Almodóvar blends Eyes Without a Face (1960), Vertigo (1958), and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Like Eyes Without a Face , the film features a captive woman whose face is surgically remade. Like Vertigo , a man dresses a woman in a dead woman’s image. However, Almodóvar refuses the male protagonist’s redemption. Ledgard is not redeemed by love nor destroyed by guilt; he is simply executed by his creation. The film thus inverts the Gothic horror trope of the female monster destroyed by society: Vera survives, and the doctor dies.
Forget the file names. The film itself is a masterpiece of dread. Antonio Banderas delivers a career-best performance as Dr. Robert Ledgard, a plastic surgeon who is not just playing God—he is playing artist . la piel que habito2011xviddvdriprelizlabavi patched
The film also explores the theme of performance and the construction of identity. Dr. Vidal's use of Norma's skin to create a new identity for himself is a commentary on the ways in which society pressures individuals to conform to certain standards of beauty and behavior. Almodóvar blends Eyes Without a Face (1960), Vertigo