Rating: 4/5
Hooptober 3.0 | 13/31 | Countries 6/6 | Spain
There's a place where you can take refuge — a place inside you. A place to which no one else has access. A place that no one can destroy.
Toledo, 2012 Robert Ledgard is a world-renowned plastic surgeon specializing in facial reconstruction for burn victims. After years of research, he has developed an artificial skin resistant to fire and bug bites. He calls it GAL, named for his wife, who burned to death in a car crash.
But Ledgard has a secret. At his estate, he holds a woman named Vera prisoner. She wears a skin-colored jumpsuit. With the help of Ledgard’s housemaid, Marilia, they feed her and provide her with a means of expression. Still, they deny her anything sharp.
After a talk, Ledgard returns home and turns on the television. On the screen is a camera feed of Vera naked in bed. He goes into her room to give her opium but sees she has slit her wrists and her body with the edges of the book dust covers. He carries her to his in-house operating room to tend to her wounds. She begs for death. He comments on how soft her skin is.
After testing GAL on Vera, he presents his findings at a symposium. Though he hides it in the talk, he confides in the president that he grew the skin using transgenesis, which is illegal. The president forbids him from continuing.
With his research complete, Ledgard must figure out what to do about Vera. Marilia suggests killing her before she kills herself. Vera offers for them to live as equals.
While Ledgard is out, Marilia’s estranged son, Zeca, comes to the estate. He robbed a store and wants Ledgard to give him a new face. He discovers Vera and threatens to uncover secrets that may undo everything Ledgard has worked for.
Antonio Banderas returns to work with a more refined Almodovar, visiting somewhat familiar territory as their previous collaboration, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Both deal with Banderas keeping a woman hostage and deal with how men demand ownership of women’s bodies.
The film explores how our appearance doesn’t necessarily reflect our identity. Kind and generous people are not always attractive to the ones they want. Aging skin can make us feel older than we are. Folks are born a sex, or assigned one, that doesn’t reflect the one they experience inside. Whether it be the temporary change of a mask at Carnival or the permanent change of plastic surgery, many of us change ourselves in search of a more authentic self.
What horrifying reality would it be, then, if someone were to change that against your will to their means?
I breathe. I know I breathe.
The film has a sterile quality that makes sense for the subject matter but is uncommon for Almodovar. It attempts to blend his usual melodrama with horror. I’m on the fence about it, but they help sell each other.
It’s hard to say much about this movie since so much of it is about its dramatic revelations. But this is a stunning and unusual film.
** SPOILER TALK ** The movie isn’t that horrifying, perhaps because I’m jealous of Vincente. Free transition to a beautiful woman and fuck Antonio Banderas?