Under the Skin, Beyond Scarlett Johansson's Nude

Wilfrid 2022-03-21 09:01:49

For many viewers who want to see Scarlett Johansson naked, "Under the Skin" (2013) is a stuffy movie. Its rhythm is as slow as the "2001: A Space Odyssey" it pays tribute to, especially in this era of short and fast pursuits or "in place" all at once, "Under the Skin" is an "unusual" movie A work that challenges everyone. Many viewers may feel unfamiliar with this presentation method when watching this film, for example, the aliens played by Scarlett Johansson have a similar "feeling" when they come into contact with the human world. And when I watched "Under the Skin" for the first time, I also tried to integrate into this (movie) world like a heroine, but sometimes it was really difficult to swallow it smoothly. This piece of "cake" ( Yes, I did press the fast-forward button while watching its DVD).

Therefore, "Under the Skin Panic" can make the audience outside the play have some feeling of communicating with the protagonist in the play. Its background color is cold, and the dialogue is as little as "2001: A Space Odyssey", and in many paragraphs of the movie, the heroine is a sweetheart to men, but it is interesting that at the end of the movie, it is changed. It was a man (forest park ranger) who came to face the heroine, with a friendly and intentional surface. From this, "Under the Skin" reflects the "negative attitude" towards language. Language is sometimes vaguely spoken, and sometimes it is reduced to a mechanical tool (at the beginning of the film, the heroine mechanically spells out each word of the reader), Or it seems like the layer of skin on the alien body, and to get rid of the skin and flesh of the language, the movie is more through the eyes, expressions, and actions of the characters (the scene where the heroine is choked on the cake may be more than the movie. All of the dialogue is more impressive), to convey their (especially the heroine's) subtle transformation.

The beginning of "Under the Skin" is actually a bit of a mystery. It uses a picture that can be mistaken for shooting in space to explain the process of synthesizing the heroine's eyes (but imitating space, or more precisely imitating "2001: "A Space Odyssey", but implies that the heroine is from outer space). We can see from the picture above that the heroine's eyes are black, which means that she did not have a soul at that time, just like a robot, and the eyes, as the close-up object at the beginning, also revealed its importance in the whole film - female The protagonist observes and recognizes the world we live in through his eyes. This constant observation and the transformation that leads to her are undoubtedly the main content of the entire "Under the Skin".

After the scene of synthesizing the heroine's eyes, the film turns to a snowy field, followed by a motorcycle driving along the mountain road at high speed, followed by a motorcycle rider who picked up a female corpse and went back... This snow field , mountain roads, and high-speed motorcycles will all echo at the end of the film; and the female corpse that was picked up can be understood as the heroine's "ex" - the expression, distribution, and ending from the female corpse When the heroine's face on the skin that was taken off, or the messy black hair, there are some similarities; or the clothes and even the shoes of the female corpse can be put on by the heroine smoothly (and appear suitable)... These can prove that the two are likely to be the same "model". After the heroine got dressed, she found an insect (ant) on the woman's corpse. This was the creature on earth that the heroine first came into contact with - this creature aroused the heroine's curiosity and gradually became her The object you want to be (become a creature); and then to the roughly mid-section of "Under the Skin", an insect appears again - this insect trapped by glass (as shown in the figure below), obviously referring to On behalf of the heroine in a state of confusion. (Otherwise, why would this scene appear in the movie for no reason?)

The simple story "Under the Skin" can be seen as consisting of two paragraphs. The heroine in the first paragraph is indifferent and ruthless, just like a killing machine. The scene of her at the seaside also reflects this characteristic of her - on the one hand, the abandoned child is crying heartily, on the other hand, the heroine is indifferent and ignores the child, and throws a stone at a stranger who is close to her. An unknown man was smashed on the head. The heroine contacts the man in the first paragraph, the purpose is to complete the task, but for the man, some may just want to "eat" the heroine and treat her with sincerity. The exchange between the two parties, In fact, at a very superficial level, it was not until a man who became deformed due to illness appeared that the film would have a major turning point (when the heroine first met this deformed man, the heroine still couldn't She doesn't mind his ugliness what kind of feelings she has for a man. As long as he lives alone, has no friends, or disappears, he won't be found by anyone, and he is the "prey" of the heroine).

Before this major turning point occurred, the film still explained some changes in the heroine (so-called quantitative changes can cause qualitative changes). It's like when she receives a rose with blood on it (the cool tone of the whole movie is more accentuated by the heroine's red lips, red dress and the bright red blood on the flower), she realizes that it won't flow out. The difference between the red- blooded self and humans (red lipstick and clothes represent her imitation of humans, and red blood represents the difference between her and humans); She feels the "temperature" of human beings, not like a cold piece of herself; then she is attacked by young people on the street, and the heroine no longer looks like a killing machine, but becomes the weaker, or begins to generate human (biological ) will have a sense of fear. These plots arouse the heroine to think, make her become conscious, and make her subcutaneous self "live".

After the deformed man was captured by the heroine, the heroine hesitated and stared at her in the mirror (the heroine would never stare at herself in the rearview mirror of the car before, she mainly looked at the world outside the car window). This move marks that her gaze from the outside has turned to herself (in the latter part of the movie, she is even naked in the mirror to observe herself, but not others). In the second part of the film, the heroine leaves the car that has been inseparable from her (or can be tracked), which also represents a kind of cleavage from her past. The heroine stepped out of the fog and entered the life of human beings. On the one hand, she slowly developed feelings for a man and became more and more like a "human"; but on the other hand, she realized that she had something to do with real human beings. Different, as if unable to change their destiny.

The pull of these two aspects runs through the second part of the film. At the end of the movie, she appears weaker, more powerless to resist, or more fearful (in order not to be damaged by the opponent), which reflects that she is closer to becoming an ordinary, weak and slender woman; But at the same time, the "mystery" of the movie "Under the Skin" was revealed again. She took off her outer skin to reveal her hidden true body, and her subcutaneous body was indeed very different from that of humans. Therefore, the above-mentioned two aspects that are pulling each other have come to an obvious state of "splitting" at this time, just like the heroine's self under the skin, separated from the epidermis, that is to say, at this time, she is not only with "people" "Similar, but not similar to "people".

You can choose to watch the movie "Under the Skin Panic" at a 4x fast forward speed, or you can play it back at its normal speed. When you choose the latter method, you may gradually become immersed in its images, or you may change from a viewer to an observer (the heroine in the film is an observer, and you became an observer watching her). Scarlett Johansson's performance is restrained by the slow rhythm of "Under the Skin". She sometimes uses more simplified, such as canceled ups and downs of movements and lines, or almost expressionless, walking dead performances, to avoid the fortress. some feelings for us. This is a work that wants to make everyone feel actively (not everything is prepared for you), but there are some places - like the appearance of thick fog, the stare of the heroine in the mirror, and even the close-up of insects, but Deliberate, obvious motive, intent, or leading.

Last but not least, the soundtrack of this film is really well done. Its cursive, unsettling music at the beginning has already taken the lead, like putting a black cloak on the film, adding to its mystique or elevating it. And whenever the heroine enters a black room (space) with her "prey", the soundtrack, mixed with percussion sounds, appears ghostly but not scary (unlike a typical thriller). soundtrack), like getting you involved in a particular ritual (or ritual), and seduces you even more than Scarlett Johansson's nudes.

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Extended Reading
  • Augusta 2022-04-24 07:01:06

    The big vision must be used to prop up this desolate theme—recovering the identity. The whole story is as simple as a short story (similar to the temperament of a sacred car dealership), and the continuity is slightly lacking. But if the first half is seen as a non-human hunt, then when the protagonist holds up his face after staring in the mirror, is the audience still not a pure third party watching? Finally, the thickening of the snowflakes revealed the answer.

  • Sammy 2022-03-31 09:01:03

    Deliberately cold and incompetent in appreciation, the soundtrack is very strange and mysterious; the reason for taking off for the sake of taking off is not clear, and the painted skin turns into blue smoke in a foreign country.

Under the Skin quotes

  • The Deformed Man: This isn't Tesco's, is it?

    Female: No.

  • Female: Do you want to look at me?