Review of Mysterious Skin (2005) by Manolo P — 22 Feb 2017

One of the most difficult films to watch, however, it is positioned among the best. "Mysterious Skin" by the controversial director Gregg Araki, produces a magnificent work of which it is difficult to discuss and obtain a single verdict, because many different conclusions can come out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with the character of Neil McCormick protagonists this supreme melodrama, whose interpretation as well as that of the co-protagonist Bryan (Brady Corbet) show us what it is to make a really good, memorable, widely thought-provoking and f psychological-character study rather than deep. The rest of the cast, including Elisabeth Shue, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jeff Licon, Bill Sage, Chase Ellison, Billy Drago, Mary Lynn Rajskub, among others; Some more famous than others, and some with more appearances than the others, are also exceptional. Araki's film product sets the sad, gloomy, and very harsh experience of two eight-year-old boys, both team-mates from a Kansas township baseball team. The parallel histories that are shown, position Gordon-Levitt and Corbet in a mysterious atmosphere during their infancy in which diverse circumstances lead them to severe traumas with which not only their lives change, but they will suffer from so many changes during their adolescence due to the traumatic consequences that their childhood will have left them,having to face the challenge of having to deal a life full of bumps and obstacles full of why's, full of what is not clear, blureness, and the fact of living among what is disturbing and unknown.

Araki talks about pedophilia and the several of its impacts; he offers a wide and detailed discourse from the moment of trauma to its confrontation, always sowing doubts, but without being confusing, they incite the audience to think, to reflect and to act, trying to find possible answers and solutions; He also proposes a dense and difficult journey to assimilate, in which the determination is placed to get the audience to come in and live face to face the painful reality that many around the world pass through. It is funny when people commonly say that they are aware of what trauma is and what it can leave, they mention understanding hunger, pain, suffering and despair from many facets, but they seldom stop to wonder , What would happen if someone close lived such a thing, or worse, what would have happened if one by him or her self were under a situation like that one. It is most striking how many of the most questionable and uncomfortable topics are among the most recurrent in our society, including homosexuality, prostitution, violence, family break-up, drug abuse, among others, that we always prefer to turn around and cover our eyes. Many of the taboos that especially in this century have been intended to collapse leave many others still intact, and so it is not unfamiliar that there are those who react negatively towards this film. Yes, the positions are divided: you could love or hate this movie, but is that really the goal? Not quite; In fact, it goes beyond all that, the film is made to feel aberration, to feel compassion, to feel an infinite and disheartening pain, but also endowed with an air full of inspiration and hope.

"Mysterious Skin" arises from nihilism as a pessimistic way to cope with life, perhaps the innovation of Araki lies in not seeing the traumas as the end of the world, but as a melancholic and affective form of surpassing what could be in all senses the worst that could happen to anyone. The film is full of challenges, and on many occasions it is too revealing to the point that it puts itself under a terrible risk. Yes, the tape is full of darkness, but if we analyze in detail we find that it is very illuminated too, and indeed quite. You do need to be prepared to watch this film, because it is not easy. The audience must know that they will face explicit images, which are carefully placed, but they are still shocking and heavy; The story effectively manages to maintain a well-established basis of what is being talked about, so the issues do not falter. It manages to push away the clichés about homosexuality because the movie does not detach itself towards insanity and defines facts that explore the effects of events that can destroy anyone.

Disturbing while victorious, this Art-house product aims to make this story as realistic as possible, using magnificent minimalist cinematographic resources that bring you closer to the eighties and the nineties, and not for this minimalism the special effects are left behind, indeed, these are recurrent and very well elaborated, fitting opportunely when they are required. Photography is luxuriant, there are exuberant shots that denote the knowledge of good handling in many of the scenes. Music is embracing, it is more than powerful. Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd produce as always, a soundtrack that manipulates you and takes you away and that works as a key in this movie because the dream that envelops you is meant to feel which could be a long, soft nightmare, sweet, but blunt and endless.

"Mysterious Skin" is a devastating but sublime and charming film that honors its fragile characters with vital respect. Excellently the film, through the novel that represents, is challenging and like most movies that are good, it is not made for the audience to wait or demand something, but quite the opposite, the film demands something from you. One could cover or even flee from it, but those who watch it with attention and seriousness, are and will be sent undulating between their thoughts.

98/100.