Skin (2008)

Raised in a home broken by wartime trauma, the frustrated teenage son of a Dutch Holocaust survivor starts down a path of further tragedy when he finds belonging in a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads.

Director:

Hanro Smitsman

Writers:

Germen Boelens, Philip Delmaar

Stars:

John Buijsman, Chris Comvalius, Guus Dam

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
John Buijsman	...	Simon
Chris Comvalius	...	Klant in kapsalon
Guus Dam	...	Amos
Robert de Hoog	...	Frankie
Lukas Dijkema	...	Eigenaar soos
Rian Gerritsen	...	Agente
Paul Geusebroek	...	Huub
Juda Goslinga	...	Henk
Jason Gwen	...	Lee
Dajo Hogeweg	...	Peter
Bart Klever	...	Vader Maikel
Teun Kuilboer	...	Robbert
Mike Libanon	...	Man in soos
Mike Meijer	...	Gerrit
Negativ	...	Terrence (as Maurits Delchot)

Storyline

Frankie is a young man from Netherlands, in 1979. His father is a Jew, survivor from the Holocaust, a very strict man who owns a Laundry. His mother is a good-hearted woman who wants her husband and son to get along. Frankie escapes his daily life with his friend Jeffrey, going to underground punk and rock clubs. When his mother is hospitalized, Frankie is devastated. His father seems to not care and Frankie, feeling angry and lonely, gets involved with a Neo-Nazi gang, who often fight against the Punks and minorities of the town. Frankie is accepted and, unknowingly, he start to become in his own enemy.

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Plot Keywords:

death of parent | only son | prison | racism | nazi | 

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Taglines:

war trauma

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene where Henk (Juda Goslinga) tells Frankie that his mother has passed away, Frankie's (Robert de Hoog) nose starts to bleed. This was pure and natural and was not planned. The actor whiped away the blood but continued to play the scene. Eventually this take made it into the final cut.

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #6.36 (2010)

User Reviews

When communication fails

'Skin', set in a grim Dutch working class area in 1979, tells the story of Frankie, who starts out as a normal, somewhat rebellious teenager, and ends up as a neo-Nazi in jail. His Jewish father, a concentration camp survivor, is unable to communicate with his wife and son, which frustrates Frankie and has already created a clearly uneasy father-son relationship at the beginning of the film. When Frankie's mother gets seriously ill and needs to be hospitalized, all frustrations come creeping out from under Frankie's skin and a rough process in which he alienates from his father and most of his friends is set in motion. Even though Frankie does not intend for it to happen, he gradually finds some solace with a group of skinhead neo-Nazis, and escalation ensues.

There are some parallels between this film and the classic 'American History X', but whereas that film shows us how a remorseful neo-Nazi seeks redemption, this one explores how exactly a young person who would seem an unlikely candidate for adopting such views ends up doing so for all the wrong reasons (if there even are any right ones to begin with). Moreover, 'Skin' is a strong, gripping story about what may happen when communication fails, set against a background of growing intolerance and violence.

Details

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch

Release Date:

13 March 2008 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Bőr

Filming Locations:

Oostzeedijk, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

CoBo Fonds, IJswater Films, Rotterdams Fonds voor de Film en Audiovisuele Media