BFI Recommends: Mysterious Skin
Our series of recommendations continues with a highlight of early 21st century indie cinema, with a heavenly soundtrack. Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin is chosen by Sarah Bemand.
I was lucky enough to work on the press campaign for this film’s UK release; it remains one of my career highs. When the team came to London you could tell that they were tight-knit, and this is reflected in a film where everyone brings their very best to the table. With work such as Totally F***ed Up and The Doom Generation, Gregg Araki had never been one to shy away from controversy, yet in adapting Scott Heim’s brilliant debut novel he delivered a nuanced, sensitively handled exploration of the long-term effects of childhood trauma.
It’s the summer of 1981 in a small town in Kansas. Eight-year-old Brian regains consciousness in the basement of his house, unable to recall the last five hours of his life. That same summer, the Little League baseball team’s star player Neil is seduced by his coach (Bill Sage). As the two boys grow into teenagers (played by Brady Corbet and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, respectively) they are haunted by their experiences.
With music by American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet Harold Budd, and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins (one of my personal faves), American indie film had never sounded cooler. The soundtrack also includes Slowdive, Ride and Sigur Rós; I was in heaven. Mysterious Skin for me sums up a place and a time. A highlight of early 00s American indie cinema, it was undoubtedly a turning point for the careers of everyone involved.
Sarah Bemand
BFI Press Office, Archive and Heritage