vincente copes with his situation by rebelling in small ways (refusing to wear the makeup and female clothes Ledgard gives him) and also through yoga, which allows him to find a place to escape inside himself. Over time, he gains Ledgard's trust and even begins a *gulp* romantic and sexual relationship with him (so much wrong there!), leading the viewer to believe that Vincente has truly fallen in love with his captor, Stockholm Syndrome-style. But at the end, Vincente manages to escape and return to his mother, who doesn't recognize him.

So, for many reasons, this movie is all sorts of screwed up. But despite the violence and twisted plot, I loved it for its message that no matter what you look like on the outside, you are always yourself on the inside. In our culture of body shame, it's sometimes easy to forget that a person is much more than what they look like. I judge people based on their looks all the time (not proud of it)! Learning to look beyond outer appearances is a lifelong process.

In addition, The Skin I Live In suggests that gender identity is all in a person's mind. Some have accused to film of being transphobic, but I think it's the opposite. No matter how feminized he is on the outside, Vincente never stops identifying as a man on the inside. Much like a transgender person, Vincente knows who he is and does not let his outer appearance and the ways others perceive him affect his identity.

The Skin I Live In challenges many assumptions we make about people and the kinds of boxes we automatically put people in. Obviously, it challenges our perspectives on sex and gender--is Vincente still a man, even after his body and mannerism are completely feminized? Is he a man because he was born with male genitalia? Is he a man because he never chose to identify as a woman?

It also challenges our assumptions of sexuality. Both Ledgard and Vincente are straight men. Are they still straight after starting a (again--*gulp*) sexual relationship with one another--even though one of them now has a woman's body?

Finally, it challenges our view of criminality and justice. Vincente rapes Norma. At first, the situation is ambiguous--Norma appears to be into Vincente. But quickly enough we realize that she is terrified and not consenting, yet Vincente continues to have sex with her. Even though he does not throw her down and violently assault her, he still rapes her. Normally, that would make us hate Vincente, yet his punishment hardly fits the crime. We sympathize with him for the rest of the movie, as he faces unspeakable physical and psychological abuse at Norma's father's hands. Ledgard, on the other hand, is the true villain. He may have lost his wife and daughter, but his insane form of revenge makes it impossible to sympathize with him. However, there are a few moments where he seems to genuinely love Vincente/Vera. It's almost like reverse Stockholm Syndrome--the captor falls in love with his captive.

Writing this review makes me feel a little guilty for liking The Skin I Live In. When I see the plot laid out in writing, it seems that only a messed up person could enjoy this film. But watching Almodovar's films reminds me of reading John Irving's novels--specifically, The Cider House Rules. In that book, Irving manages to write about incest, rape, and abortion with what I can only describe as a "cozy" writing style. He managed to take the reader to dark corners while never making the reader feel alienated or frightened. Almodovar's films are similar--his themes are melodramatic and, at times, pitch black. But unlike other directors who cover similar themes (Todd Solondz and Lars von Trier come to mind), I don't come away from Almodovar's films hating humanity. Almodovar uses dark themes to uncover the deepest, most genuine emotions. When Vincente, now in a woman's body, kisses a picture of himself--his old self; his true self--he sees in a "missing persons" section of a newspaper, it is a classic Almodovar moment: it brings up feelings of love, heartache, and empathy in the viewer. Or at least it did in me.

5 out of 5 stars

PS: The Skin I Live In is based on an excellent novella, Mygale, by French author Thierry Jonquet. I read the book years ago, so I already knew the big "twist" in the movie. I highly recommend checking out the book.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cancer Sucks

Movies: 50/50

50/50 is not your typical cancer movie. Unlike Terms of Endearment, Stepmom, and One True Thing, 50/50 treats cancer with a sense of humor and nonchalance bordering on apathy. Of course, while the aforementioned films focus on middle-aged women with cancer, 50/50's hero is a 27-year-old man, played a little too adorably by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Written by Will Reiser, who was diagnosed with cancer in his mid-twenties (and is now in his 30's), the film can't be accused of being unrealistic. However, it's surprisingly thin on comedy, drama, and character development. A movie in which a young dude is given a 50/50 chance of beating a disease has enormous potential--to be heartbreaking, enraging, hilarious, something. Yet, as much as I chuckled during the movie, I never really thought it lived up to its potential.


Gordon-Levitt plays Adam, a young man who works in radio (at "SPR"--heh). Adam goes in for a check-up since his back has been hurting him and finds out he has a rare type of cancer on his spine. As he begins the process of chemotherapy, his god-awful girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard, who seems to be type-cast as a bitch these days), attempts to "compartmentalize" his illness by refusing to support him or accept reality. She cheats on him and, when confronted by pictorial evidence, attempts to emotionally blackmail Adam into not dumping her. Ugh. Do people this stupid and terrible actually exist? Sadly, I think the answer may be yes. In any case, with the support of his friend Kyle (Seth "the Bro-gen" Rogen), Adam dumps Rachel and sets out on a revitalizing course of smoking medicinal marijuana and using his bald head to pick up chicks.

By the end of the film, Adam has beaten cancer (at least for now) through surgery, since the chemo didn't work, reconnected with his meddling mother (Angelica Huston), and scored a new girlfriend: his young counselor, Katie (Anna Kendrick). After he's no longer her patient of course. Still, I think that's kind of unethical. Whatever. All's fair in love and cancer!

That's pretty much it. Laughs are mainly provided by Kyle in typical Seth Rogen style. There are a few heartwarming scenes. But overall, the film is bizarrely underwhelming. If I recall correctly, you don't really see the damage cancer can do to the human body. Adam shaves his head, so you don't see him lose his hair. I don't recall any vomiting scenes (although there may have been one). Even after Adam's surgery, which is described as very invasive, he seems totally fine. It's not that I take joy in seeing illness, but 50/50 seemed to completely skip over the realities of cancer that would have made the movie interesting in the first place: i.e. how does an attractive young man, who is mostly concerned with his budding career, women, and friends (all the typical things guys in their 20's are focused on), deal with the indignities of illness? For Adam, the indignities are few and the story never delves too deeply into the complicated emotions surrounding a sickness that would cause almost anyone to have an existential crisis. I didn't want melodrama, but I did want an honest look at how cancer would bodily, emotionally, and spiritually affect a guy in his 20's. Instead, I got marijuana jokes.

50/50 is not an unpleasant film. It's funny and cute--and I get the importance of there being movies about cancer that aren't all Lifetime movie three-hankie weepers. I admire what 50/50 was aiming for, but I felt that it fell short of the mark.

3 out of 5 stars

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Vampire-Baby Mama Drama

Movies: Breaking Dawn pt. 1

Spoilers everywhere.

I might have left the theatre looking as guilty as a guy in a trench coat leaving a porno movie because, God help me, I enjoyed Breaking Dawn. Or, more accurately, I enjoyed the second half of Breaking Dawn. The first half is mostly concerned with whether or not Bella and Edward will have sex on their honeymoon (spoiler alert: they totally do!). But in the second half, things get crazy. Vampire-baby crazy.


The film begins with Edward and Bella's wedding. For some reason, this takes up about 30 minutes of the movie. The best part is Charlie Swan (Bella's dad) looking skeptical about the whole thing and pounding back champagne at the reception. Also, Jacob (Bella's werewolf friend) shows up to dance with Bella and then yell at her when he finds out she's planning on having sex with Edward while she's still human. Since Edward's super-strength allows him to crush diamonds as if they were rose petals, God only knows what he'll do to a human woman while in the throes of passion. Don't worry, Jake--the Twilight books have established that Edward is a 110-year-old virgin, so the consummation will probably only last a minute or two. Wocka wocka!

About the sex: because this is a PG-13 movie, they only show some softly lit kissing and Edward breaking the headboard. Hey, maybe the movie should have been titled "Breaking Headboard". Or, "Breaking Hymen: A Chaste Supernatural Love Story". Anyway, because we're in movieland, the wedding night defloration of two virgins is beautiful, not messy or awkward, and later described as "amazing" and "the best night of my existence". Thanks for setting the bar unreasonably high for all the tweens in the audience, movie!

The next day, Bella has like, three bruises on her arm and Edward emotionally abuses her by getting mad at himself and then mad at her for not being mad at him. Healthy relationship! Edward then denies Bella sex for the rest of the honeymoon because he is a meanie. They play chess instead.

At this point, we're an hour into the movie. I've had about all I can take of romantic indie rock and kowtowing to the Wedding-Industrial Complex. But then the movie takes a turn for the awesome: Bella realizes her period is a week late and that *gasp* her belly is puffy and there's something moving inside it! Edward looks horrified. He tells Bella that his doctor-vampire-father, Carlisle, will "Get that thing out of you". But Bella has already fallen in love with the fetus! I'm sorry, the baby! Heavy-handed anti-abortion message ahead!

They return to the Cullen's home in the woods, where Bella grows paler and more skeletal by the day. Everyone is against her having the baby except Bella herself and baby-obsessed vampire sister-in-law Rosalie. Rosalie doesn't give a crap whether Bella dies, but dammit, she will have something to care for and nurture! I guess Rosalie's maternal instinct didn't die when she did.

Meanwhile, Jacob and his pack of werewolves find out about the vampire-baby fetus and Sam, the alpha wolf, decides they have to kill it before it becomes an uncontrollable threat to their territory. All the wolves must submit to the alpha, except for Jacob because Stephenie Meyers says so Jacob is the grandson of the chief and has magical not-submitting powers.

Jacob vows to protect Bella, and he and the rest of the Cullens surround Bella and feed her delicious blood until the baby comes. When it does, Dr. Cullen is out feeding, so Edward has to deliver the baby. He does this by biting into Bella's uterus and tearing the baby out. It's a girl and Bella names her "Renesme", a mix of Bella and Edward's mothers' names. Bella then dies. Edward injects venom into her to "turn" her and then bites her all over. Jacob goes to kill Renesme, but ends up "imprinting" on her and falling insanely in love. Remember kids, this is Twilight world, where love just magically happens and isn't based on a history of shared experiences, respect, and trust, or anything like that. Silly!

Conveniently, the wolf pack can't kill Renesme now because their "most absolute rule" is that you can't kill someone that a fellow wolf has imprinted on.

So then comes the big reveal. Bella has been lying there like a corpse for days, but when the vampire venom starts working its magic, she transforms from a skeletal pasty-face to a big-boobed pasty-face! I'm serious. You actually see her boobs puff up. And apparently vampire venom gives you eyeshadow that is perfect for your skin tone and hair color...for eternity! In the last scene, Bella opens her eyes, and they are blood-red. END OF MOVIE!

Overall, it was pretty awesome. I still think Bella should have gone for Jacob because he's a lot more attractive and a lot less emotionally manipulative than Edward. He's a man who'll give it to you straight. Edward is the kind of man-boy who sulks and makes you guess why he's upset. Basically, he is a 17-year-old boy for eternity.

But of course, Bella marries Edward. In other news, Harry Potter defeats Voldemort and Anna Karenina throws herself under a train. Some endings are inevitable. For what it's worth, Breaking Dawn isn't a terrible film. If you think I'm damning it with faint praise, you clearly haven't seen the other Twilight movies. The first one is a truly awful film. The second one is pretty good because Jacob is the hero (and Edward almost kills himself! Alas, Bella saves him at the last second), and I can't remember what happened in the third one. So, by comparison, Breaking Dawn is...not as bad as it could have been. But I wouldn't buy the DVD or anything.

3 out of 5 stars

This doesn't happen in the movie. Sorry.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Cult Status

Movies: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Potential spoilers.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (hereafter referred to as MMMM) is not a good movie if you like solid answers and conclusions. We see glimpses into the past and the psyche of the main character, but we never know for sure what's really going on. Like Black Swan, MMMM blurs the line between reality and what's happening in the heroine's mind. Unlike Black Swan, MMMM is subtle, slowly paced, and gripping in a way that twists your guts rather than slapping you in the face.



MMMM is about a young woman (Elizabeth Olsen, a radiant and talented newcomer to film) who, in the opening scenes, runs away from what appears to be a family-like cult. The word "cult" is never uttered in the film, but it's clear enough that this group of people who live together on a farm in upstate New York are not part of an egalitarian commune. They are drawn in and manipulated in a variety of ways by Patrick (John Hawkes), the leader of this group/cult/family. It's easy to see how the women and men find themselves under Patrick's thumb--he's older than most of them and speaks with an authority that seems wise and seductive to the college-age members of the cult. The members of the cult also keep the other ones in line. When they step out of line, they aren't punished brutally (although the threat of violence hangs in the air), but rather approached with concern and gentle chiding: "Why did you run away to town? Patrick's worried about you." Through this gentle but consistent brain-washing, the heroine (known as Martha to her biological family and Marcy May to her cult family) loses herself to the cult for two years before she finds the courage to run away.

MMMM juxtaposes "before" and "after" scenes. The before scenes take place on the farm where the cult lives and reveal the weird rules and sexual violence Martha was subjected to. The after scenes take place at a lake house in Connecticut where Martha's sister, Lucy, and Lucy's husband, Ted, live. Lucy is the only family Martha has (mom is dead and dad's out of the picture) and is woefully unprepared to care for Martha who is clearly suffering from some sort of PTSD. Instead of letting Martha open up about her missing years when she's ready, Lucy repeatedly asks Martha "what happened to you?" in a tone that causes Martha to clam up. Lucy and Ted respond with frustration to Martha's inappropriate and strange ways--crawling into bed with them while they're having sex, asking inappropriate questions, etc. In one very telling scene, Martha freaks out at a party and becomes hysterical. Lucy and Ted respond to this breakdown by immediately giving Martha a valium and putting her to bed. To them, saving face at a party is more important than addressing Martha's obvious trauma and mental distress head on.

It was odd to me how Lucy dealt with her sister's disappearance and sudden reappearance. If my sister fell off the face of the earth only to reappear two years lately in filthy clothes, crying and acting strangely, damn if I wouldn't assume that she had been abused or traumatized in some bizarre way, even if she denied it. But Martha and Lucy are presented as having grown up with a dead mother and absent father, so I can see how that would affect their ability to relate and care for one another. Lucy treats Martha as if she's a cross between a distant relative that you have to be polite to and a wild animal who you're a little scared will attack you. There is no sisterly love between the two beyond the guilt Lucy feels: "I'm the only family she has" Lucy explains to Ted. To Lucy, Martha's return is more of a burden than a joy or a relief

As I said above, MMMM is a film that raises more questions than answers them. The last 20 minutes or so are especially challenging because there is little distinction between Martha's memories, fears, and reality. Is she being hunted by the cult? Is she having hallucinations? It's up to the viewer to decide. MMMM is an interesting film because it touches on the problem of mental illness and the effects of brain-washing, rape, and abuse, without directly making a statement about any of it. And although Martha comes off as increasingly disturbed and, yes, a tad crazy, our sympathies lie with her rather than with her sister and brother-in-law, who despite their concern, are more interested in not having their comfortable lifestyle interrupted than in trying to understand what happened to Martha.

Martha proves that she is a young woman of immense courage and strength, even after years of manipulation and abuse. But despite her survival instinct, she can't escape paranoia and haunted memories.

4 out of 5 stars