Under the Skin
Grade: B
Director: Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast)
Screenplay: Walter Campbell and Glazer from Michael Faber novel.
Cast: Scarlett Johansson (Captain America), Jeremy McWilliams
Rating: R
Runtime: 108 min.
by John DeSando
“The alienated person is out of touch with himself as he is out of touch with any other person.” Erich Fromm
Yes, Under the Skin gets under my skin in an appreciative way. I’m not sure where director Jonathan Glazer wants to takes us in this artfully-adapted sci-fi drama about an alien, (Scarlett Johansson), who preys on robust Scottish men with almost alien brogues as she trolls the streets of Glasgow and, in the novel it seems, the Scottish Highlands’ A9 (near Loch Ness of all places!). The film at the least deals with the existential challenges of taking on a human identity, and, well, using human parts for sybaritic smorgasbord somewhere in the galaxy.
Although the alien seems to be charged with the body-part harvesting (director Glazer keep details at a minimum), a phantom motorcyclist is always around to clean up after she dispatches her men. They eventually drown in some black goo that could represent their inevitable death march or the wages of lust. Anyhow, if you rise a level above ogling the voluptuous Johansson body (good enough to lure every one of her targets), you might think about the danger of unbridled desire or just the plain danger of accepting a ride from a stranger.
She is a siren of serious dimensions, a subconsciously-desired object of men who pay dearly for having no governor on their lusts, even when she looks like the sexiest young screen actress of our time. While all this may seem like a good time at the movies, it’s grimly about alien forces that stalk us every day, such as Tea-Party devotees or super-hero blockbuster movies.
Although Under the Skin is certifiably an art film, cinematographer Daniel Landin spends too much time on Johansson’s face, which hasn’t had enough acting experience to display the nuances this role demands. However, his sequences in the forests and at the beach are beautiful and forbidding.
Under the Skin does go under the surface to suggest the challenges of assuming other identities in a troubled planet just finding its own way after world wars and foul men. As Stephen Holden of the NYT suggests, the film shows we’re all aliens in disguise.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
