Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)

Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020). 2h 10m

“Making a documentary about such a broad topic as nudity in film is tricky. On one end of the spectrum it can be about how nudity is liberating and how forces inside and outside the film industry have been threatened by it and have tried to suppress it. On the other hand it could be a diatribe about how womenu0026#39;s unclothed bodies have been objectified and exploited by a male dominated film industry. The key is to find a balance between these two perspectives so that the audience can get a more complete picture of the role that nudity has played in motion pictures over the years. The filmmakers donu0026#39;t quite achieve that balance, favoring the former perspective over the latter. This is evidenced by the use of clips in the film. Rather than using clips efficiently to make its various points, the film devolves into a u0026quot;greatest hitsu0026quot; of (mostly) female nude scenes and participants commenting on them. This is particularly true in the latter half of the film which focuses on the post-code era. Additionally, the film largely avoids the basic question of how nudity has been defined in motion pictures and by the society as a whole. Specifically, the film doesnu0026#39;t examine the differences in how male and female nudity are treated on screen. As a result, the film promotes the misleading narrative that nudity overwhelmingly involves women and not men and children. To the filmu0026#39;s credit, it does touch upon challenging situations that women find themselves in regards to on screen nudity and sexuality vis-a-vis the experiences of their male counterparts. Overall, the film is a decent overview than might encourage some viewers to dig deeper into the subject on their own.”