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In My Skin | Year: 2002 Classification: Foreign Film - French Actors/Actresses: - Marina de Van - Laurent Lucas - Léa Drucker Masachism all around You might think that you'd like to see a beautiful young woman gouge holes in her thigh, curl up in the fetal position and make out with them, eat her own arm, stab herself in the eye, smear blood all over herself, spit on herself, drink diet coke, and then die, but when faced with the actual prospect, it may not be as fun to watch as you might think. Why did she do all this? Apparently that wasn't important information to impart. By midway through this FOUR HOUR epic, I was thinking 'why doesn't she just die allready?'. By the end I was hoping that I would die, something, just so long as it was over. Watching this film is, in and of itself, an act of masachism. I spent the whole movie thinking 'why is she doing this to herself?', but when it FINALLY ended, I thought 'why did I do that to MYself?'. "A graphic drama" From film director Marina De Van the haunting debut In My Skin disgusts audiences everywhere. Marina De Van stars and directs a film about a women's struggle with self-mutilation and her decent into madness. Esther, a young research analyst gashes her leg after an accidental fall. She becomes obsessed with her wounds, tracing the cuts on her leg, pinching her skin. Esther's obsession grows and becomes more serious when she starts to carve deep wounds into her flesh with knives, forks, anything she can get her hands on. Not for the squeamish or those with light stomachs. I remember seeing the trailer for IN MY SKIN in the theatre several months ago and there was an immediate audience reaction to the frank scenes of a woman engaging in acts of self-mutilation, myself included. In spite of my initial whimpering there I was curious about this film, as this is a rare subject matter and sensitive topic to portray. For this reason I decided to rent the DVD to see more about this woman with the tendency to cut herself. Esther (Marina de Van) is an ambitious career woman with an enduring boyfriend who appears to have everything going for her. While attending a party she accidentally trips in a darkened yard and suffers a serious cut on her calf. One would think that a person who receives such a similar injury would feel the pain immediately and seek out some assistance. Esther, however, only believes that her pants were torn and continues to enjoy the party until she witnesses her trail of blood. Both her doctor and boyfriend are stunned over Esther's lack of feeling for good reasons. As time progresses Esther realizes that she is strangely soothed by aspect of cutting herself and engages in such behavior behind the backs of others. She continuously feels compelled to harm herself and often hides in public places while taking a sharp object to an appendage of her body. She quickly slides down a downward spiral of aberrant conduct. An obvious question is why Esther is mutilating herself while risking both her relationship and career. Unfortunately there are no clear answers. Cutting is a serious psychological disorder that is often an outlet for feelings of low self-esteem and lack of control over present circumstances, but Esther's situation remains vague. It was only watching the director's commentary that I received some clarity and insight, and in the fashion of French cinema the relationship of Esther to her body is largely philosophical. IN MY SKIN is certainly not for everyone due to the numerous blatant scenes of self-mutilation. Its lack of clarity can be annoying and grating and as a result I would definitely recommend watching the director's commentary afterwards to better appreciate this film. 3.5 stars. Buy In My Skin at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on In My Skin Search with the Priority Search Engine on In My Skin This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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