Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9733 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-24
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 101 minutes

Synopsis
In 'Mysterious Skin', an unlikely director takes on an even more unlikely lead actor and crafts a deeply felt coming-of-age tale that pulsates with the scalding beauty of tragedy. The director, Gregg Araki, whose over-the-top, gay melodramas have been criticised as largely empty provocations, proves himself here to have great sensitivity. Yet it is the lead actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, best known for his work on the alien sitcom 'Third Rock From The Sun', whose unforgettable, nuanced performance makes the film. Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the story follows two teenage boys living in small-town Kansas: Brian (Brady Corbet), a clunky and awkward fellow with no discernible social life; and Neil (Gordon-Levitt), a rebellious gay youth whose fragile beauty and cruel indifference make him a successful hustler to the area's older men. Having suffered from blackouts as a child, Brian believes that these voids were actually alien abductions, and goes on a quest to confirm this. As his memories become increasingly vivid, Brian convinces himself that Neil, the star player on his childhood Little League team and a regular presence in his dreams, knows the truth. Neil does, in fact, know exactly what happened. The boys were sexually abused by their Little League coach. While Brian has suppressed the incident, Neil has held it deep within him like a treasure, considering it to have been a loving relationship of respect and tenderness, the absence of which has left him emotionally empty. The two strands of narrative are braided together elegantly, slowly leading up to a devastating final scene. Araki unifies the stories through an elegiac, celestial tone that manages to avoid preachiness via doses of appropriate humour. 'Mysterious Skin' is so profoundly alive with sadness and beauty that it nearly burns.

Customer Reviews

Awesome & thought provoking
The issue of child sexual abuse is an incredibly difficult one to broach, especially on the big screen - Gregg Araki manages to tell the story of these two young men from a dispassionate and sometime uncompromisingly detached perspective, whilst allowing the viewer to empathise with the two young men and the situation that they find themselves in.

This film is not for the faint hearted. Possibly the hardest scene to watch is where Joseph Gordon-Levitt, playing a rent boy, is raped - and yet I felt that this scene truly brought to the fore, the incredible turmoil going on inside this youth - the source of his self-destructive behaviour.

Despite the controversial and emotive material that forms the backdrop for this film, the journey of healing that ultimately emerges in the closing scenes is heartwarming and hopeful.

I would highly recommend this film.

Disturbing but realistic
Creepy pedos in baseball-playing, mom-loving, apple pie-eating small town America? You bet. And because it is devoid of an "after school special" sentimentality or Spielberg gloss, it feels that more chilling and bold and real.

An uncomfortable film to watch, but resonant for me as someone who grew up gay in 1980s Kansas. Details like the Little League games, the Halloween spook house and the shady characters cruising the park were all spot on, although I doubt the film will be championed by the Kansas Travel & Tourism Division.

I've not read Scott Heim's book on which this film is based, but on reading his background you realise each of the youths in the film is a manifestation of himself. He claims to have seen a UFO with his family, excelled in school and lived with his single mom after a divorce (like Brian), he announced baseball games (like Neil) and his infatuation with cosmetics and British goth pop made him the subject of death threats (like Eric).

Altogether that means there's a lot of truth to what's being depicted, no matter how dangerous or taboo some may consider the subject matter. I think Araki should be praised for making a mockery of the American movie ratings by filming such an explicit movie that doesn't show a thing. I've seen European art-house films with twice as much flesh which were half as frank. I think what disturbs people most is there is no moralising, no revenge and no happy ending where learning the truth frees the tortured characters from their shattered lives.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the stand-out from the cast, with Michelle Trachtenberg failing to bring any weight to the film's more poignant scenes because her dialogue was too 'writerly' (saying things that people may think but rarely voice).

I was disappointed that the film was not filmed in Kansas, but they did an excellent job finding places in California which were strikingly similar.

A wonderful piece of art!
This movie was far from being rubbish. I am not one to watch gory details when it comes to human life, but nor I'm I able to watch mind-numbing boring and easy movies either. The summary got me, and I had to rent it. This movie dealt with a lot more than more or any gay themed movies can ever imagine. It was heart felt, shocking, scary and damn right vomit worthy at times. But all that brought in such a powerful storyline. We always get hit with political stories in movies, especially when it deals with aids or rape. But this movie dealt with how two people suffered the same incident but how different they were as people and how differently they took the incident.

A fan of the movie, and will be off the book once I get around to buying it. The warnings are all there, if you still pick it up and don't like it, don't blame it on the theme.