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IN MY SKIN (2002)
3 stars
Radiance Films. Limited Edition UHD and Blu ray/Limited edition Blu ray. Out Now
French title: Dans ma peau
Esther (Marina de Van, who also wrote the film and directed it) is at a party. Wandering alone in the large garden she hurts her leg on something in the dark. Weirdly she doesn’t realises she has a large wound until she goes to use the bathroom and sees a trail of blood. She felt no pain.
Visiting a doctor he is surprised she hadn’t noticed such a gash, and that she didn’t feel it – sewn up and dressed, he suggests skin grafts at a later date, but she says she would rather not. This is our first hint as to what will transpire as the film unfolds.
Later at home, after a bath, she starts to pull the dressing off and her boyfriend Vincent (Laurent Lucas) sees the damage – he thinks it rather strange that she cleans it off and seems unperturbed.
At work she goes into the storeroom and takes off her trousers and begins fiddle and dig into the wound, creating more tears in her skin, but doesn’t appear to be pained by it. She seems to like it somehow. Cutting herself. Does it energises her? This behaviour starts to become an obsession – at a client meeting in a restaurant, Esther starts to see odd things as they are talking – her hand cut off. Which nobody else sees of course. With no feeling in her arm she begins to stab and cut it under the table with a steak knife. Shoving a fork into it! She excuses herself and goes into a quiet part of the restaurant and starts to suck the blood from her arm. Perfectly normal…
This is one strange film. Freaky, gory and extreme. Is it a body horror – the kind of thing that continues to fascinate filmmakers (see movies like the recent THE SUBSTANCE and TOGETHER) – or more a study of someone with some kind of mental aberration? Having a breakdown. It is certainly a brave performance by the star. This is the sort of film lauded by arthouse critics. Is it clever? I’m not so sure. It is an exploration of one woman’s strange obsession but it never gives any actual motivation or reason behind what is happening, so you aren’t engaged in what she is doing and it all feels a bit pointless … and then it just ends.
Steve Kirkham
EXTRAS
Audio commentary by Marina de Van (2004)
Interviews with Marina de Van (26 mins), cinematographer Pierre Barougier (22 mins), acting coach Marc Adjadj (20 mins), critic Manuela Lazic (12 mins)
A visual essay by Valeria Villegas Lindvall (11 mins)
Two short student films by Marina de Van: Bien sous tous rapports (1996, 12 mins) and Retention (1997, 15 mins)
Trailer
Plus Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow and Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Savina Petkova and archival writing by Marina de Van.
