Mysterious Skin (2004)

Mysterious Skin (2004)

Director: Gregg Araki
Scenario: Scott Heim, Gregg Araki
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Country: USA, Netherlands
Year: 2004
Duration: 107 min (Sundance Channel Library Print)
Rating: 7.9/10

Actors: Chase Ellison, George Webster, Rachael Nastassja Kraft, Lisa Long, Chris Mulkey, Elisabeth Shue, David Lee Smith, Bill Sage, Riley McGuire, Ryan Stenzel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Richard Riehle, Michelle Trachtenberg, Brady Corbet, Larry Marko

Description:

Nekih stvari je bolje ne sjećati se ili ih zadržati daleko od bilo kakvih uspomena. Naprosto za neke događaje je bolje imati totalnu amneziju. Ona nas štiti od ružnih snova, strahova, nesanica i osjećaja da je bolje nekamo daleko pobjeći. Al na žalost mnogi ne mogu zaboraviti to nešto što kriju duboko u sebi!
Pričao mi jedan čovjek kako se kao klinac družio sa jednim starijim rođakom. U nekoj kući na nekakvom tavanu. On mnogo stariji od njega učio ga je kako se pravilno ljubi, mazi, drka... Sve dok mu jednom prilikom nije pokazao ono što rade muškarci sa muškarcima.
Godine prolazile i taj dečko postao momak i na kraju čovjek. Al i dalje nešto razmišlja o tom tavanu, sjeća se tog starog madraca, paučine , nekih stepenica... Nikako da se sjeti te zadnje lekcije nakon koje se više nikada nije popeo na taj tavan.

Užasno se osjećam kada neuki ljudi pedofiliju povezuju sa homoseksualcima. Ono sa čime je to jedino povezivo je bolesni izvitopereni um, koji svoje žrtve traži u nezaštićenoj djeci. A tragovi nakon toga ostaju tako duboki da se nikada ne mogu zamesti.
Mislim da bi gay udruženja trebala jasno imati u svom programu stavku Borba protiv pedofilije i na taj način jasno pokazati koliko je to strano i nespojivo sa homoseksualnom orjentacijom! Na kraju pedofiličari nisu uvijek pederi i ne stradaju samo dječaci!

Uostalom koliko teške posledice nosi žrtva takvih manijaka možete vidjeti u ovom filmu. Dječak koji traži odgovore u homoseksualnoj prostituciji i dječak koji misli da su za jedan dio izbrisanog sjećanja krivi vanzemaljci koji su ga oteli pa vratili na zamlju.

Zaista težak film, ali vrijedi ga pogledati. Režirao ga je Greg Araki, čitaocima ovog bloga već dobro poznat po filmovima The Doom Generation (1995), The Living End (1992) i Totally Fucked Up (1993).
Na temu pedofilije takodje možete pogledati i film L.I.E. - Long Island Expressway režisera Michael Cuesta.

Subtitle na našem jeziku imate OVDJE.





By Paul Hurley

Based on Scott Heim's award-winning novel, Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin is a difficult film that deals with the difficult subject of child abuse. Suffice to say that this is not for the faint-hearted, and film's depiction of certain cinematic taboos - most of all the portrayal of sex between an adult and a child - makes for decidedly uneasy viewing. This is not to say that the film in any way condones such behaviour - far from it - but the leap forward in what is acceptable to a mass audience is both startling and uncomfortable. The subject is both the film's central theme and its chief talking point and will dominate any discussion on what is otherwise a somewhat earnest, painfully hip yet ultimately uneven and morally ambiguous work.

The story revolves around two teenagers from rural Kansas named Brian (Brady Corbett) and Neil (Joesph Gordon-Levitt), who have now drifted apart but share a common memory of something that happened when they were eight years old. The former friends have different recollections of a night that saw them both lose five hours of their life. Brian, now a somewhat geeky adolescent, is convinced that both of them were abducted by aliens. He obsesses about the fact, watching programmes on alien abductions all day long and talking to anyone who crosses his path about it.

Neil on the other hand, knows exactly what happened. Now a confident and extremely handsome young man, he has moved to the big city and plies his trade as a hustler on the gay scene. Always confident of his sexuality, Neil knows that the alien abduction was in fact a kidnapping and sexual abuse case involving the two boys and their charismatic baseball coach (Bill Sage), a charming figure that could persuade the boys to do just about anything he wanted.

And that's exactly what he did. With increasingly disturbing scenes the film plays out the boys at first kissing to becoming more intimate with each other until the Coach himself becomes involved. It's genuinely shocking stuff, and although nothing is exploitative in the way the film was made, the result is one of sheer horror that is extremely difficult to watch.

The boys clearly react differently to the event, with Neil confused about his own feelings towards his abuser. While there is certainly no condoning of such a relationship, the film examines the impact of such an occurrence with a fresh and uneasy eye, which some viewers may find tricky to assimilate. Despite a standout performance from the extraordinary Joseph-Gordon Levitt as Neil and a memorably creepy turn from Sam Cage as the abuser, this is tough stuff: both to watch and to fully empathise with.