Under the Skin (2013) - Glazer's visually chilling, flawed art film

♥♥♥

 

+ Strangest Movie of the Year

 

An ethereal, appealing poster for Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin

A young, beautiful brunette drives through Scotland, seeking out man after man, whom she lures with her body to go with her and then lets drown in a mysterious tar-like substance. But a change is coming in the 'woman'.

Incredibly, watching Under the Skin, we are very fast convinced, without the use of any visual effects, that Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation (2003)) is not human here, simply through her unperson-like, empty portrayal and the chilly, observational photography by Daniel Landin (Sixty Six (2006)).
Under the Skin is the third feature from Londoner co-writer-director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast (2000)), and it is a very strange art film with an oppressive sound universe and ditto score by Mica Levi (Jackie (2016)). The film's biggest strength is its images, which are pictorially beautiful and striking throughout. Unfortunately some shots are held for too long, and our attraction to the story becomes too vague. It gets boring. And the pace gives plenty of room for us to wonder whether the disfigured man in the film is really a disfigured man, (he is; Adam Pearson (The Ugly Face of Disability Hate Crime (2015, TV movie)) has neurofibromatosis, no prosthetics are involved); how Johansson was cast and so on, - which we don't have time to wonder about in a truly successful film.
Under the Skin is co-written with Walter Campbell and based on the same-titled 2000 novel by Michel Faber (The Book of Strange New Things (2014)). Particularly its ending does have something undeniably scary about it, and though not exactly good, it is certainly a highly unusual film.

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Watch the official trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 8 mil. £, equal to approximately 13.3 mil. $

Box office:  5.7 - 7.7 mil. $ (different reports)

= Mega-flop

[Under the Skin premiered August 29 (Telluride Film Festival, Colorado) and runs 108 minutes. Glazer wanted to adapt Faber's book after Sexy Beast but completed Birth (2004) first. Brad Pitt was supposed to be a male alien for a time, but development was slow, and the plot moved to center on just one alien, a female. Gemma Arterton was Glazer's choice for a time, but funding couldn't be attracted with her as lead. Filming took place in Scotland and England's Elstree Studios in and around October 2011 as a co-production of no less than 11 companies and institutions. Besides Johansson, most characters in the film are played by non-actors, including championship motorcycle road racer Jeremy McWilliams. The film opened #29 in 4 theaters to a 133k $ first weekend, peaking in 176 theaters at #16 in North America, where it grossed 2.6 mil. $ (45.6 % of the total gross, if going with the 5.7 mil. $ gross, which is what is reported to Box Office Mojo). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets of the just 13 international markets were the UK with 1.9 mil. $ (33.3 %) and France with 305k $ (5.4 %). The film was nominated for two BAFTAs and 4 British Independent Film Awards, among many other nominations and awards. Under the Skin is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Under the Skin?