Dear lord.... after reading so many glowing reviews of this 'arthouse masterpiece', Pedro Almodóvar's oeuvre was to be honest slightly comical. I was expecting more than a pantomime, a French farce of a film, a Scooby Doo episode with rape scenes, but here it is. it is not shocking, horrific nor psychological, nothing on screen causes the slightest bit of tension due to the lack of character and because of the pretense of the piece to assume that 'I will love it because it's hip', frankly it rather annoyed me. Not a single character makes sense, scenes appear to be crow-barred into place so an extra piece of 10 minute narrative can be made, and most of the film would have been just as affective if it was told by a stranger around a camp-fire.. 'It was on a night like this' indeed... Banderas, whilst doing a great job, just doesn't make sense at all and has half a dozen changes of direction - Is he lonely? Is he evil? Is he a dirty old man? Hmmmm.. Juries out on that one. Still, at least the leading lady yet again catches her death in the name of narrative! And while Elena Anaya is painfully lovely and just about the only consistent role, the story is told with such pantomime it truly is difficult to feel the slightest bit sorry for her. This won a BAFTA? Really?! Is the viewing public that starved of entertainment that this was the best thing on offer? 'Martyrs' is horror. You want psychological thrillers, take your pick. Stop giving this man money! it only encourages him!
Review of The Skin I Live In
