The Soft Skin (1964)
"La peau douce" (original title)
The title of the film, LA PEAU DOUCE (THE SOFT SKIN) is notable for the multiple images and meanings it suggests. The opening sequence sets everything in motion. Pierre is rushed to the Paris airport and very nearly misses his plane for Lisbon. Had he missed that plane, we would not have the particular chain of events that follow. Chance meetings and ironic occurrences are what makes life 'happen', and they can disrupt the delicate surface (the 'soft skin') of what looks like a complacent, bourgeois existence.Pierre Lachenay has achieved a degree of success in the literary field as an editor and scholar. With everything seemingly under control in his life, he is unable to resist the compulsion to pursue the flight attendant. Apart from her physical appeal, Nicole offers Pierre a different angle on life: non-intellectual and romantic. This could happen to anybody. Nicole, for her part, is attracted to Pierre's intellect and the way he brings out her own natural intelligence. This dynamic is central: the characters compliment each other. What is interesting to watch in this film is the way Pierre's life gradually self-destructs. He is fully aware of what he is doing. He does not really want to give up his home life for Nicole, yet he is drawn by her enough to continue an affair that will lead to annihilation. A finely-drawn portrait of middle-class life is given to us in this film. We are allowed to see the way someone can be busy enough (in this case with travelling) not to take the trouble to observe how complacent his life really is. And the disrupting effect of his affair on the delicate surface of his life is devastating. It is hard not to be sympathetic when Nicole leaves him--now he has no one.
.
അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളൊന്നുമില്ല:
ഒരു അഭിപ്രായം പോസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യൂ