In My Skin [Dans ma peau] (2002)
Writer and Director: Marina de Van
Starring: Marina de Van, Laurent Lucas, Lea Drucker
Story:
Esther
and a
friend go to a party and get their drink and groove on. Esther wanders
off in the backyard and suffers a pretty nasty fall. She's all like
“whatevs” and goes back inside to get some more dancing in. Eventually,
she takes a trip to the bathroom where she realizes she's bleeding out
of her leg like a stuck fucking pig. Shit, I guess the fall had
something to do with it! Well, time to leave the party and go to the
hospital. But not before stopping off to get a few more drinks first -if
I'm being honest, that's probably exactly what I would do. Anyway, Doc
patches her up and sends her on her way, but not before showing
concern towards Esther's nonchalant attitude about her leg looking like
fucking pizza. Esther becomes increasingly mesmerized with the boo-boo
and starts playing poke with it like a lame friend on Facebook. Playful
poking turns into less playful picking, then nasty gashing,
then, well... shit gets fucked up on a MEGA
scale.
Dear In My Skin:
Spoilers beneath the scabs. Pick with caution
When Tromeric let me know about Guts and Grog's Extreme Week, my first choice for what I wanted to
cover was In My Skin. Of all the nasty, deplorable, skull
fucking, animal murdering, kid torturing, tribal raping shit I could
have went with, I chose a film about body horror. The reason being is
that I feel somewhat drawn to the main character, Esther -played by
writer/director, Marina de Van. Uh-oh, confession time. I am a scab
picker. Wound ripper sounds much more badass, so that's what we will go
with. I am a wound ripper. I know it's filthy, I know it's unhealthy, I
know the wounds can get infected, I know it grosses my girlfriend the
fuck out... hell, it grosses me the fuck out. And it hurts, but it
“hurts so good”. John Mellencamp had the right idea; he was just singing
about the wrong shit. Most of the time it's kind of a mindless thing,
or something to do to pass the time. I don't feel like that's totally
the issue with the lead in this film. But where me and Esther really
separate is the whole self infliction of wounds and
imbibing from them. I do not puncture myself, and I do not self
consume. I'll pick a bug bite or a cut until it's destined to be a scar,
but fuck being the harbinger of the injury, or a cannibal. I just like
to keep the injuries going, for some dumb ass reason.
At face value, In My Skin
may seem rather tame in comparison to a lot of other extreme films. I
am here to assure you that it is not. It's actually quite a test to not
wince out or turn your head more than a few times. Even when Esther is
ripping her flesh off screen, her cold expressions and the sounds of
tearing skin revs up the intensity to fucking overdrive. This is no
picnic in the park or a Sunday visit to Grandma's, unless Grandma eats herself. Do you remember when undead Jack first goes to see David in
the hospital in An American Werewolf in London? Sure you do.
Do you remember that one jiggly piece of skin hanging from Jack's face
that does a fucking dance whenever he talks? If that little piece of
shit had a whole film dedicated to itself, it would be In My Skin.
There's
some fantastic visuals, and they play alongside the deterioration of
Esther's character perfectly. Creepy following shots and great 3rd
person perspectives. Lots of closeups of Esther's face while she's
committing these crimes to her body, and there's rarely any
shying away when it comes time to show all the nasty shit going on. My
favorite sequences are all the split cam shots that give a slightly
different view of things. And the blur walking scene that comes late in
the film -once Esther has really fell off the reality cliff- is
incredible.
On
the acting front, it's all about Marina de Van's execution, here. It's
absolutely fascinating. Esther is a character whose life is slowly
slipping through her fingers. She doesn't really feel the pain she's
inflicting upon herself, just as she seemingly doesn't feel her
detachment from everything going on around her. Is she aware of how far
down the rabbit hole she has fallen? de Van kills in this role. As for
everyone else, it's
not an issue of anyone under performing; it's just not about anyone
else. Laurent Lucas plays Vincent, Esther's boyfriend. He has more to do
than any other secondary character, but I feel like it's just a display
for what's going on with our leading lady. It's no doubt obvious that
Vincent is worried for his girlfriend, but he often comes off as making
it all about his and her relationship. Of course, he has good reason,
because Esther surely gives no explanation as to why she's doing what
she's doing. But equally for good reason on her end, as she simply seems
to have no idea why. Again, back to de Van, she is just completely
awesome in the role.
Now, onto the factor of why In My Skin
is a prime candidate
for Extreme Week- THE FUCKING GROSSNESS. This shit looks real, folks.
So real that at times I feel the need to question if any of it is. It
all starts with a pretty nasty leg wound, and as the film
progresses, said nastiness just flies off the rails. However, sometimes
it's not so much the visuals of the wounds, but rather how Esther treats
her body. In a bathtub she stretches the skin in her pelvic region so
far out that it looks like she's playing with a giant wad of goddamn
bubblegum. For some reason, that scene is quite foul to me. But once we
get to the areas where she starts tearing at herself and the way she
pinches arm skin tight between her fingers, it's pretty damn stomach
turning. But nothing, NOTHING is on par with the eating of herself in an
almost orgasmic manner.
I
don't have a whole lot to say about the soundtrack. It's in no way bad,
it's just that a lot of it didn't stick out to me. The theme song kinda
had a Radiohead Kid A likeness about it, so I was on board there.
Actually, much of the music has a
similar ambiance to said album. Like I said, not bad at all, but this
is one of those films where the music doesn't really contribute to the
atmosphere of the film.
WHAT IN THE FUCK?
Final Thoughts:
I'm not sure I would consider In My Skin
underrated so much as just really under the radar. I rarely see it come
up in conversation. It's a fantastically dirty ass little piece of
French cinema. Sit down with a brew and take a gander, but leave your
fucking wounds alone!
~fin~
3 comments:
Ha, what an "extreme" coincidence posting about the same rare movie on the same day :)
Excellent review and some fucking awesome gifs, buddy. Nice to see that there are others who love it as much as I do.
Have you seen De Van's short "Alias"?
This one has been on my radar as a flick I wanted to see but haven't. After that review, it just moved up the list.
Cool!
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