Close Critical Analysis of Integration of the Immigrants and Destruction of the Differencein Under the Skin(Glazer 2013)

For this close critical analysisI wish to focus onathree minutes sequencethat occurs towards the end of Jonathan GlazersUnder The Skin （2013）， containing 20 individual shots. I hope by focusing on mise-en-scene with an emphasis on performance， setting and framing， I will convey some of the ways in which it worksto highlight themes of integration and destruction.

Glazers film follows a nameless woman played by Scarlet Johansson， who interacts with various people across the city of Glasgow and its surrounding rural areas. Often these exchanges are wordless， but in large stretches of the film she is depicted driving a van and picking up men seemingly under the promise of a sexual encounter. She then takes them back to her dilapidated house， where after encouraging them to strip， they seem to disappear under a black liquid floor and are liquidized. As the film progresses， it becomes clear to the spectator that the character is not human， and merely wearing the skin of a human. She is an alien， charged with abducting men， for an unspecified reason.

In the Scottish Highlands， she abandons her van and meets a kind man（Michael Moreland） who offers to help her without any return. When they have sex， the woman stops and shedoesnt know what happened. At last， the woman walks in a forest and meets a logger（ who attempts to rape her. He burns her alive with fuel when she reveals her alien body.

Aside from this plot， the film presents the main protagonist as a female who is coming to terms with an identity and gender that is forced upon her， and coming to terms with what it means to be human， and her isolation both from other humans and others of her kind.

In this scene – the woman interacts with this kind man. They walk in the forest to visit a ruined castle and the cinematography， lighting and framing demonstrate how integration into an alien country results inher destruction.

The non-diegetic soundtrack prior to this is high pitched， screeching and uncomfortable to listen to. In this scene not also the sound stops， but also the dialogue stops. It becomes nearly a silent film， which only depicts thoughts and feelings by mise-en-scene and cinematography.

The cinematography andmise-en-scene immediately create a sense of happiness. The scene opens with an extreme long short（Fig.1）. The cameras focus is placed on trees with yellowing leaves around a forest environment in the foreground， setting the two characters in the background. Ause of deep focushere indicates an elegant exchange of characters and nature.

A focus on the forest at a sunny day（It was always chilly， windy and snowy in the north of Scotland in the earlier scene）suggests the woman accompanied by the man has a very delightful mood because of a relationship of affinity with this man.

The film cuts briefly to a scene of her motorcycling companion driving and then looking out from a road. The camera follows this aliens point of view that represents he is scrutinizing the woman.

They look at the castlein the distance （Fig 2. and Fig 3.）. Size diminution establishes basic foreground/background relations. With the two characters and trees on the front plane and the castle in the background. The place is comparatively deep though the foreground is not exaggerated close. The figures are defined by hard edges and by grey and dark costumes within the predominantly bright setting. This shot put the human figures in the center of the frame， which gives this zone agreat importance.

The camera films the woman directly： sheis wearing the mans greyheavy coat， no longervoluptuous and seductive femme fatale in a pink jumper. Her make-up is also no longer visible. This shot suggests she begins to perform human.

A long shot holds the audience at a certain distance. The two characters are in parallel position， which means they are in harmony even though a distance （difference between a human being and an alien） between them.

The shot is bilateral symmetry betweencastle and forest. Before the sequence I have chosen， the settings were mostly gray， brown and black- cold， steely colors. In the contrary， the costumes of woman werered. Now， Glazer has simply changed color schemes， the settings colors start to sport greens and yellows. In the contrary， the costume of woman becomes grey. This change supports a narrative development that shows an inhuman point of view of the woman is transformed by her human point of view.

Subsequently，the man carries her over a puddle.She looks at him so curiously and she cant understand what is happening.Their personal distance becomes immediately intimate.

There is no dialogue here and communications happens non-verbally via their actions.

The scene takes placeat the Tantallon Castle （Fig 4.）， set high on a cliff edgeand a semi-ruined mid-14th-century fortress located in East Lothian， Scotland.Tantallon differs from most comparable castles only because of its setting by the sea. Its seaward side has fallen down. The castle was home to the Red Douglas dynasty. It was ultimately destroyed by Olivier Cromwells troops.Here the character becomes accessory， like an extra. In contrary， the castle becomes a true leading character ‘ruinednot only by the fate， but also by the human being， the castle is therefore the embodiment of this woman.

The grey hue of castle， reinforced by compositions drawn by the ruined castle express disturbance， more exactly represents that the womanwill be ‘ruined also like the castle.In addition， the use of a low angle shot portrays psychological uneasiness in the woman andcreates a feeling of overwhelming power of the fate.

The shot presents the two characters. The setting is rendered minimally， in dark and grey colors and subdued lighting. By playing down the setting， Glazer obliges us to concentrate on the two characters.

The man is positioned in profile， but the woman is positioned at full face. The image doesnt give equal weight to each other. The womans expression is completely invisible. The use of backlighting presents the woman almost entirely in silhouette; without it， it would mere into the background. However， it is the mans face that gets greater emphasis. Strong lighting from above and right outlines his profile.

A long take frames them as they enter through the door of castle; the camera establishes the stark contrast between the interior and exterior of the castle（Fig. 5）. Additionally， a subjective tracking shot places the audience in the womans point of viewand gives us the sensation of moving with herand thus identifying with her. This tracking point of view shot is likely to encourage the audience to empathize with the woman because of this implication in her movements.In a review of the film，Puchkocomments that although Johanssons character is an alien and a murderer， the spectator is forced to identify with her：‘despite the terrors we have seen her commit， we begin to empathize with her （2014）.

Its worth nothing that with a medium shot and a shallow focus， we can feelthat the woman（afraid of being watched and scrutinizedby the motorist）， so she hides herself in the castle. Although she has said nothing in the chosen sequencewe have immediately compassion for her.From this moment， she begins to fear like a human being would.

Glazer captures some of this scene using a frame within a frametechnique in the ruined castle creates a sense of foreboding and danger and also has the effect of further trapping the female protagonist in her situation （Fig 5）. This sense of foreboding is exacerbated by the color of the shot. The interior of the Tantallon Castle is cast in dark hues， presenting an immediate contrast to the first scenes where we are introduced to the woman in brightly lit white environments in the opening scenes or those that arecast in warmer hues.

As they go down the steps， the use of the dark hues suggests not onlyintimacy， reflecting the further sexual relationship between the two characters， but also the coming atrocious act of violence towards the woman and moments of cruelty in life. Peter Bradshaw （2014） writes in a review of the film for The Guardian， that Glazers direction attempts to depict the alien in a vulnerable and victimized position： ‘There is a crisis， and the alien becomes vulnerable： a potential victim herself.

Only the fingers of the man display highlights（Fig.6）. A hard sidelight from right and above sculpts their shape. Glazer eliminates fill and background illumination， creating very sharp shadows and a dark void around the characters. This low-ley lighting often used in horror films creates a somber and threatening scene. In addition， the use of high-contrast image accentuates stark and dramatic effect. She depends completely on him when going down the castle. It shows she begins to trust human being. A high angle shotcreates a feeling that the alien is vulnerable. Additionally， when the man helps her down the steps， she is so weak and never is she so weak. We begin to ask ourselves what has made her suddenly so weak？ Nevertheless， Jonathan Glazer hasnt given a clear answer. According to Vint（2015）， the woman becomes vulnerable because she tries to assimilate herself into the human being： ‘trying to be more human has made her vulnerable. Now she shows facial expressions and reacts with fear. We feel something dramatic will happen to her.

The film thus asks us to think in complex ways about the humanity. Glazer （2014） spoke to The Economist that he didnt intend the film to be a feminist comment： ‘I wanted to make it more about a human experience than a gender experience‘.

I am emotionally touched by this sequence： this woman can be seen as an immigrant who didnt firstly know the world where she lived and for whom everything in this country is new and uncertain. Little by little， because the alien people who love her have touched her， she tries to assimilate herself into the alien country. This integration into another country， or we can say， another culture，inevitably resultsin extremely violent destruction：either destruction of her own culture by another culture， which leads in ultimately alienation and isolation in her spirit; either destruction by the people who consider the immigrant as different with themselves）.

References：

[1]Bordwell， D. and Thompson， K.（2012） Film Art： an Introduction. 10theEdition. London： McGraw-Hill.

[2]Bradshaw， Peter， （2014） ‘Under the Skin review- Very erotic， very scary.

[3]https：//www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/13/under-the-skin-scarlett-johansson-peter-bradshawAccessed 13 November 2017.

[4]Espino， J. （2014） ‘ Jons Movie Review： Under the Skin Penetrates Deeper than Just the Skin.

[5]https：//www.theyoungfolks.com/review/jons-movie-review-under-the-skin-penetrates-deeper-than-just-the-skin/30252 Accessed 15 November 2017.

[6]Figure 1. - Figure 6. Under the Skin （2013） at： www.iqiyi.comAccessed 07 November 2017.

[7]Gibbs， J. （2012） Mise-en-scene： Film Style and InterpretationNew York： Columbia University Press.

[8]Glazer， J. （2014） ‘Under his skin https：//www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/ Accessed 7 November 2017.

[9]Robson， L. （2015） ‘ Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin： prick her and she doesnt bleed https：//www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/15/scarlett-johansson-under-skin-extraterrestrial Accessed7 November 2017.

[10]Puchko，K. ‘Under the Skin has a message for men https：//www.themarysue.com/review-under-the-skin/Accessed 7 November 2017.

[11]Vint， S.（2015） Skin Deep Alienation in Under the Skin（Extrapolation， vol.56， no.1）.

[12]Weedon C. （2004） ‘Chapter 1 Subjectivity and Identity in Identity and Culture： Narratives of Difference and BelongingMcGraw-Hill.

[13]電影理論基礎編寫組.電影理論基礎第一版[M].中國青年出版社，1987.

【作者簡介】武瀾瀾，湖南省外國語職業學院。