13/10/2011

The short film I will review today is "Skin Deep" made by Yusef Ali Khan in 2001. The general theme in the film was the main characters feeling of alienation and inability to fit into any social group. The other quite obvious theme was racism and how it affected the protagonist. I would say the directors primary aim is not only to tell a story but make people aware of how difficult it is to be considered different and that behaving like the antagonists of this film does not help at all. The main focus of this film is the life of the protagonist and his struggle with his own identity, he does not know where he fits in. I liked the film and thought it was quite well acted and very well written/scripted. The storyline was quite simple but also very effective, meaning the film sucessfully covered the subject matter. The thing that stood out to me in this film was the way you emphasise with the protagonist when technically he is betraying his heritage in a way and doing things the majority of the audience will disagree with. The style of the film is quite gritty and realistic, this blends well with the story. The style of the 80's when racism was quite a hot topic was a very good time period to choose and also meant that the director could add an even more gritty mood because of how the country looked in the 80's. The techniques that I found interesting in this film include the use of flashbacks and at the end when the men from his flashbacks appeared in the present (in his head) I thought that was a very effective way of implying that the things they said never really left his head and he cannot get over it. Other than that I thought the general framing of the shots were very good as I always apreciate that in a film. to summarise I would say the story flows very well and seems to build up gradually and then climax very well at the end with the protagonist finally breaking down and shaving his head while crying into a mirror, this is a very emotional scene.