White Skin (La Peau Blanche) Review Score: 8/10 | Date Posted: September 10th 2004 In: DVD Reviews White Skin (La Peau Blanche) Review by Vince D’Amato Starring: Marc Paquet, Frederic Pierre, Marianne Farley, Jessica Malka. Directed by: Daniel Roby. Released by: Seville Pictures. Thriller The Movie: Best friends and roommates Thierry and Henri are out on the town on Thierry’s birthday. Henri, being the good friend that he is, splurges for a couple of cute hookers for his buddy’s birthday. So it’s the middle of the night, and the two lovely hookers leads the two young men up to a very quiet low-rent hotel where they take separate rooms. Thierry confesses to his girl that he actually prefers her to the other hooker because he has a very weird deep-seeded and irrational fear of people with very pale skin (like the hooker who went with his buddy Henri). After a few seconds of nervous foreplay, things go very, very wrong. The night takes a dark turn towards the twisted as Thierry breaks into a room where the walls and bed are splashed with blood – and it’s momentarily unclear just who the victim is. From there, the film slows down a little into the second act as Thierry meets the love of his life in a Montreal subway station. She turns out to be a music student at the university Thierry takes classes at – and she has the palest skin this side of Utah. She’s also a very mysterious character. The tones and themes in this French-Canadian film swing from racism (Thierry is white, his roommate Henri is black, and the girlfriend Claire is super-white), then into obsession, and then turn towards horror in the very exceptional final act – a pretty tight payoff to this well written, well-made film. The “horror” elements are deceptively predictable. Although speaking in literal terms, this film can’t be predictable because it exploits the old literary device of foreshadowing – a pretty tricky thing when you’re trying to pull off a suspense film. So, does it work? Mostly. But there are many other things that carry the film along with the consistently building suspense, including the performances from the entire cast and the seeming laid-back but sure-handed direction and camerawork. Even the lighting and cinematography cleverly contribute to the symbolism and foreshadowing of the film. I have to say this film was a real surprise! I’m definitely recommending this DVD to anyone in the mood for something a little different. A little off the track of normalcy, shall we say. It’s alternately dark, dramatic, artsy, funny, and tense. I hope this film manages to find an audience – it’s just waiting to get discovered! The DVD supplements: There are deleted scenes, a short film by director Daniel Roby, a trailer gallery and feature-length director & writer’s commentary. The transfer is presented in both 4:3 (to fit your TV screen) and 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The audio is in French, with English subtitles that I would rate at 90% for visibility, conversation sync and position over the widescreen version of the film. At the beginning of the film, you get some of the subtitles appearing at the top of the screen, which is mildly distracting, but this (thankfully) does not continue past the opening credits.

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