This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
In My Skin | |
---|---|
Directed by | Marina de Van |
Written by | Marina de Van |
Produced by | Laurence Farenc |
Starring | Marina de Van Laurent Lucas |
Cinematography | Pierre Barougier |
Edited by | Mike Fromentin |
Music by | Esbjorn Svensson |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | France |
Language | French |
In My Skin (French: Dans ma peau) is a 2002 New French Extremity horror film written by, directed by, and starring Marina de Van. It details the downward mental spiral of Esther, a woman (played by de Van) who engages in increasingly destructive acts of self-mutilation following an accident that injures her leg at a party.
One night, whilst attending a house party with colleagues, Esther (Marina de Van), a marketing professional in Paris, hurts her leg in the backyard on some industrial supplies. Alone when it happens, she doesn't even realize she has been hurt until much later, briefly inspecting the injury in an upstairs bathroom. After the party, Esther visits a doctor (Adrian de Van) who patches her up and wonders why she didn't initially feel the injury. Esther wonders too, but seems unconcerned about any cosmetic damage. He asks her jokingly, "Are you sure it's your leg?"
The next day, while taking a bath, Esther becomes fascinated by the folds of skin around her thigh. Her boyfriend, Vincent (Laurent Lucas), finds out about her injury and also becomes concerned about how she didn't feel the injury. Vincent decides to test if Esther can feel anything by lightly touching her arm when she is not looking. She reacts to it normally, but they soon begin to fight before making up quickly.
At work, Esther impulsively runs into a filing closet and proceeds to cut herself further with a random piece of metal. Esther then asks her friend Sandrine (Léa Drucker) to come have a break, but Sandrine declines. Esther reveals candidly that she has just cut herself before laughing it off. Sandrine asks Esther to stay over at her place for the night. There, as Esther is taking a shower, Sandrine sees the extra cuts Esther made to her leg. Esther is indifferent to Sandrine's concerns. Later, when they talk about work, Sandrine expresses a desire to move up in the company where they work.
The next day, Esther informs Sandrine she has just been promoted. Esther later tells Vincent about Sandrine's jealousy, but he is more upset about the new injuries to her leg. Esther asks him to stop questioning her about it. He reluctantly complies and they talk about moving in together. Later, Esther attends a dinner with her supervisor and some important clients. During the meal, Esther's arm moves of its own accord and eventually detaches itself from her body. She begins to stab at it with her steak-knife. Esther soon excuses herself from the table with the knife.
Esther checks herself into a hotel across the road and proceeds to cut and chew at her hands and thighs, leaving large bite marks. She crashes her car in the woods to explain her injuries. Vincent meets her in the ambulance, inspecting her cuts and become suspicious. Later, at home, Vincent talks to Esther about places they can move into together after she heals. Meanwhile, her supervisor berates her for her behavior at the dinner. While walking to work the next day, Esther purchases a camera and a new knife. She goes to another hotel and begins to cut at her flesh again, including her face.
Esther inquires to a pharmacist about preserving a piece of her skin that she claims was cut out during surgery. Back at her hotel room, she calls her work to apologize for her unexplained absence. She also leaves a phone message for Vincent telling him she won't be home that night. The next morning, she wakes up, gets dressed and inspects the now-shriveled piece of skin. Esther places it in her bra and quickly leaves the room. However, a subsequent shot shows Esther still lying on the bed, staring vacantly into the camera. The shot fades to black.
Critical reception for In My Skin was generally positive. The film holds a rating of 68 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 18 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [1] The movie also holds a "fresh" approval rating of 66% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. [2] Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it "as unrelenting an exploration of isolation and dissociation, as Roman Polanski's Repulsion ." [3] [4] Albert Nowicki of Movies Room ranked it among the fifteen best overlooked 21st century indie films. [5]
In 2022, the film played at Fantasia International Film Festival to mark its 20th anniversary. [6] The same year, the Museum of Modern Art showed it as part of its Messaging the Monstrous: Body Horror film series. [7]
In promotion of In My Skin screening at MoMA, critic Elizabeth Horkley wrote of its contemporary relevance: "Far from a product of Munchausen's syndrome, Esther's need to self harm seems to stem from a desire to be the sole caretaker—and decision maker—for her body. The parallels to issues of bodily autonomy are explicit." [8]
The Faculty is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed and edited by Robert Rodriguez with a screenplay by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, Usher Raymond, Jon Stewart, and Elijah Wood.
Marina Abramović is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind. Being active for over four decades, Abramović refers to herself as the "grandmother of performance art". She pioneered a new notion of identity by bringing in the participation of observers, focusing on "confronting pain, blood, and physical limits of the body". In 2007, she founded the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), a non-profit foundation for performance art.
La Peau de chagrin, known in English as The Magic Skin and The Wild Ass's Skin, is an 1831 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850). Set in early 19th-century Paris, it tells the story of a young man who finds a magic piece of shagreen that fulfills his every desire. For each wish granted, however, the skin shrinks and consumes a portion of his physical energy. La Peau de chagrin belongs to the Études philosophiques group of Balzac's sequence of novels, La Comédie humaine.
Cerina Vincent is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role starring as Maya in the television series Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, followed by a part in the comedy film Not Another Teen Movie, before going on to star in the horror film Cabin Fever, which established her as a "scream queen" and led to further roles in horror movies. More recently, she appeared as Suzy Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle. She has also written three books with Jodi Lipper, wrote a regular column for The Huffington Post, and co-hosts the podcast Raising Amazing with Dr. Joel Gator.
Sandrine Kiberlain is a French actress and singer. Her most notable roles were in the films The Patriots (1994), A Self Made Hero (1996), For Sale (1998), Alias Betty (2001), Mademoiselle Chambon (2009), 9 Month Stretch (2013), and Number One Fan (2014). Kiberlain has appeared in over sixty films and won two César Awards from eight nominations.
The Blood on Satan's Claw is a 1971 British supernatural period folk horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village whose youth fall under the influence of a demonic presence after a local farmer unearths a mysterious deformed skull buried in a field.
Spirits of the Dead, also known as Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Tales of Mystery, is a 1968 horror anthology film comprising three segments respectively directed by Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini, based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. A French-Italian international co-production, the film's French title is derived from a 1856 collection of Poe's short stories translated by French poet Charles Baudelaire; the English titles Spirits of the Dead and Tales of Mystery and Imagination are respectively taken from an 1827 poem by Poe and a 1902 British collection of his stories.
Nadia Farès is a French actress. She made her film debut in 1992, with My Wife's Girlfriends. She rose to fame with the police thriller Les Rivières pourpres. She appeared as Jade Agent Kinler in the 2007 action/thriller War, and as Pia in the 2007 horror film Storm Warning.
Diane Kurys is a French director, producer, filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are semi-autobiographical.
Bearskin is a French literary fairy tale by Marie-Madeleine de Lubert. It was included in her revised edition, published in 1753, of Henriette-Julie de Murat's last novel, Les Lutins du château de Kernosy, which is why it is often attributed to Madame Henriette-Julie de Murat.
New French Extremity describes a range of French transgressive films made at the turn of the 21st century that sparked controversy, and provoked significant debate and discussion. were notable for including graphic images of violence, especially sexual violence and rape, as well as explicit sexual imagery.
Vagina dentata is a folk tale tradition in which a woman's vagina is said to contain teeth, with the associated implication that sexual intercourse might result in injury, emasculation, or castration for the man involved. The topic of vagina dentata may also cover a rare medical condition affecting the vagina, in which case it is more accurately termed a vaginal dermoid cyst.
Marina de Van is a French film director, screenwriter and actress. Her film, Don't Look Back, was screened out of competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
The Toilette of Esther or Esther Preparing to be Presented to King Ahasuerus, is an 1841 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Théodore Chassériau. The painting depicts a moment from the scriptural Book of Esther, when Esther prepared to meet King Ahasuerus, ruler of Persia, who subsequently took her as his wife. The painting is in the Musée du Louvre. Vincent Pomarède of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon has described it as "one of the most famous (paintings) in the Louvre".
Once Upon an Angel is a 2002 French romantic drama film directed by Vincent Perez, starring Morgane Moré and Guillaume Depardieu.
The Cabourg Film Festival takes place on the seaside of Normandy every year in June. With romance as its theme, the festival presents a selection of films dedicated to passion, love, and fantasies.
Raw is a 2016 coming-of-age body horror drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau, and starring Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, and Rabah Nait Oufella. The plot follows a young vegetarian's first year at veterinary school, where she tastes meat for the first time and develops a craving for human flesh.
Brigitte Poupart is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She is most noted for her performance in the film Ravenous and for directing the 2012 film Over My Dead Body.
Titane is a 2021 body horror psychological drama film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. The French-Belgian co-production stars Agathe Rousselle in her feature film debut as Alexia, a woman who, after being injured in a car crash as a child, has a titanium plate fitted into her head. In adulthood, Alexia becomes a murderous car model with an erotic fascination with automobiles, leading to a bizarre sexual encounter that sets off an increasingly outlandish series of events. Vincent Lindon, Garance Marillier and Laïs Salameh also star.
Unearth is a 2020 American horror film directed and edited by John C. Lyons and Dorota Swies, from a screenplay by Lyons and Kelsey Goldberg. It stars Adrienne Barbeau and Marc Blucas as the respective heads of two neighboring farm families in the rural United States. When one of the families leases their land to a natural gas company, the resulting fracking releases a force that threatens the lives of both families. Alongside Barbeau and Blucas, the film's cast includes P. J. Marshall, Allison McAtee, Rachel McKeon, Monica Wyche, and Brooke Sorenson.