It's not very often I'm left with little to say about a film other than: what the fuck? On the surface, In My Skin is the story of Esther, an upwardly mobile mid-30's professional woman with a loving boyfriend. In the eyes of society, she has it all but despite having it all, Esther is on the brink of a major collapse.Early on Esther's actions show she's willing to do whatever it takes to move up the corporate ladder: flirt with the boss, step on the back of her closest friend, etc. But why? Does Esther really want the career she strives towards or is she reluctantly doing what's expected of her? Esther literally opens up to something deeper, darker and more fulfilling when she accidentally gashes her leg open at a party. The bloody gash and torn flesh excite something within Ester, possess her and before long, turn her desires into a self destructive obsession.
Her obsession grows, refusing her wound the ability to heal, re-opening it, probing it, slicing into it and slicing into other virgin patches of her flesh. Before long, Esther is seducing herself in a seedy hotel room, cutting into herself and in a very sexually suggestive manner, eating herself. Not surprising, Esther's obsession starts to negatively encroach on the idyllic life she's built around her: job, loving partner, friends; eventually these priorities fall down the hierarchical ladder, usurped by her narcissistic pursuit to consume herself. But before we reach any natural or logical conclusion to Esther's plight, we are suddenly left staring her in the eyes before the film abruptly ends, leaving us to ponder...what. the. fuck?
IMS is beautifully photographed, many shots abstracted by the use of extreme close ups and split screens, it is impossible to not feel somewhat seduced by the same fetishistic obsession that (no pun intended) consumes Esther. But beautiful or not, IMS is bloody, gory and not for the faint of heart. Every time Esther glides a gleaming knife over the surface of her bloodied skin, we cringe in anticipation of her next incision. De Van wants us to feel uncomfortable, she wants us to search for greater meaning, just as Esther does and since it's obvious there's a lot more going on than what we see on the surface, we dig deeper...just like Esther.
While on one hand it's (literally) painfully obvious IMS is critiquing the way we live - in addition to our material and physical obsessions - it is impossible to truly understand why Ester goes as far as she does. Perhaps that's the point, that the effects of modern living won't relent until we are literally chewed up and spit out. I can't say for sure whether I'll ever resort to hacking chunks of my flesh off my body for consumption or preservation, but one thing is for sure, IMS is definitely food for thought.
0 Yorumlar