One of the things I am bitter about in not being able to go to the Cannes Film Festival is that I will miss the chance to be one of the first to see Pedro Almodovar‘s new film The Skin I Live In, which sounds and looks unlike anything the Spanish director has done before. Today a Spanish website has released three images for the film which are coming to us via The Playlist.
The film is based on a 2005 novel Tarantula written by Thierry Jonque and is about a plastic surgeon who seeks revenge on the people who have raped his daughter, but in true Almodovar style it turns out the good doctor is himself a twisted and perverse individual who uses his wife for some extremely bizarre sex acts. I’m a huge fan of Almodovar’s work. Many mainstream audiences will know him for more mature works such as the Oscar winning All About My Mother and Talk to Her but he has a brutally dark and twisted sensibility. He’s an acquired taste and if you’re familiar with more ‘out there’ works like Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! or Kika we’re in similar territory here.
The pictures reflect that and are definitely strange and creepy, I personally can’t wait. The film is expected to open to audiences later in the year and will star Antonio Banderas in the lead role and features a couple of Almodovar regulars including Marisa Paredes and Elena Anaya. The film will debut at Cannes, where it is part of the main competition, which begins May 11th.
