"Under The Skin" changes cinema in 2014



Jonathan Glazer's "Under The Skin" comes out in a week. It will polarize people, anger them, frustrate them. Others will get blown away by its vision and call it brilliant and say there hasn't been anything like it. If that's your type of movie then by all means go ahead and watch the film, because it is my type of movie and ever since I saw it more than 6 months ago I couldn't get it out of my head. It did cause the most walkouts out of any movie I've ever seen, and that's saying a lot, but again aren't you intrigued? I do think Glazer does push it a bit too far at times, testing our patience, but most importantly we get rewarded with a picture that is visionary and extreme in its uniqueness.

Much press will be made about how naked Scarlett Johansson gets in this picture, so I will come out and lay it to rest and state that yes she does get naked and yes it is needed for the kind of story that is being told here. One about seduction, humanity, extra terrestrial life etc. Have I lost you yet? I hope not.   Johansson is an alien sent to earth to seduce as many men as possible into her car and then kill them. The repetitiveness of the film's narrative might have turned off many but i had a blast watching Glazer's film. Its originality and absurdity is what I liked the most about it and of course Johansson who is just perfect for the part. She's had a real comeback of sorts lately with this and her voice work in "Her", indie queen in the making perhaps? maybe that's pushing it a bit too far but I like what she's been doing with her career of late and I do hope it continues the way I think it will.

What Glazer has accomplished here is quite remarkable and shouldn't be forgotten. He's made a picture that defies all cinematic conventions and has reinvented a new kind of language. He showed real promise with his first film "Sexy Beast" back in 2000, a cerebral and intense film that paved the way for Ben Kingsley's best performance. He followed it up with "Birth" which was kind of all over the place and not as successful as I wanted it to be and now he's really surprised me with this one, an out of left field vision that will really put many people off guard. I don't know if I've actually managed to convince you to see this film and I didn't really want to reveal too many details because a) there isn't so much to reveal plot-wise and b) whatever that needs to be revealed shouldn't really be revealed if you want to fully experience this film for what it is. After reading what I have to say about "Under The Skin" I think you'll figure out if this picture is for you or not.