Skin (film)

Infobox Film
name = Skin


image_size =
caption =
director = Vincent O'Connell
producer = Tapson/Steel Films for British Screen and
Channel 4 Films
writer = Sarah Kane
narrator =
starring = Ewen Bremner
Marcia Rose
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = October, 1995
runtime = 00:11:10
country = UK
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=111259
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0304720

"Skin" is an 11-minute short film starring Ewen Bremner and Marcia Rose and directed by Vincent O'Connell. [cite web
title =Skin (1995) - Channel 4 film review
publisher =channel4.com
url =http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=111259
accessdate =2007-03-12] Produced by Tapson/Steel Films for British Screen and
Channel 4 Films (now Film4 Productions), it was filmed in September 1995.cite web
title =IN-YER-FACE THEATRE
publisher =Aleks Sierz
url =http://www.inyerface-theatre.com/archive7.html#d
accessdate =2007-03-12] The screenplay was written in the summer of that year by British playwright Sarah Kane.

It was first screened at the London Film Festival in October 1995, and was later given its television debut on Channel 4 at 11.35pm on June 17, 1997. An original airtime of 9.40pm was pushed back after television executives became worried about the depiction of violence and racism in the film, which, according to the British tabloid "The Daily Mail", they saw as "one of the most violent and racially offensive programmes ever to be made for television in this country". [

cite web|last =Sierz| first =Aleks| author-link =Aleks Sierz| coauthors =Saunders, Graham |title ="Skin."| work =The Literary Encyclopedia| publisher =| date =June 3, 2004|url =http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=15071| accessdate =2007-03-12] Vincent O'Connell was nominated for a Golden Bear award in the category "Best Short Film" for the film at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival. [cite web
title =Skin (1995)
publisher =imdb.com
url =http://imdb.com/title/tt0304720
accessdate =2007-03-12]

The film's screenplay was only Kane's second work, written after her 1995 debut "Blasted" but before 1996's "Phaedra's Love". The screenplay appears in the complete collection of Sarah Kane's work, "Sarah Kane: Complete Plays", published in 2001 by Methuen. [cite book
last = Kane
first = Sarah
authorlink = Sarah Kane
title = Sarah Kane: Complete Plays
place = London
publisher = Methuen
year = 2001
isbn = 0-413-74260-1]

Bremner and Rose, who had never met prior to making the film, became romantically involved during its shooting, and subsequently had a child together. [cite web
last =Hattenstone
first =Simon
title =A sad hurrah
publisher =guardian.co.uk
date =July 1, 2000
url =http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/artsandentertainment/story/0,,338373,00.html
accessdate =2007-03-13]

Plot

Billy, a young skinhead, joins in a brutal racist attack on a black wedding party in Brixton, London, but then finds himself drawn to Marcia, a black woman whose flat is visible from his window. He visits Marcia and the couple have sex. From this point, the power dynamic between the two begins to reverse: in separate scenes, she slaps his face repeatedly as he is tied to the bed, feeds him dog food, and scrubs off his tattoos with bleach (significantly, this includes a tattoo of the Union Flag). Finally, Marcia carves her name on his back. Despite his pleas, she rejects him, finding solace with Kath, her flatmate, while Billy unsuccessfully takes a drug overdose.

Cast

* Billy – Ewen Bremner
* Marcia – Marcia Rose
* Kath – Agnieszke Liggett
* Neville – Yemi Ajibade
* Mother – Dave Atkins
* Terry – James Bannon
* Martin – Dominic Brunt
* Nick – Gregory Donaldson

References

External links

* [http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=111259 The film at Film4]
* [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x12ema_sarah-kane-skin-1995_creation The film at Daily Motion]