Under the Skin: Review
10/10
It gets in your brain first. A sonic wall of deeply-layered, cosmic winds and pulsating, shriveled strings binaurally wither away all outside awareness. Celestial figures, polished in light and dark, entrance the mind. This is some other dimension or universe, where something alien begins to seamlessly creep into form as we know it to be. A nameless being takes on the shape of a woman's body, of which, we do not know the origin.
This body is played by Scarlett Johansson, a brilliant, charismatic actress, who has taken on some very diverse and popular roles as of late. From romantic comedy box office hit, "Don Jon," to the Oscar-winning computer romance, "Her," to the superhero blockbuster "Captain America: Winter Soldier," and now the experimental sci-fi art house film, "Under the Skin," she is winning fans of every genre. It doesn't stop there. She's set to appear in Jon Favreau's new comedy, "Chef," and the upcoming action/superhero movies, "Lucy," "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Black Widow." She is also turning heads because she appears nude for the first time in "Under the Skin," but perverts be warned, there is nothing desirable about her here.
This alien has no emotion or empathy of any kind. It simply has an objective: to lure men back to its apartment using their weakness of lust, to trap them and eventually harvest them. Why? For what purpose? I suppose that's open for interpretation, but ultimately, it doesn't matter. What matters is what we experience through her night-to-night attempts of trying to pick up these men. There are so many different types of people we have the pleasure of observing, while the unbiased alien drives through the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It's a peaceful meditation, but it isn't a joy ride. The alien eventually spots it's perfect prey and plays the part of a beautiful, innocent woman looking for directions. Then comes the moment of truth- "Are you going the same way? I can give you a ride." Some say no, but of course, some say yes. There's the man who wants to party all the time, the man who is so lonely and depressed, and the man who just wants to get laid.
Each succeeding harvest ritual becomes more haunting and revealing than the last, while concurrently, each victim is more and more undeserving of his eradication than the one before him. Composer Mica Levi's music plays a big part in these sequences. A spiritless, two-step sway of tribal drums and a slow-burning, three-note melody of cacophonous, crepitating strings creep up on you, while low-pitched cymbal rolls and electrified buzzes and hums sustain the eerie tension in the background. It clearly takes influence from the disturbing, chaotically insane string and percussion segments of Kubrick's The Shining, and the staticky, industrial clouds of noise that reverberate around the dreamscape of Lynch's Eraserhead. This isn't just music, it's atmosphere and narration in substitution for the otherwise lifeless and often wordless alien being.
The alien is like a psychopath, except, it is perhaps completely unaware of itself or its actions. This is truly sad. Who can we blame then? The most distressing moment is when she picks up a man with a deformed face. Just like each other man before him, she flirts and compliments him on his good looks. Not just as a male, but as a human being, I felt so violated and offended in this scene. Here is someone who is so lonely and hurt, and the nicest, most gorgeous woman invites him into her home. To him, it's a dream come true. Only, she, of course, is faking it, and the heartfelt sorrow we feel for this man is crushed into nothing. It's like a comet hitting the earth and decimating everything and everyone we love. Naturally, the universe does not care about us. But this careless thing is disguised as a human. It's insulting and perverse.
Similar to master surrealist, David Lynch, director, Jonathan Glazer, effectively pushes his dreamlike landscapes into our field of reality. This makes certain scenarios more relatable, thus more horrifying. This is partly due to the fact that a portion of the dialogue between Scarlett Johannson and her victims was completely improvised. In fact, some of them didn't even know they were being filmed. I guess it's hard to recognize her with black hair at nighttime. Even more amazing, is first-time actor Adam Pearson. He plays the disfigured man, as mentioned above, but prosthetics aren't actually used here. Pearson has a real condition called neurofibromatosis. It comes in many forms, but for him, it causes non-cancerous tumors to grow on his face. It is a liberating moment in the history of film. Pearson teaches audiences to be more comfortable and sympathetic, rather than afraid or unkind, and helps others with similar conditions to be more confident with how they look. It's what's under the skin that counts.
Eventually, by some miracle, an anomalous error occurs within the alien's programmed thinking. It starts to wonder, it starts to feel, it can see itself. How did she become self-aware? And how does life really become self-aware anyways? No matter. The point is, she observes for the first time many of life's greatest pleasures: food, music, TV, walking through nature, but most importantly, being loved and making love. Is any of this really making her more human? Her mental state isn't really implied, but we begin to sympathize with her now. The being that was once a lifeless antihero has now become something endearingly innocent.
Many may complain about the movie's ending seeming unavailing, but it's meant to leave you hanging in a quandary of reflective despair. The movie is a meditation told through a seamless blend of dismal visuals and freakishly haunting music that parallels it's story arc. No matter what happens in the end, the most important thing is the journey, and Under the Skin's journey is one of huge complexity that's worth every bit of examination and interpretation it is bound to receive in the many years to come. It is without a doubt one of the most unique studies of human nature to ever hit the big screen.
I highly recommend seeing this movie in theaters. If you are unable to, watch it in the dark with headphones when it comes out on Blu-ray.
This body is played by Scarlett Johansson, a brilliant, charismatic actress, who has taken on some very diverse and popular roles as of late. From romantic comedy box office hit, "Don Jon," to the Oscar-winning computer romance, "Her," to the superhero blockbuster "Captain America: Winter Soldier," and now the experimental sci-fi art house film, "Under the Skin," she is winning fans of every genre. It doesn't stop there. She's set to appear in Jon Favreau's new comedy, "Chef," and the upcoming action/superhero movies, "Lucy," "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Black Widow." She is also turning heads because she appears nude for the first time in "Under the Skin," but perverts be warned, there is nothing desirable about her here.
This alien has no emotion or empathy of any kind. It simply has an objective: to lure men back to its apartment using their weakness of lust, to trap them and eventually harvest them. Why? For what purpose? I suppose that's open for interpretation, but ultimately, it doesn't matter. What matters is what we experience through her night-to-night attempts of trying to pick up these men. There are so many different types of people we have the pleasure of observing, while the unbiased alien drives through the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It's a peaceful meditation, but it isn't a joy ride. The alien eventually spots it's perfect prey and plays the part of a beautiful, innocent woman looking for directions. Then comes the moment of truth- "Are you going the same way? I can give you a ride." Some say no, but of course, some say yes. There's the man who wants to party all the time, the man who is so lonely and depressed, and the man who just wants to get laid.
Each succeeding harvest ritual becomes more haunting and revealing than the last, while concurrently, each victim is more and more undeserving of his eradication than the one before him. Composer Mica Levi's music plays a big part in these sequences. A spiritless, two-step sway of tribal drums and a slow-burning, three-note melody of cacophonous, crepitating strings creep up on you, while low-pitched cymbal rolls and electrified buzzes and hums sustain the eerie tension in the background. It clearly takes influence from the disturbing, chaotically insane string and percussion segments of Kubrick's The Shining, and the staticky, industrial clouds of noise that reverberate around the dreamscape of Lynch's Eraserhead. This isn't just music, it's atmosphere and narration in substitution for the otherwise lifeless and often wordless alien being.
The alien is like a psychopath, except, it is perhaps completely unaware of itself or its actions. This is truly sad. Who can we blame then? The most distressing moment is when she picks up a man with a deformed face. Just like each other man before him, she flirts and compliments him on his good looks. Not just as a male, but as a human being, I felt so violated and offended in this scene. Here is someone who is so lonely and hurt, and the nicest, most gorgeous woman invites him into her home. To him, it's a dream come true. Only, she, of course, is faking it, and the heartfelt sorrow we feel for this man is crushed into nothing. It's like a comet hitting the earth and decimating everything and everyone we love. Naturally, the universe does not care about us. But this careless thing is disguised as a human. It's insulting and perverse.
Similar to master surrealist, David Lynch, director, Jonathan Glazer, effectively pushes his dreamlike landscapes into our field of reality. This makes certain scenarios more relatable, thus more horrifying. This is partly due to the fact that a portion of the dialogue between Scarlett Johannson and her victims was completely improvised. In fact, some of them didn't even know they were being filmed. I guess it's hard to recognize her with black hair at nighttime. Even more amazing, is first-time actor Adam Pearson. He plays the disfigured man, as mentioned above, but prosthetics aren't actually used here. Pearson has a real condition called neurofibromatosis. It comes in many forms, but for him, it causes non-cancerous tumors to grow on his face. It is a liberating moment in the history of film. Pearson teaches audiences to be more comfortable and sympathetic, rather than afraid or unkind, and helps others with similar conditions to be more confident with how they look. It's what's under the skin that counts.
Eventually, by some miracle, an anomalous error occurs within the alien's programmed thinking. It starts to wonder, it starts to feel, it can see itself. How did she become self-aware? And how does life really become self-aware anyways? No matter. The point is, she observes for the first time many of life's greatest pleasures: food, music, TV, walking through nature, but most importantly, being loved and making love. Is any of this really making her more human? Her mental state isn't really implied, but we begin to sympathize with her now. The being that was once a lifeless antihero has now become something endearingly innocent.
Many may complain about the movie's ending seeming unavailing, but it's meant to leave you hanging in a quandary of reflective despair. The movie is a meditation told through a seamless blend of dismal visuals and freakishly haunting music that parallels it's story arc. No matter what happens in the end, the most important thing is the journey, and Under the Skin's journey is one of huge complexity that's worth every bit of examination and interpretation it is bound to receive in the many years to come. It is without a doubt one of the most unique studies of human nature to ever hit the big screen.
I highly recommend seeing this movie in theaters. If you are unable to, watch it in the dark with headphones when it comes out on Blu-ray.
