I reckon this is going to be a sort of Marmite film if (go on, when) you watch it, it's not the most action packed feature of 2013, and there is extremely little in the way of expositional dialogue. In fact, I reckon there's no expositional dialogue. But the film on the whole is a stunning piece of work, each different aspect is crafted beautifully, and Scarlett Johansson does a stunning job of conveying everything you need to know through through her performance. In reality the following clip could be slightly shorter, but I thought I'd add in that first shot, y'know, as a bit of an extra convincer.
So here it is!
(apparently I can't embed this one due to copyright something blah blah blah, so the still above should link straight to youtube!)
Done? Happy? Confused? Feeling slightly peckish?
Let me add a little bit of an explanation to the clip, then I'll rock on and do a little bit extra on the make-up of the clip and the various aspects I love about it.
I might then add in a couple of other stills from the rest of the film, to wet appetites further. If you've been good.
So it doesn't really matter where in the film that clip comes, all you need to know is that it's very personal to the character, and vital to the self discovery that you're going to be following along. But before we get into any of that, there's the opening shot (that I left in purposefully, and is a clean break off from the scene/settings just before this clip). This is pretty much standard for this film, there are some absolutely beautiful landscape shots throughout, and they give an incredibly mysterious air to the Scottish setting, and in a way, it aids the sci-fi aspect of what is otherwise a narrative fairly based in reality. Shots like these remind me ever so slightly of a less blue Prometheus, but that's about the only comparison I'm going to make. Prometheus is pretty and very little else in my view.
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| Under the Skin (2013) |
Now the narrative of this little segment, the self realisation that the lead character is unable to truly be as human as the people around her. It's essentially a little bit of envious people watching from a POV perspective followed by some really intensely held shots as she tries to fit in. There's a conscious decision to string out that moment as long as possible, only two camera angles, and a lot of chew time. Never thought that would be a thing that I'd ever type. It's a proper realisation moment, where she realises that she's never going to be able to fit in properly with humanity, outlined by some of the reactions when she nearly throws the cake up.
Now technically, I think this scene is silently stunning, there is very little in the way of sound, so much so that at times in the wrong environment it's possible to think that it's muted. But then it feels in no way unnatural also to me. The location and setting lends it's self to that level of silence, and there's very little visibly diegetic in the scene that you expect to hear. It's a prime example of well used minimalism which fits in nicely with a number of other scenes throughout the film. The only sounds you really hear surround the eating of the cake, cutlery on china plate, and gagging on the food, with the rest of the visible diegetic sound you'd expect (maybe those cars in the background, or the rest of the people in the established open space) blend seamlessly into the background.
So that's pretty much it. It's not an expansive spectacle of a scene, or part of a scene, but there's a lot packed into such a small segment in terms of exposition, and that's what impresses me hugely about this film. The entire piece contains very little in the way of expositional back story, flashbacks or dialogue, and focuses on showing you everything you need to know through the performance and the interactions. It just stuck with me, after my first viewing, and the getting the bluray of it gave me another chance to sit back and properly understand what's happening. I openly accept that it's not the sort of thing you can half watch, or spend part of your concentration on, you need to be fully involved, and that's a pretty brave thing considering the habits of some film audiences these days.
Oh yeah, and the soundtrack really abrasive so listen to by itself, but incredibly fitting to the picture, and properly completes the work of art.
Now, you've been good enough, have a couple more locational stills. Not all of them though obviously, don't want to spoil it for people!
Three of the many beautiful location wides. Paintings the lot of them.
Anyway, that's me over and out, don't let the Scottish accents turn you off from watching it ;)
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