Review
Raw as an open wound, Marina de Van's debut feature, In My Skin is a disturbing, self-obsessed psychological horror film. The director, who also stars in the film as the afflicted Esther, slowly and subtly builds a sense of unease to tension and dread. De Van literalizes a connection between material success and unhealthy self-image that leads to disaster. In My Skin seems to be as much about Esther's probing discontent with her values as it is about her uneasy relationship with her own body. This is brought to the fore in a supremely uncomfortable and darkly comic scene in which Esther tries to control her self-mutilating compulsion during a fancy dinner with important clients. She loses interest in the banal chatter of the clients when she imagines her left arm has detached itself from her body and is lying limp next to her plate. Pulling it under the table, she proceeds to surreptitiously violate the misbehaving limb with a fork, before awkwardly excusing herself. De Van uses some restraint in the early going. She achieves a ghastly effectiveness using sound effects and a good deal of grotesque, but not bloody, body imagery. As Esther slips deeper into madness, restraint is thrown out the window and the film becomes a bloody mess. De Van makes her points early on and later seems to be struggling for a way to shock us anew. As a result, the film's denouement is thematically muddled. Still, In My Skin is intensely personal filmmaking, and de Van deserves credit for her boldness in exposing her obsessions. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

On the DVD
16 x 9 letterboxed 1.85.1 presentation
5.1 mix
Commentary with Marina de Van
Subtitle control
Bonus short films: "Alias" and "Psy-show"
Theatrical trailer
Web links

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Inside DVD ~ Alexandre Bustillo  (1)  CDN$ 16.66

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5 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review (5 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: amazing and disturbing, April 23 2004 By  mademoiselle_josephine_clementine_pilgrim (1550 N. Fern Circle) - See all my reviews i don't really feel like writing alot about this film here so this review probably won't be one of those "helpful" ones. what does that mean anyway? helpful to whom? i write this just to say that this one of those films that are very difficult to watch and yet you keep watching. marina de van is amazing as the main character the director and the writer. i guess i could write some critical/theoretical comments about body politics and the objectification of internal pain states etc. but i am really sick of writing theory. if you are looking for visual representations or performances addressing issues of the body and identity you could cull a few from here. to be silly i will say this is not a good date movie (at least as far as any relationship i'd like to be in). you will not feel happy and uplifted afterwards. you might even come away thinking films like this have no redeeming value. yet it is so so very very compelling to watch and think about. also, if you have ever looked at websites about "cutting" (often young over-achieving girls, but possible in any demographic) or if you cut or know of someone who does this would be a movie about the complex of "cutting" writ large. i don't know that much about it but i think it is alittle like anorexia and bulimia where people try to take control of their own lives at the only level they can. now i know that the ana/mia websites have the disclaimer that if you are a "recovering" ana/mia person you should not enter because you might get "triggered?" to return to your old habits and i think maybe that would be true for cutters too, and this film is so very graphic and eroticizes the act to the extent that someone who is trying not to be a cutter might want to steer clear. i didn't buy it, i rented it and you might want to go that route first because i think it's not for everybody. it is so definitely worth seeing but i don't think i'd buy it unless i was into the lifestyle or had a research topic on a subject of this nature. but hey, this is just one review and you know what? i'm not even going to proofread! bye! Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   An Interesting Film, Dec 25 2004 By  Justine (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews I found this dvd by chance at one of my local rental stores. It was the only copy in the entire place, and with reading the back, I was compelled to buy it, even with the english subtitles lol. I found that In My Skin wasn't as good as it could have been, but at the same time you rarely see anything on Self-Injury. Esther, a girl who looks to have her life on track accidently injures herself while at a friends party. When questioned about why she didn't know she was injured, she responds that she didn't feel it. From here on in, things escalate and lead to some very serious acts of SI. I agree with the others, that they left you wondering as to why exactly Esther started going over board with her self-injury anyways. There were a couple other things that could have been done to enhance the story line - such as more concern shown by Esther's boyfriend Vincent All in all, the visuals in this movie helped to accurately portray the acts of self-harm and the catatonic fits that some actually do go into. As was said, it is unrated but should be rated R for the graphic nature and nudity. I reccomend this to anyone who wants to take a closer look at EXTREME cases of Self-Injury, as long as you have a strong stomach. Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   0 of 3 people found the following review helpful: Masachism all around, Jun 5 2004 By A Customer You might think that you'd like to see a beautiful young woman gouge holes in her thigh, curl up in the fetal position and make out with them, eat her own arm, stab herself in the eye, smear blood all over herself, spit on herself, drink diet coke, and then die, but when faced with the actual prospect, it may not be as fun to watch as you might think. Why did she do all this? Apparently that wasn't important information to impart. By midway through this FOUR HOUR epic, I was thinking 'why doesn't she just die allready?'. By the end I was hoping that I would die, something, just so long as it was over. Watching this film is, in and of itself, an act of masachism. I spent the whole movie thinking 'why is she doing this to herself?', but when it FINALLY ended, I thought 'why did I do that to MYself?'. Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers:  › See all 5 customer reviews...		Most recent customer reviews "A graphic drama" From film director Marina De Van the haunting debut In My Skin disgusts audiences everywhere. Marina De Van stars and directs a film about a women's struggle with self-mutilation... Read more Published on May 25 2004 by Alex Not for the squeamish or those with light stomachs. I remember seeing the trailer for IN MY SKIN in the theatre several months ago and there was an immediate audience reaction to the frank scenes of a woman engaging in acts of... Read more Published on May 6 2004 by S. Calhoun Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 5 customer reviews...

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