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THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
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Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania's provocative second fiction feature, 'The Man Who Sold His Skin,' is set in the art world.
A Syrian man desirous to get to Europe accepts to become a canvas for a controversial contemporary artist in The Man Who Sold His Skin (L'homme qui a vendu sa peau). This is the second fiction feature from Tunisian female director Kaouther Ben Hania after Cannes 2017 Un Certain Regard title Beauty and the Dogs, and as in that smaller-scale but similarly ambitious project, she combines a sociopolitical hot potato - in this case the refugee crisis and underlying human rights issues - with a certain formalist verve. Though the final product isn't quite a home run, it is nonetheless a very intriguing work that again suggests Ben Hania is a talent to watch.
The Man Who Sold His Skin premiered in Venice in the Horizons section for more daring works and should be a welcome guest at festivals and in niche release. The presence of a blonde (!) Monica Bellucci in a supporting role is an added marketing bonus, as is the fact that the title was shot by ace cinematographer Christopher Aoun, who was responsible for the ravishing visuals of the Oscar-nominated Lebanese feature Capernaum and whose painterly work here is equally impressive.
Sam Ali (relative newcomer Yahya Mahayni, terrific), a handsome young man from Raqqa with a boyish glint in his eyes, is head-over-heels in love with the effortlessly elegant Abeer (Dea Liane). Their star-crossed-lovers backstory is explained in an early sequence set on a train. The sweet set piece is smartly and economically written by Ben Hania and staged dynamically by the director and Aoun, who use the cramped quarters of the railcar to visually suggest how much the two want to be together but also how circumstances and society - here represented by physical barriers inside the vehicle and the many other passengers present - are keeping them apart. When Abeer finally tells Sam that, though she'd rather he'd not touch her in public, she's into him, too, he gives a beauteous grin as wide as Raqqa's Gate of Baghdad, ensuring audiences know he's almost irrationally smitten...
By Boyd Van Hoeij
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
READ MORE: 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' Review - The Hollywood Reporter
