The Bones "Under the Skin"

Structural analysis of the story: We divide Francisco Lombardi's film into the 5 key points proposed by Michael Hauge. We analyze the conflict and the internal dramatic arc according to the 4 components of K.M. Weiland

Script. Narrative structure of the film Under the Skin

In order to write a great story, it is always good to analyze the narrative structure of films. In this case, we have made a study on the narrative and dramatic structure of the film "Under the Skin" by Francisco Lombardi (1996)

You could say i met suspense the day i saw this scene

if you have seen Under the skin by Francisco Lombardi, you will know what i mean

spoiler alert. If you haven't seen this movie, stop the video, see the movie, and then come back

this is the climax of the film and we see the protagonist is digging at the desert. If you followed the plot, you know that Percy is about to be caught for the murder of Gino Leiva, the Palle's mayor son

what fascinates me is to know that the tension that feels at watching those images relies on a good construction of drama and conflict.

character is conflict, action is movement. we are talking about the four fundamental elements of a character internal building. K. M. Weiland says that those elements are: the lie, the ghost the desire and the need

a character with a conflict potential has these 4 elements inside his or her internal construction. the purpose of the story that is being told is to make its articulations, i mean, the turning points, to build the plot, to disturb to a large degree, the four elements inside the character. that's why the plot exists. if these 4 elements are not disturbed, the character keeps inactive, passive. there is no action, nor conflict nor plot.

the effective disturbance of those 4 elements produces character transformation, produces the internal dramatic character arc transformation. this tells us what are the motivations, the intentions, and the objectives of the character, because of that, we are able to follow the plot until the end. that is the purpose of the turning points, put under pressure to the character, put a mark on him or her, contaminate him or her, make him or her die in order to make him show his true self.

Let's start by cutting the film in its essential events. Roland Barthes proposed that every story is structured with essential and necessary cores in order the narrative to develop and move forward. the cores are what the screenplay gurus call the plot points, the key events that unfold the story to new directions. Michael Hauge says that there are 5 events that build the narrative.

the inciting incident. when the character has a first close encounter with his essence. The first plot point, when the protagonist decides to change his plans and enters to a new reality. here the main goal of the protagonist is established and that will give focus to the story

the midpoint or point of no return, that is when the protagonist makes a deep commitment on reaching his goal. The low point when a major setback occurs. usually, at this point, the protagonist has fallen very deep and has no way to escape from the problem he is immersed in. And finally. the climax, when the dramatic central question set up at the beginning, is answered. that first plot point is when the most important decision of the protagonist is made and what gives the story its principal impulse.

These are the 5 key points of Under the Skin

Percy Corso, a timid policeman whom few respect, investigates a series of murders in the town of Palle. The severed heads of young men and the similitude with the Moche sacrifices have led Percy to take Dr. Pinto, the Palle’s archaeologist, his main suspect.

But it's not until he meets Dr. Marina Castro that Percy will be able to tie up the loose ends that will allow him to imprison Dr. Pinto.

The inciting incident in Under the Skin is precisely Percy's first meeting with Marina. Here he obtains the necessary information to incriminates Pinto and this is when his internal journey starts to unfold, as Percy is impressed with Marina, the forensic pathologist. A Feeling that will turn into an uncontrollable and sick passion.

Percy relates the type of cut of the heads with the blade of a Tumi. Traces of blood are found on the artifact and he decides to take Professor Pinto as a prisoner. This is the first turning point. The circumstances have changed. It is no longer just about investigating Pinto anymore. Percy has already taken a step further. Now that he has Pinto as a prisoner, he realizes something.

Percy Corso knows that the traces of blood in the Tumi are not enough to incriminate Pinto, so Percy must extract a confession from him. we enter the second act.

Here the weaknesses of the protagonist are revealed. The mayor and his son don't seem to show Percy any respect. They don't follow his orders; they don't take him seriously and Marina begins to notice.

Percy needs to assert himself, feel sure of himself so that others respect him. He is a policeman without authority and tries to have a relationship with Marina, but she doesn't want anything with him anymore and hurts his feelings

Many things happen to Percy, the mayor pressures him to make Pinto confess in order to avoid the presence of the prosecutor in Palle, the girl he likes is with another guy, Percy kills his dog with his car by accident, and Pinto, his number one suspect, commits suicide without confessing his crimes. This last event triggers Percy's point of no return. He decides to hide the body and say that Pinto has escaped.

We can stop here to explain how the 4 elements of the character. Lies, ghost, desire and need have been disturbed by the turning points discussed so far.

In the inciting incident. Percy meets Marina and she gives him the clues to solve the crime.

Percy’s desire is to discover the murderer. He is influenced by Marina, his romantic interest. A romantic interest character is the person who usually sees the essence of the protagonist. She believes that Percy is capable of solving the crime.

In this dialogue, Percy hears what he needs to hear. The need for someone to trust him in order to feel self-confidence. we must remember that Percy is manipulable, his lack of poise makes no one respect him. That is his ghost. Something in his past has made him to be like this.

when the mayor pressures Percy to get his son out of jail. Percy at first gets the mayor to insists to him, believing the lie he dictates to his own mind that making the mayor begs to him means he respects him. But the real reason is that Percy doesn't want to confront the mayor to avoid problems with him. At the first turning point, Percy has decided to trust himself, to trust his instincts

And he concludes that Professor Pinto is the murderer he is looking for. Here Percy momentarily knocks down the lie he has built about himself, that he is not capable of doing well his job. By bringing peace to the town, Percy feels admired and respected, although deep down he knows that both the mayor and his son do not respect him.

The father of the abused girl reminds it to him.

Percy is not respected. It is an illusion.

Also, Marina is dating Gino, the mayor's son whom, due to his weakness, his inner ghosts, Percy set free.

When everything starts to go wrong for Percy, he only has to get Professor Pinto's confession, that way he can finally get rid of his ghost and the lie on which he has built the respect of others. His desire is to get Pinto's confession. That would solve many of his external and internal problems, however, Pinto will not make it so easy for him.

Under the Skin decides to put a certain event to move the story forward and develop the inner arc of the character. the screenwriters decide to put that event and not any other because they know what is at stake inside the character, this knowledge allows the writers to select and create the precise and necessary events to disturb the internal world of the protagonist. That is why when we see Pinto hanging from the fence in his cell, we feel tremendous anguish for the protagonist.

What we have done is dissect what happens in the dramatic construction, but all this internal framework happens quickly and is automatically absorbed by the audience, directly appealing to the emotion. What we are doing here is to clarify that process, defining the elements and the way they move.

This turning point forces the protagonist to make a decision and this is how the story is redirected. Percy can't let go his only chance to redeem himself, the opportunity to overcome his ghost, to overcome his insecurity, he can’t let go his only chance to be truly respected.

His moral duty is to tell the truth and say that Pinto hanged himself in his cell, but that would bring to him more problems with the prosecutor, with the university the professor worked for, and with the entire town.

So, Percy, aware of this, decides to hide the body. This is the point of no return.

Percy decides to commit to the lie and earn everyone's respect, even if it means that deep down only, he knows the truth. In other words, Percy prefers to buy the respect of an entire town and pay a very high price for it, the weight of the lie over his conscience.

The next plot point is the low point or major setback. In Under the Skin is the murder of Gino committed by Percy

But how does Percy decide this? what motivates him?

Percy realizes that the weakness of his personality, his lack of self-confidence has caused too many problems to him. He is hiding a dead man in his house and the woman he loves is with another man. To solve that, he needs to change his personality and have more determination.

Now Percy needs an alibi and get rid of the dead man before the prosecutor gets to town.

Just as he managed to see the facts to incriminate Pinto, Percy finds the key to prove Pinto’s crimes

If Pinto is free, then he must continue with his killings

However, at that moment, the police discover the definitive proof of Professor Pinto’s Crimes

But proving Professor Pinto's guilt is no longer Percy Corso's main goal.

With Gino's murder, Under the Skin brilliantly ties together Percy's two conflicts. The external one, to discover Palle's murderer, and the internal one, to take revenge on the man who took the woman he loves from him.

The murder sequence is one of the most successful sequences in the film and in the Peruvian cinema in general. Great performances of Diego Bertie and José Luis Ruiz.

Understanding why Pinto killed his victims makes Percy question himself about what he's capable of. Percy goes from being a submissive policeman who is not respected, to be a completely different man, a murderer who infuses fear.

Percy's need is to know what it takes to reach the limit where you become a murderer. Percy realizes that hearing Gino speaks against Marina in an insulting way is what drives him to become a murderer.

Percy decides to bury the bodies in the desert and as he is about to leave, someone sees him in the dark, but by then Percy is more perceptive and self-confident

At Gino's funeral, Percy sees Marina and the mayor.

Marina goes to Percy's house and he starts to complain about her, but he immediately steps back, his lying identity surrenders before Marina.

After having sex, Percy asks Marina for Gino

Percy lets her lie go, realizing that she doesn't want to hurt him. Very different from when she told him he wasn't good in bed.

But it's not all over for Percy yet. The prosecutor has arrived at Palle and discovers some loose ends.

In addition, some people start to think that Percy is involved in Gino’s death

It doesn't take too long for the prosecutor to suspect that Percy is involved in the crime.

The last sequence reminds me of another thriller film, SEVEN, by David Fincher, in that film, the criminal John Doe is taken to a desert, where the last deadly sin is going to be revealed. In Under the skin, it's different, Percy is forced by the mayor and the prosecutor to dig up something in the desert.

We feel it in the environment. The tension at its best, the path, the clues, alert us that it is the end of Percy Corso. They're going to the exact location where Percy hid the bodies. All is lost for him.

When I saw this sequence, I discovered the meaning of suspense. I didn't want Percy to get caught, despite knowing what he had done, understanding his reasons, somehow, had led me to want everything to turn out well for him, so seeing Percy in those extreme circumstances made me feel tremendous anguish for him.

Marina arrives in the car and everyone corners Percy. We know that as soon as he digs a few meters, the bodies will give him away, he will be accused for homicide, for hiding Pinto’s corpse, he will lose Marina again, he will go to jail. It will be a complete humiliation.

These are the terrible consequences that most affect the protagonist, a shy man who has struggled to overcome his ghosts to earn the respect and admiration of others.

Digging in the desert is literally digging to reveal the lie, one of the four elements that build the arc of the character, one of the thematic axes of the film and that has been present throughout the story

The essence of the film is the lie that is hidden underneath…. The lie some people make to achieve their greatest desires. That is why the adversaries who put pressure on Percy, force him to reveal that lie, to unearth it… in this case, a prosecutor, a journalist… a forensic pathologist… a shovel.

This latest twist restores Percy's respect and pride. He definitively buries his lie, his past and with them, his ghosts.

In the end, Marina gives him one last chance to reveal his essence, but Percy is convinced of his new world view. That the lie is the necessary sustenance under the skin.

The film has very well-established metaphors because they are focused on highlighting the central theme of the story. Sometimes burying a lie under the skin is what it takes to be happy.

Life and death come together in the frames of the movie, establishing a thematic pattern.

Walking on the thin line between those two worlds can ultimately create something beautiful.

See the vblog version of this article below.

https://vimeo.com/739266532