A mysterious woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. Events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.
Under the Skin is a 2013 science fiction film directed and co-written by Jonathan Glazer loosely based on Michel Faber's 2000 novel of the same name. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an otherworldly woman who preys on men in Scotland.
This is a weird fucking film.
Firstly, there is no obvious narrative in this film, because it does not have a big significance or importance here. On the most basic level it is a story of an alien imposing a woman and seducing men from all over Scotland in order to drain their flesh. This is the most simple summary of the movie. On deeper layers it is a serious study of our society. The film's main focus is on the inside and outside of things, the philosophy of form and material. Johansson's character is struggling in this society. She is always portrayed as going against the stream, she is lost in the sea of rushing people who do not want to get deeper into things, because they know they could be hurt. This is represented in a very subtle visual way. For instance, roses look nice in the film, but they have spikes which make rose seller's hands bleed. A piece of cake seems delicious, but the taste of it is disgusting. It is always the fight between the surface and depth in this film, the first impression and further investigation. I believe it is a very important theme for our society where people are afraid of making commitments or engagements, where they seek for quick pleasures, even though they need true and honest love. The film is very strong visually and stylistically. In order for the reader to get a glimpse of what it is, I will say that it is sort of a combination of Kubrick, Lynch and von Trier.
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| What's Under The Skin |
Scarlett Johansson doesn't have a lot to do in this film; basically make small talk and get naked, all the while with a plain face. You have never seen a movie even remotely like this.
"Under The Skin" is unique among films in content and scope. The cinematography is out-of-this-world, breathtaking, and the musical score is sublime. Jonathan Glazer's "Under The Skin" is art in the highest sense, like Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", or Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night". The film requires you to watch in a different way than you normally watch films. It requires you to experience strange and beautiful images without feeling guilty that there is no complex plot or detailed characterization. Don't get me wrong, plots and characters are good, but they're not the be-all and end-all of everything. There are different KINDS of film, and to enjoy 'Under The Sin' you must tune your brain to a different wavelength.
Why should you see this movie? Because it's really beautiful, shows you visuals you've never seen before, tells a tragic mystery without burying you in exposition, and holds an absolutely unselfconscious confidence. It shows beauty and ugliness as a matter of fact, without constantly checking to make sure we grasp which is which. It uses special effects to quietly augment reality and paint the fantastic into the corners of ordinary scenes. It may leave you weirded out and uncomfortable.
A truly unique film. A truly weird as fuck unique film.
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| Hi Sean. |
Trivia:
The men lured into the van by Scarlett Johansson's character were not actors. Jonathan Glazer had hidden cameras installed in the van and only informed the men afterwards that they were in a movie.
Adam Pearson, who plays the disfigured man who is lured into the vehicle, broke his leg when he was struck by a cab on his way to audition for his role. Director Jonathan Glazer auditioned him the next day at the hospital and gave him the job.
Scarlett Johansson did the nude scenes herself without the use of a body double. Which should really be of interest to Sean.
Close to the end one of the motorcycle riders overlooks a valley shrouded in fog. The composition of the image and the pose of the rider mimics Caspar David Friedrichs 1818 oil painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.
The film took nearly 10 years to be made, and one of the early drafts of the scripts included a Scottish married couple, who were revealed to be aliens in disguise. Brad Pitt was, at the time, cast as one half of the couple.
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| Just cruising looking for Sean |
A paparazzi still of Scarlett Johansson, in character, falling down became a wildly popular Internet meme in which users would Photoshop Johansson into various situations. As the scene was shot with hidden cameras, it was not until the movie's release that it was revealed the fall was intentional.
Championship motorcycle road racer Jeremy McWilliams was cast as the motorcyclist to handle the treacherous driving conditions of the Scottish Highlands.
The nightclub that Scarlett Johansson gets pulled into is Club Earth in Livingston, West Lothian. Although the exterior shots & many of the interior shots are of the actual club, her escape route & scene in the toilet corridor seem to have been filmed elsewhere.
The first proper line of dialogue happens 13 minutes into the film.
One of the locations where Under the Skin was filmed was in the Robert Street area of Port Glasgow. (Where the second victim is lured). Filming had to be delayed for a number of days as there was a real life murder in the next street prior to filming and the Police had cordoned the area off.
Novelist and screenwriter Alexander Stuart ("The War Zone") wrote the first three drafts of the script.
The scene where Scarlett enters the stone hut for shelter was filmed on the eastern shores of Loch Lomond. It was filmed over two days. The cast and crew had to be taken by boat from Tarbet to the set as there is no road access. The only access is a footpath known as the West Highland Way.
In August 2014, Mr. Skin placed Scarlett Johansson's nude scenes from the movie at #1 on their list of "The Top 150 Greatest Celebrity Nude Scenes of All Time".
There is only one character in the entire film that has an actual first name being "Andrew". Every other character is just a broad description like "The Female" or "The Bad Man".
Like The Terminator (1984) films, The Female arrives on Earth bare naked and takes and wears another woman's clothes.
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| Scarlett and my cousin Brian. No makeup on him,. |
One theory suggests that The Female is actually a Selkie instead of an alien. Selkies are mythological creatures found in Scottish, Irish, and Icelandic folk lore. Selkies are said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land. Selkies are described as being very beautiful in their human form and therefore having great seductive powers.
Adam Pearson (The disfigured man) was interviewed on the Australian morning talk show "Studio 10" about the film and had stated the scene where he runs naked through a field in Scotland was filmed at 3 in the morning and that it was so cold.
After finishing work on the film. Scarlett Johansson would start work on two other science fiction films: Lucy (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
