{"id":3698,"date":"2014-03-14T16:39:46","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T16:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=3698"},"modified":"2014-04-01T13:51:01","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T13:51:01","slug":"film-review-scarlett-johansson-in-under-the-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=3698","title":{"rendered":"FILM REVIEW: Scarlett Johansson in ‘Under the Skin’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"StudioCanal<\/a><\/p>\n

By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

The vivid old Scots word \u201celdritch\u201d could have been coined for Jonathan Glazer\u2019s spooky new film \u201cUnder the Skin\u201d starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien on the prowl in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Based on Michael Faber\u2019s novel of the same name, it dispenses with much of the detail in the book to create an extraordinarily mesmerising mystery about the strangest of strangers in very strange land.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first film in 10 years from the director who is best known for \u201cSexy Beast\u201d and then made the disappointing \u201cBirth\u201d with Nicole Kidman.<\/p>\n

Johansson is chilling as a creature in human form who tries hard to muster human warmth as she ventures about at night to cull young men as fodder for her fellow aliens whose activities, unlike in the fearful revelation of the novel, are never made clear.<\/p>\n

The result is hypnotic and deeply haunting. Glazer spurns the typical tropes of stories about aliens, ghoulies and ghosties with a relentless tone, often apparently banal, and startling images from cinematographer Daniel Landin with an unsettling sound mix that blends eerily with Mica Levi\u2019s disturbing score.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the Skin\u201d is not an easy film and it will probably depend on a viewer\u2019s mood and willingness to go with the unexplained elements.<\/p>\n

With her action movies and after her captivating voice-only work in Spike Jonze\u2019s splendid \u201cHer\u201d, Johansson again shows that she is an actress of remarkable range. She embodies Glazer\u2019s clear intent to show human life through the eyes of someone, or something, that has never seen anything like it.<\/p>\n

Faber\u2019s novel, which ventures into territory very different from his magnificent \u201cThe Crimson Petal and the White\u201d, now becomes a companion piece to the film. I can\u2019t wait to see the film again and then go back and read the book again. It stayed with me for months when I read it first \u2026 I have a feeling that with Johansson now in mind, it will linger for much longer.<\/p>\n

Under the Skin<\/p>\n

Released: UK: March 14 (StudioCanal); US: April 4 (A24, Amazon Instant Video); Cast: Scarlet Johansson; Director: Jonathan Glazer; Writers: Walter Campbell, Jonathan Glazer, based on the novel by Michael Faber; Director of photography: Daniel Landin; Production designer: Chris Oddy; Music: Mica Levi; Editor: Paul Watts; Costume designer: Steven Noble; Producers: Nick Wechsler, James Wilson, Gillian Berrie, Alexander O\u2019Neal; Production: Film4, BFI, Silver Reel, Creative Scotland, FilmNation Entertainment, Nick Wechsler Productions, JW Films, Scottish Screen, UK Film Council. Rated: UK: 15;\u00a0 Running time: 108 mins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett The vivid old Scots word \u201celdritch\u201d could have been coined for Jonathan Glazer\u2019s spooky new film \u201cUnder the Skin\u201d starring Scarlett Johansson as an alien on the prowl in Scotland. Based on Michael Faber\u2019s novel of the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,14],"tags":[1963,1964,1965,1068,1552],"class_list":["post-3698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-reviews","tag-under-the-skin","tag-jonathan-glazer","tag-michael-faber","tag-scarlett-johansson","tag-studiocanal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3698"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3719,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3698\/revisions\/3719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}