Mysterious Skin.
A movie that is disturbingly beautiful, heartbreakingly honest. It made me think about many things; how much our actions affect other people, how truly fragile children are, how easy to break innocence like glass, how our past will always, always haunt us, how it is possible to make peace with it but never to forget it, or be truly at ease with it. It made me reevaluate my morals, for who are we really, to tell what's wrong or right, when things that happen to us or to others are solely, ultimately, personal experiences?
Mysterious Skin is painful to watch at times. I'm not just talking about the rape scene, or Niel's older johns. I'm talking about how the characters were played. There was a sense of tragedy, of doom in each character. And in all of them, there was a glimmer of hope. This made it more unbearable for me. It is more painful to see hope get snuffed like a weak flame. Niel with his hope of finding someone who would "love" him like he once was loved. Brian with his hope that his memories of the past would be restored.
The actors were all surprisingly amazing. I didn't really know Michelle Trachtenberg can do serious acting. I've only seen her in teen pop roles. Brady Corbet is perfectly believable as Brian, the shy outcast whose memories of a specific time in the past are missing. Because of this movie, I became a huge fan of JGL. Does anyone else see the uncanny resemblance he has to Heath Ledger? Not only physically, but also in the acting. He's like a young Heath here.
What I also found great was the movie's soundtrack. I loved it. I dunno how to get a copy of it though. But I think the soundtrack worked perfectly for the movie.
So I hope you guys see it. Thanks to Douine and Daz for giving me a heads up about this movie. :)
***
from Wiki, in case you wanna check it out:
Plot
In 1981 Kansas, 8-year-olds Neil McCormick (Chase Ellison) and Brian Lackey (George Webster) are sexually abused by their paedophiliac baseball coach (Bill Sage). Neil's promiscuous mom (Elisabeth Shue) doesn't pay any attention. Brian's parents don't realize what has happened either. Brian reacts to what happens by developing amnesia and blocking out the event, for many years suffering from violent nose bleeds. As Brian grows up he becomes a rather asexual, geekish boy, and glimpses of memories in recurring dreams make him believe he has been abducted by aliens. Neil who had been the coach's favourite boy, often helping him trick other kids into abuse situations integrates his experiences by developing an extrovert gay sexual personality turning tricks and eventually making his entire living from prostitution. When Brian (Brady Corbet) turns 19 years old, he meets Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for the first time since childhood and they uncover the secrets they share as well as beginning to heal one another.
Mysterious Skin is painful to watch at times. I'm not just talking about the rape scene, or Niel's older johns. I'm talking about how the characters were played. There was a sense of tragedy, of doom in each character. And in all of them, there was a glimmer of hope. This made it more unbearable for me. It is more painful to see hope get snuffed like a weak flame. Niel with his hope of finding someone who would "love" him like he once was loved. Brian with his hope that his memories of the past would be restored.
The actors were all surprisingly amazing. I didn't really know Michelle Trachtenberg can do serious acting. I've only seen her in teen pop roles. Brady Corbet is perfectly believable as Brian, the shy outcast whose memories of a specific time in the past are missing. Because of this movie, I became a huge fan of JGL. Does anyone else see the uncanny resemblance he has to Heath Ledger? Not only physically, but also in the acting. He's like a young Heath here.
What I also found great was the movie's soundtrack. I loved it. I dunno how to get a copy of it though. But I think the soundtrack worked perfectly for the movie.
So I hope you guys see it. Thanks to Douine and Daz for giving me a heads up about this movie. :)
***
from Wiki, in case you wanna check it out:
Plot
In 1981 Kansas, 8-year-olds Neil McCormick (Chase Ellison) and Brian Lackey (George Webster) are sexually abused by their paedophiliac baseball coach (Bill Sage). Neil's promiscuous mom (Elisabeth Shue) doesn't pay any attention. Brian's parents don't realize what has happened either. Brian reacts to what happens by developing amnesia and blocking out the event, for many years suffering from violent nose bleeds. As Brian grows up he becomes a rather asexual, geekish boy, and glimpses of memories in recurring dreams make him believe he has been abducted by aliens. Neil who had been the coach's favourite boy, often helping him trick other kids into abuse situations integrates his experiences by developing an extrovert gay sexual personality turning tricks and eventually making his entire living from prostitution. When Brian (Brady Corbet) turns 19 years old, he meets Neil (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) for the first time since childhood and they uncover the secrets they share as well as beginning to heal one another.