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SKIN OF MAN, HEART OF BEAST Send This Review to a Friend
You never know whom you can meet in the French countryside, but the Pujol family of Helene Angel's film "Skin of Man, Heart of Beast" would be a good one to skip. Angel takes us into this milieu and shows us the dark side of a family whose members have myriad problems.
Trouble is set in motion when the hothead of the bunch, Francky, played by Serge Riaboukine, returns home after having been suspended from his job as a policeman in the wake of police brutality. The other event that thickens the plot and the problems is the return of Francky's long-absent brother Coco (Bernard Blancan), a mysterious fellow with a spotty past. Other characters include their mother, another brother, and Francky's two daughters.
Always lurking is the threat of violence and the relationships depicted are a recipe for trouble. Although the filmmaker seems sincerely attempting to dissect the lives and difficulties of the characters and thereby illuminate something about what can go on in the country behind the façade of what we may tend to see, there is an overriding problem. The people under her microscope are not very interesting, and a who cares attitude can build as one watches.
It's all very well done by the director and her co-screenwriters, but the film becomes something of a chore to watch. A Leisure Time Features/Kimstim release.
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