TA PEAU SI LISSE (A skin so soft) WAV D: Denis Côté. Canada/Switzerland. 93 min. Sep 12, 9:45 pm, AGO Sep 13, 9:30 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 Sep 17, 11:30 am, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4. Rating: NNN
The latest from Quebec director and TIFF regular Côte is a stylized documentary about bodybuilders preparing for competition, following six men as they train, train and train some more.
Ta Peau Si Lisse – the English title is A Skin So Soft – focuses on the details of their regimen rather than on their personalities, and the result is a deliberately monotonous experience. Côté holds on one athlete as he joylessly chokes down a meal in real time he follows another as he trains a client who pushes herself past her own limits.
All about will and the focusing of it beyond all reason, it’s both fascinating and revolting to watch these people punish themselves in the name of perfection. (This screens with Kazik Radwanski’s very good short film Scaffold.)