| | Mysterious Skin DVD (4 Customer Reviews)
| Category | Action DVDs, Dramas Movies, Teenage Videos, Gay/Lesbian, Sex, Coming Of Age, Homosexuality, Psychology, Assault | | Starring | Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jeffrey Licon, William Sage | | Director | Gregg Araki | | Composer | Harold Budd, Robin Guthrie | | Director of Photography | Steve Gainer | | Executive Producer | Wouter Barendrecht, Michael J. Werner | | Producer | Jeff Levy-Hinte, Mary Jane Skalski | | Screenwriter | Gregg Araki |
"The summer I was eight years old, five hours disappeared from my life." These are the words of Brian Lackey, a troubled 18 year old, growing up in the stiflingly small town of Hutchinson, Kansas. Plagued by nightmares, Brian believes that he may have been the victim of an alien abduction. Neil, however, is the ultimate beautiful outsider. This special deluxe edition includes deleted scenes and audition tapes of the lead actors never before available. In MYSTERIOUS SKIN, an unlikely director takes on an even more unlikely lead actor and crafts a deeply felt coming-of-age tale that pulsates with the scalding beauty of tragedy. The director, Gregg Araki, whose over-the-top gay melodramas have been criticized as largely empty provocations, proves himself here to have great sensitivity. Yet it is the lead actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, best known for his work on the alien sitcom THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN, whose unforgettable, nuanced performance makes the film.
Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the story follows two teenage boys living in small-town Kansas: Brian (Brady Corbet), a clunky and awkward fellow with no discernable social life; and Neil (Gordon-Levitt), a rebellious gay youth whose fragile beauty and cruel indifference make him a successful hustler to the area's older men. Having suffered from blackouts as a child, Brian believes that these voids were actually alien abductions, and goes on a quest to confirm this. As his memories become increasingly vivid, Brian convinces himself that Neil, the star player on his childhood Little League team and a regular presence in his dreams, knows the truth. Neil does, in fact, know exactly what happened: the boys were sexually abused by their Little League coach. While Brian has suppressed the incident, Neil has held it deep within him like a treasure, considering it to have been a loving relationship of respect and tenderness, the absence of which has left him emotionally empty. The two strands of narrative are braided together elegantly, slowly leading up to a devastating final scene. Araki unifies the stories through an elegiac, celestial tone that manages to avoid preachiness via doses of appropriate humor. MYSTERIOUS SKIN is so profoundly alive with sadness and beauty that it nearly burns. Theatrical Release: May 6, 2005 (Limited)
The film was previously rated NC-17 by the MPAA, but was changed to be open, with no rating attached.
The ambient soundtrack is from Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie and composer Harold Budd who have worked together previously, such as on the Cocteau Twins album THE MOON AND THE MELODIES. Mysterious Skin Reviews: "Stylistically pared-down yet almost Lynchian in its lush, layered strangeness, MYSTERIOUS SKIN is a film of taut, flawless surfaces and haunted hidden depths."
-- Edward Lawrenson, Uncut "[Gordon-Levitt] gives a remarkable performance."
-- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly "This is a difficult film, a frequently heartbreaking one...[and] one of the best of the year."
-- Glenn Kenny, Premiere "SKIN finds Araki at his most sensitive and cautious."-- Michael Koresky, Film Comment Ranked ... Mysterious Skin | List Price | $24.99 (You save $8.20) | | Studio | Strand Releasing | | Orig Year | 2005 | | All Time Sales Rank |  6980  | | CD Universe Part number | 7060176 | | Catalog number | 2600 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Mar 20, 2006 | | Rating | Not Rated | | Running Time | 99 Minutes | | Additional Info | Widescreen; Director's Cut; Deluxe Edition; Subtitled; Unrated | | Movie Details | Color; Director's Cut; Widescreen; Deluxe Edition; Subtitled; Unrated; Deluxe Unrated Director's Cut |
Mysterious Skin Movie Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)  Perseverance
This movie showed me how people handle life’s many twists differently. Sexuality is a combination of our biological make up but additionally our environmental influences. Although, some of the movie is raw and showed scenes that some may find inappropriate. I personally found them informative because it gave you insight on a world that many of us are fortunate enough to never have gone through. Watch this movie. Not just for the sex scenes but its message of Perseverance.
Submitted by gb47 (Philadelphia, PA, USA) 
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful. Great Movie
Joseph Gordon-Levitt like you never seen him before. Great movie with a good story and a shocking ending.
Submitted by kamakarichard (Hilo, HI, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Great Movie
Joseph Gordon-Levitt like you never seen him before. Great movie with a good story and a shocking ending.
Submitted by kamakarichard (Hilo, HI, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Harsh
This movie was troubling...and sad... and poignant...and wonderful. The only thing not exceptional about this film was the cinematography, which was somewhat uninspired. The acting, on the other hand, was magnificent. Well worth having in any collection!
Submitted by Tom (Albuquerque, NM, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Brutally Honest and Heartwrenchingly Painful
This well crafted and well acted film is full of disturbing, haunting and painful moments. I found myself turning away from the screen with disgust, not because it was the goal of the director, but the reality of it all. The very different journey that these two characters take leads to the same road and how moving the end of what is really the beginning is. A very touching film that has left its mark...
Submitted by pwf4868 (Oakland, CA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
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Mysterious Skin DVD Keep Case
Director's Cut
Unrated
Full Frame -
1.33
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