No Skin Off My Ass
dir. Bruce LaBruce · 1991
Connection and understanding can emerge from unexpected relationships, revealing deeper truths about desire and identity.
A lonely hairdresser invites a silent skinhead into his home, drawing him a bath and sharing intimate conversations that reveal their vulnerabilities. As the hairdresser's fantasies intertwine with reality, the film unfolds like a dream, exploring the complexities of desire and identity in a gritty urban landscape. Watching it feels like wandering through a half-remembered dream, where the boundaries of love and longing blur in unexpected ways.
A lonely hairdresser watches the title sequence of "That Cold Day in the Park" then visits a local park to invite a down-and-out skinhead to his apartment. He draws the silent man a bath and talks to him as he soaks. He locks his guest in a bedroom. Next day, the skinhead leaves through the window and visits his sister, who's making a film called "Sisters of the SLA." He helps with a screen-test. The hairdresser has dreams and fantasies involving the skinhead, the skinhead returns to visit him, and then the filmmaker pays a call on the two men, exposing her brother as faking his silence and pretending a lack of sexual interest. Fantasies can come true.
Talking points
- the nature of desire and fantasy
- the intersection of identity and love
- subcultures in cinema
- the role of silence in communication
