Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Under The Skin

I'm on record saying Under the Skin (2014) is the best film of the year so far. I've seen it twice and loved it each time. The cinematography is amazing and gives the movie a unique and other worldly look. So it was hard to choose just one shot. But for The Film Experience's series "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", I had to do my best.

I chose this shot because this scene was my first indication that this movie is going places I can't anticipate. Scarlett Johansson's unidentified alien has just undressed this dead woman, whom she might have killed,  and wore her clothes. Yet she takes a moment to take her in. What is she thinking? What is she going to do next? Did she just appropriate something more from the dead woman than just her clothes by that look? The last question in particular came to me because I thought Johansson played both of these characters. In some shots the dead woman looks just like her, in others she does not. What is happening? Something so sinister and foreboding yet exciting about the silhouettes in shadow juxtaposed against the stark white background. Again what the fuck is happening?

So many questions and no answers. This will continue until the very end of the movie. And that's what makes it singular and inventive. Man I love this movie.

Review - Under the Skin

I think I might have a new favorite film. I am astonished by how much I liked Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin. It seeped into me and a week after seeing it I'm still lost in a haze of its brilliant images and inventive storytelling. Glazer proves yet again how singular his vision is.

The film is told from the point of view of an alien (played by Scarlet Johansson in their human form) who comes to Earth on a vague mission. She lands in Glasgow and proceeds to pick up men and lure them to her dungeon-like place where they vanish in a big black liquid like pit. Why she needs them is never explained. She might have a handler or a supervisor who sometimes follows her; we are not sure. And the movie doesn't care to explain. It's more interested in the alien learning about being human and discovering emotions that didn't exist before. Strictly sticking to her POV the movie never wavers or tries to explain its plot. No exposition just methodically exploring this particular entity's story. This might be infuriating if you were looking for a cohesive plot.

The images are eerily stark, not exactly conventionally beautiful. The camera explores Earth from this very alien view. Even the streets and people look slightly off, as if I was seeing such shapes for the very first time. One of the reasons why the movie is so brilliant. I don't think I have seen anything like this before. It's a movie that I suspect will reward on multiple viewings and I can't wait to see it again.

Her or All about the High Waist Pants

Phoenix with all those pants behind him

Spike Jonze's Her is unique. It is unlike any other movie I've seen this year - or any year for that matter. It is aesthetically beautiful, succeeding in building a complete "new" world. Architecture, clothes and above all how people communicate with each other. And it doesn't feel the need to fill you in on this world with tiring exposition. The viewer just discovers it as the movie goes along.

Set in Los Angeles sometime in the near future, it tells  the story of a lonely divorced man, Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his "computer" or as it's called in the movie operating system that calls itself Samantha, played by the disembodied voice of Scarlett Johannson. The story features Theodore's interactions with his best friend Amy (Amy Adams), his ex wife (Rooney Mara) and one disastrous date with a unhinged woman (Olivia Wilde).

The movie is funny, sad, lyrical, honest, gorgeous, all at once. It works on so many levels and is compulsively watchable and enchanting at all times. What I loved about it is that it worked as a reflection of dating in this age where we interact online and meet people virtually first. Online chemistry doesn't always translate to real life, to state the obvious. We project huge fantasies into others, setting ourselves up for huge disappointments. Her riffs brilliantly on this theme. From the phone sex encounter that goes wrong - "Choke me with the dead cat" must be the funniest line in a 2013 movie - to the date with Wilde's character to the love story Theodore and Samantha .

Phoenix and Mara in happier times

The film also flashes back brilliantly to Theodore's past marriage. In a few very economical scenes it gives us that relationship and what it means to fall in love young and grow up together but grow apart as a result of growing up. It illuminates how every time you fall in love you carry baggage from previous relationships and that that is not a bad thing. The juxtaposition between the old relationship and the new one with Samantha is what I loved most. Theodore is able to understand what happened in the past and his ex - played brilliantly by Mara in an obvious homage to Jonze's ex Sofia Coppola - has a strong reaction to the implausible love between a man and his OS. She is angry, hurt and of course bewildered but mostly understands why Theodore loves Samantha. While it's very brief this is most realistic relationship in the movie. Theodore talks about it so eloquently and I couldn't help but wonder if this is an olive branch from Jonze to Coppola.

All the actors are impeccable. I wasn't a huge fan of Phoenix's "look at me" big acting in The Master despite admiring the commitment. He's very different here, introspective, quite, funny and definitely more affecting. Adams is lovely as a woman discovering more about herself and Mara is giving possibly her most recognizably honest performance. Johansson does all she can to create a character with her voice and succeeds. Although part of me wishes we didn't get such a recognizable voice to play this part.

Production design, cinematography and costumes are all top notch. I particularly liked the costumes, very beautiful and fit the world the movie was trying to create. All hail high waist pants!

While I think it's a beautiful unique world and story that I know I will visit many more times, I don't think it's an unqualified success. While part of the resolution is fantastic I couldn't relate to some aspects of the sci-fi love story. I admired Jonze's attempt to create Theodore and Samantha on equal footing but didn't entirely relate to the latter's arc. It works best as a story about growing up and discovering more about ourselves and what that does to our relationships. Theodore, his ex, Samantha and Amy all grow up resulting in them reevaluating their relationships.