Movie Review - Mysterious Skin
Silence Speaks
As an adult who endured sexual abuse and rape as a young adolescent, I feel that I can't be completely unbiased about this film. That said, I very much respect its aims. It faces headlong and attempts to tackle a huge issue that has quietly enveloped our culture. The sexual abuse of children is something that has gone on unannounced for many, many years. An epidemic of sorts that has touched us all in some form or another, however unbeknownst it may be to many. ‘Mysterious Skin’ shows two divergent paths children may take when confronted with such an adult violence as sex. Strange. Intriguing. Disorienting. Uncomfortable. Embarrassing. A young boy may either embrace such an act or push it away into the darkest, deepest corner of his mind. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet illustrate these disparate reactions, and do so with a true depth of understanding. Gordon-Levitt’s cocksure bravado and all-knowing swagger is balanced tit for tat by Cobet’s total banality and unassuming withdrawal. Both experiences are excruciatingly painful to watch. But as these opposing forces are slowly entwined and brought closer together, it’s as if one sees two contrasting sides of pain unite in some twisted kind of mating ritual. And in this union, one can so clearly see the devastation wrought by such an extreme and invasive act. A very strong supporting cast made up of Michelle Trachtenberg, William Sage, and Elisabeth Shue imbue the boys’ journey to self-discovery with a bittersweet fullness that without, would leave the film feeling utterly flat and solely didactic. Apart from the truly great performances in the film, the viewpoint of the material presented by writer/director Gregg Araki is somewhat heavy-handed at times and seems to occasionally enjoy its own shock value. However, this particular subject matter is a tensely coiled tightrope; it’s a very hard thing to strike a perfect balance with it at all times. That this film was even written, shot, and distributed at all is a tribute to all those involved and should leave Mr. Araki with, at the very least, a feeling of accomplishment. The silence of innocence lost has been deafening and has lasted far too long. Now, it speaks.
As an adult who endured sexual abuse and rape as a young adolescent, I feel that I can't be completely unbiased about this film. That said, I very much respect its aims. It faces headlong and attempts to tackle a huge issue that has quietly enveloped our culture. The sexual abuse of children is something that has gone on unannounced for many, many years. An epidemic of sorts that has touched us all in some form or another, however unbeknownst it may be to many. ‘Mysterious Skin’ shows two divergent paths children may take when confronted with such an adult violence as sex. Strange. Intriguing. Disorienting. Uncomfortable. Embarrassing. A young boy may either embrace such an act or push it away into the darkest, deepest corner of his mind. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbet illustrate these disparate reactions, and do so with a true depth of understanding. Gordon-Levitt’s cocksure bravado and all-knowing swagger is balanced tit for tat by Cobet’s total banality and unassuming withdrawal. Both experiences are excruciatingly painful to watch. But as these opposing forces are slowly entwined and brought closer together, it’s as if one sees two contrasting sides of pain unite in some twisted kind of mating ritual. And in this union, one can so clearly see the devastation wrought by such an extreme and invasive act. A very strong supporting cast made up of Michelle Trachtenberg, William Sage, and Elisabeth Shue imbue the boys’ journey to self-discovery with a bittersweet fullness that without, would leave the film feeling utterly flat and solely didactic. Apart from the truly great performances in the film, the viewpoint of the material presented by writer/director Gregg Araki is somewhat heavy-handed at times and seems to occasionally enjoy its own shock value. However, this particular subject matter is a tensely coiled tightrope; it’s a very hard thing to strike a perfect balance with it at all times. That this film was even written, shot, and distributed at all is a tribute to all those involved and should leave Mr. Araki with, at the very least, a feeling of accomplishment. The silence of innocence lost has been deafening and has lasted far too long. Now, it speaks.
posted by asparry at 3:16 AM
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