This film was viewed at the Sydney Film Festival 2019. As it was not the only film I saw there, this review may be slightly shorter than usual.
Skin is the latest film from Israeli writer/director Guy Nattiv, who directed the controversial Oscar-winning short film of the same name. It features Jamie Bell as a white supremacist, who, inspired by his girlfriend (Danielle Macdonald), decides to disentangle himself from his skinhead 'family,' who have modelled their rituals after vikings.
The results are a little mixed, though I doubt anyone would argue the fact that Jamie Bell is 100% the most valuable player in this film. His nuanced performance allows the audience to see different layers (be it the hardboiled exterior or the vulnerable aspects) in the character and breathes new life into a surprisingly underwritten character (in that his character arc is pretty much over after thirty minutes and he doesn't have much internal conflict afterwards). All of the other performances are good, too, the exception being Vera Farmiga, who is somewhat flat and unconvincing as the 'mother' of the skinhead clan. Even the child actors are good.
Another definite plus is the atmosphere that the film builds over it's two hour runtime. It's relentless and almost every scene has a degree of tension. I guess you could call it a kind of cat-and-mouse thriller, with the skinheads as the cat and Bell as the mouse. There were also some stylistic touches that I appreciated, such as the depiction of an overdose early on and a later, certainly metaphorical shot involving a burning car. Speaking of metaphors, there're definitely visual motifs and structural metaphors to look into. Over the course of the film, there is a sort-of subplot set around a new recruit to the gang, and it serves as an inverse of the main plot - the recruit is descending while our main character ascends. The subplot feeds into the themes of the main plot, which is exactly what a subplot should do. The film also uses the removal of the main character's tattoos as a framing device, but it also serves as a metaphor for his rejection of white supremacy and the expectations that society has set upon him. These tattoo removal scenes are brutal but elevate the plot.
It's a shame that some of the rest of the film does not live up to the standard set by the aforementioned elements. For one, I found Nattiv's direction quite uneven - there'll be a fantastic shot or stylistic shot one minute, and then a really bad shot the next. There's one scuffle scene early on where the camera was so shaky I a) had no idea what the hell was going on, and b) felt dizzy in my seat. He's definitely got some room to grow but I'd hate to be too negative; I could definitely see him becoming a great director one day.
Meanwhile, it also began to bother me how stupid a lot of the characters' decisions were. Lots of the situations that the main character gets himself into could have been easily avoided. The pacing was also a little off, moving pretty slowly at first then speeding up then slowing to a lazy finish. There wasn't much of a payoff to a lot of the stuff that the film set up and that was disappointing. I also would have liked to see some more conflict in our main character; I would've thought it would be harder to leave the people who raised you, but he makes it look easy, or at least as easy as it can be if the people who raised you are dangerous skinheads. The use of the tattoo removal as a framing device also alleviates some of the tension where it probably shouldn't have been.
Overall, Skin mostly works, but, like it's central character, it is it's own worse enemy, with many of it's best aspects causing problems in the long and short run for the rest of the film. However, I can't deny that it features great performances (including an Oscar-worthy turn from Jamie Bell) and some moments of pure inspiration. It's not the best film you'll see this year, but one that shows promise for all involved.
Score: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment