2024 Entry #44 04-15-24 “Second Skin” (aka “Segunda piel”) is a 1999 Spanish romantic drama film directed by Gerardo Vera, starring Jordi Mollà, Ariadna Gil, Cecilia Roth & Javier Bardem (“Not Love, Just Frenzy”, “Before Night Falls”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, “Skyfall”). The story mainly follows the married relationship between Alberto (Jordi Mollà) & Eva (Cecilia Roth), along with their young son. What isn’t apparent at first is that Alberto is having an affair with a doctor named Diego (played by Javier Bardem), who is also unaware that Alberto is married.
I’ve owned this movie for 22 years but this was the first time I’d seen it. It plays like an old soap opera, a little too dramatic but still good. All the leads are great, especially Gil, and while Mollà’s Alberto at first just seems like a jerk, there’s something profound bubbling beneath the surface, which boils over into tragedy, yet I it was telegraphed so long in advance that I barely took note of the actual event. Still, I enjoyed this. And it was nice to see Bardem play a bottom with relish.