No. 25 (2021) THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN (L'HOMME QUI A VENDU SA PEAU) Perth; French Film Festival APRIL 4th.

 

Film No. 25 (2021)  April 4th.  1:30 PM  Cinema 5 LUNA,  Leederville. 

"With my latest work, I'm exploring a new real!" (Artist Jeffery Godefroi explains to his adoring public his latest creation on Sam's back).

Tim Steiner is a real person who has sold his skin. He appears in galleries all over the world displaying a tattoo, regarded as a work of art, that occupies the entirety of his back. What relevance has this fact to this review? Well it so happens this brilliant concept film has Tim Steiner at the seed of it's narrative. Some of cinema's best stories stem from actual people/events.

So, what if a person, Syrian refugee Sam (Yahya Mahayni) who sells his skin for art, as a means to an end (love and economics), becomes a pawn in a game only the sophisticated art-world can conjure, and so has to devise a plan (with the help of others) to escape his mini-hell. L'Homme Qui solves all those dilemmas and French writer/director Kaouther Ben Hania (Beauty And The Dogs) explores the outcome in very satisfying terms.

Ben Hania adopts a naturalistic style to her story. Split screen Zoom conferencing brings lovers Sam and Abeer (Dea Liane) into focus. A focus that has the audience willing them back together. While the love story is important to the narrative, the real theme is imbedded in the depiction of a society (Art World) with only money and aesthetic status on its mind. Sam has used the system to find his love and escape repression, but what does he learn along the way?

L'Homme Qui is the first Tunisian film to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film). It deserves the nomination but the greater hope for many Tunisians is that such high praise will bring the unrest and repressive images of life in this North African country into focus for the world to see. The film only skirts those themes of disquiet but it's presence will raise some awareness undoubtedly. I'm not sure it can win, but it might. I loved L'Homme Qui. 11GUMS.