Carine Adler’s “Under The Skin”

Under the Skin (1997)

Potent story of grief and sisterhood with a powerful performance from Samantha Morton in her feature film debut is at once difficult, cathartic and thoughtful

Samantha Morton’s feature film debut (before Woody Allen claimed to have discovered her for the subsequent Sweet and Lowdown, or the release of Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 film of the same name) is an intimate story of sisters Iris(Morton) and Rose(Claire Rushbrook) and their contrasting mechanisms for coping with loss; Rose who is emotional but coping and Iris who suppresses her pain through her sexuality.

As Iris externalises her grief through a series of sexual encounters, sex scenes almost entirely consisting of dialogue are considerably more effective and potent in conveying the desire and emotion (or lack thereof) than more explicit displays. These moments also sit more naturally in the texture and the tempo of the film. Saying that, the film does open with a jarring display of a nude Morton along with the title which feels out of place.

As a sidenote, I stumbled across the term “scopophilia” today which is a term referring to the male gaze’s tendency to be skewed by perceived beauty in the context of art or specifically the wider prominance of the male gaze in Hollywood films where women are objectified. In terms of reviews, it’s important to be aware of these concepts but being a man, I suppose there’s always a possibility that an inate and subconscious bias is within me. For this, I depend on feedback.

Back to the film, this is Carine Adlers first and only feature film to date. She also penned the screenplay based on the book Mother, Madonna, Whore by forensic psychiatrist Estela V. Welldon's. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find much on why she never went on to create further films as this film is so strong and received much deserved kudos on its release.

It’s a tough watch even for its short 73 minute runtime but is ultimately cathartic and thoughtful.