CineTV Contest #63 - Scarlett Johansson's Favorite Movie: Under the Skin.

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We are used to seeing films in which the predator is man, but in the 2010 film Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer) the roles are reversed to present us with a dark science fiction film. The film lacks an attractive aesthetic, is not cheerful and presents a plot that transpires coldness and darkness as well as a silence that often manages to disturb the viewer.


Screenshot 20230605 at 160517 Under the skin 2013.png

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I must confess that I approached the film to see the full nudity of its protagonist Scarlett Johanssen, as if this was the main attraction of the film, but I find something else. This is a film that plays with the role of beauty in a society of appearances.

In the film, a lonely and attractive woman (Scarlett Johansson) goes from one place to another through the icy streets of Scotland in a van, her goal is to conquer men, have sex with them and drag them to a terrible destiny. Johansson, is an alien with human skin that attracts lonely men or social outcasts, in order to feed or feed something through the suction of their blood. That is why I call her a predator looking for her prey.


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Each victim is dragged to a house where, after the alien's seduction, they sink into a black and viscous liquid, where they sink and remain in a limbo where they die absorbed, their skin remaining floating in a horrifying darkness. Sex, here, is a nightmare.


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In the course of the film we see how she advances and goes deeper into society, and through observation, internalizes very human patterns such as consumerism, everyday conversations, and even feelings.

There is a scene on a beach with a busy sea, a mother with her husband, a baby and a dog. The canine gets deep enough into the foamy sea to be unable to return to dry land on its own, the wife, in desperation, goes to his aid, and the husband runs after her. The baby, emits a faint cry. The alien's indifference to the tragedy is shocking.


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The protagonist will try to connect with the world around her, plagiarize habits and learn little by little. Everything happens very slowly and in certainly disturbing circumstances.


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While wandering through a forest, the woman encounters a woodcutter and takes refuge in a cabin, the woodcutter tries to molest her. She runs into the forest, but is caught and the woodcutter tears off her skin, revealing a black, featureless body. When the woman sheds her skin, the man douses her with fuel and burns her alive.


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The actress is presented to us in a coat, a black wig and a kilo of makeup looks like a caricature of herself; her face is impassive, she is a being who does not flinch at what she sees. Her presence is disturbing and she utters only a handful of sentences in the entire film. Scarlett Johansson embodies a character that recognizes complexities in different human attitudes, it seems that little by little she is becoming aware of what it is to be human.

With this performance Scarlett Johansson proves that she is not only a blockbuster actress, she holds the film by herself. She shows us the vision of our world through the eyes of an alien who sees us as full of contradictions, insecure, basic, and disorganized. Her performance is very sober and more than fulfills her subtle metamorphosis, showing curiosity for the way of life she doesn't understand.

Mica Levi is in charge of the musical section, contributing melodies that, for the most part, are totally ambient or chaotic, but that combine excellently with the action.

I really like this actress in dramatic roles like in 2019's Story of a Marriage for which she was nominated for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, for a very superb performance. In 2003's Lost in Translation she stands out as a misunderstood young woman and in the tragicomic Jojo Rabbit she is the mother who hides a Jewish girl in the attic of her house in Nazi Germany during World War II.

As for action movies, she shines as Lucy in the 2014 film of the same name directed by Luc Besson. In Her a 2013 comedy-drama she manages to make me fall in love with her voice alone.

I think Marvel failed to fully exploit her potential as the Black Widow both in the Avengers films and in her own film.

She has proven to be a very versatile actress acting in comedies, dramas and science fiction, in addition to possessing a spectacular beauty.

I would like to talk in a next opportunity about a very good actress and at the same time beautiful woman: Emily Blunt. She has turned out a lot in film and television roles.

This is my participation in the CineTV Contest #63 - Scarlett Johansson's Favorite Movie Link Here . A pleasure to write for the community, greetings and good luck to the other participants.

Posted using CineTV



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