Call
it Northern gothic. This macabre tale of karma could not possibly be more
Canadian, because its ruthless protagonist is clearly and transparently based
on Governor George Simpson of the Hudson’s Bay Company, a.k.a. “The Emperor of
the North.” If you were an animal with a pelt, he was public enemy #1. However,
he is about to shoot his last bird in Kevin D.A. Kurytnik & Carol Beecher’s
Skin for Skin (trailer here), which world
premieres at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival.
When
you kill as much as the “Emperor,” it creates an imbalance in the Force, even
if they are just critters. His time has come. Thematically, Skin is somewhat akin to Nobuo Nakagawa’s
Jigoku, but it is not quite so
severe. The visually distinctive animation suggests the influences of N.C.
Wyeth’s classic rugged adventure illustrations and Gustav Doré’s gothic Poe and
Coleridge engravings. It is a dark film, but a beautiful one.
