In My Skin (2003)

Just watched this film a couple days ago, and haven't really been able to let go. I'd been meaning to watch it, along with a few other gems associated with the New French Extremity, for quite some time now, and managed to find it at a local (but amazing) video store.First of all, this was one of the most deeply uncomfortable viewing experiences of my life. There isn't the typical fast, exaggerated gore typical to most films in the genre. The violence is slow, drawn out, gnawing and scratching, sickening, shameful, secretive.Second, and what has struck me the most, is that this is the most honest and brutal depiction of self-harm/self-mutilation I've ever seen. Truly. I've been a cutter for some time (thankfully recovered), and at its worse it was catastrophic and insane. There's a strong element of shame. You isolate. But what this movie nails the most, that not only is missed in other depictions but has always been hard for me to describe, is the depersonalization, the dissociation from your own body. The restaurant scene tackles this concept quite literally, in fact. It's still hard to really put into words, so I'll let this movie talk for me.If you're looking to push your boundaries or witness one of the more devastating downward spirals committed to celluloid, definitely check this one out.

In the slow, hidden meaning, and dark secret kind of movies, we come across something like this.Once again, in western type movies, the protagonist always have to throw what they feel at the audience so the audience doesn't have to think. This one will. The fact that she does things that you wouldn't think you do yourself and reacts on it later will have you mind-boggled. we all have our own way of dealing with things. This one tends to deal with a more dark and gruesome way to deal with it. Which is simply fine, if you can stomach some of the scenes in the movie, and love to try to read the underlying meaning within the movie to try to get the real beauty out. Id say give it a watch 7/10

Stunning film from writer/director Marina de Van. The film is bathed in atmosphere from the opening scenes as the viewer sees straight away this isn't going to be an average type film. The comparisons to David Cronenberg are very reasonable, and to some lesser degree Dario Argento. It's not all visual though, the story and acting really enveloped me. I had seen her work in Francoiz Ozon's SEE THE SEA as an actress, and I should have known this woman would have more great work under her belt to come. It's not a film for conservative film goers, but ambitious viewers should give it a look!!

Throughout this film i couldn't help but be reminded of American Psycho, both the book and the film. The stories share the exact same overriding theme; the complete and utter emptiness and shallowness of their social and thus emotional landscape leads the protagonist to extreme and violent depths in order to find something that makes them feel anything.The scene that really stuck out and made this clear for me was the dinner scene. Sat with her wealthy, pretentious work peers or 'friends', discussions include such fascinating topics as 'which city in the world has the best architecture?', which leads one of the group to propose Paris, and then enter a long monologue on why; 'architecture that is so beautiful, but most importantly, consistent' (paraphrased). Just one sound byte of an entire scene of conversation that hemorrhages vapidity and blandness. Meanwhile Esther, in the midst of this, struggles to control her urge to self-harm - and begins cutting herself beneath the table.In American Psycho, it was this same vapidity and emptiness of his world that lead Patrick Bateman to experiment with murder and extreme violence. In Dans Ma Peau, we see the exact same, but this time that same primal urge to violence that seems to be awakened in their emotionally desolate worlds, is turned inwards instead of out.Both films seem to suggest that the combined emotional effect of vanity and superficiality creates an emotional gulf that only violence can fill, be it inwards or outwards.