Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer)

[DavidSeven]

I'm kind of at a loss with people who think this is too outre. The narrative thread is really straight forward. The Man Who Fell to Earth is more confusing to me.

Yeah, I think the gist of the "story" is pretty easily penetrable. I think the lack of conventional dramatic tension and dialogue probably causes people to disengage for chunks at a time, but that doesn't mean its opaque. It's just more challenging/taxing to engage.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I got serious "The Brother From Another Planet" vibes, as that film was also more a combination of images and moments, a travelogue with a bit of story. I'd like to watch the two back to back sometime.

[Pop Trash]

I got serious "The Brother From Another Planet" vibes, as that film was also more a combination of images and moments, a travelogue with a bit of story. I'd like to watch the two back to back sometime.

That's a good comparison that hasn't been brought up much. Probably because John Sayles isn't nearly as interested in being a hardcore stylist like Roeg & Glazer.

[Skitch]

I saw this a while back when Match Cut was in transition. Fucking loved it. It was everything I wanted it to be. Best movie of the year, and no Oscar noms. A damn shame.

[Spinal]

Wow, has anyone else read the book? Completely different. Glazer really made it his own.

[Dukefrukem]

Scarlett is on Howard Stern this morning discussing this movie, and I had no idea the people she picks up off the street- most of them were non-actors and they filmed those scenes with hidden cameras.

[transmogrifier]

Mild yay - first half is significantly better than the second half, where it becomes a standard "rebelling against your role" thing layered in arty catnip (mostly good arty catnip, but still...). The problem is, I never really bought the idea that the alien suddenly gains a conscience (for a lack of a better word) because she meets the deformed man and "feels" sorry for him (or at the very least recognizes him as different from everyone else). The first half does a great job of making the alien blank and programmed, with simple commands to follow (will they be missed immediately? Will I be seen?). Suddenly she is able to sympathize with the plight of an individual that suffers within a uniquely human context (looks vs. companionship vs. self-worth vs. loneliness). It plays a little like a little boy burning an ant hill and then choosing to save one particular ant because other ants find it ugly.... it ends up feeling hugely contrived when compared to the unsettling atmosphere that came before it.

[Ezee E]

Scarlett is on Howard Stern this morning discussing this movie, and I had no idea the people she picks up off the street- most of them were non-actors and they filmed those scenes with hidden cameras.

I need to rewatch this, but I still don't believe that fully. If anything, I'll believe that there wasn't a script, but the non-actors knew what they were getting into.

[number8]

Wasn't just the van scenes. The scenes of her walking around in the streets were filmed candidly too. When she fell and people came over to help her, those people didn't know they were filmed either.

[Skitch]

I remember reading about that when the film came out.