Pedro Almodovar: The Skin I Live In

I am revieing this now rather than the Frightfest films which precede it in time so a to place it next to the book on which it is
based. The differences are obvious. In the book, there is no housekeeper, the reason for the captivity is known more or less
from the start, there is no sub-plot ( the hard to accept co-incidence in the book) and the ending is decidedly different. That said, the film takes the basic premise of the book as the central plot with Almodavar adding his own twist. I was not taken with Banderas's performance which was almost that of a non-existent character but this was a minor blemish on a well made film. While there were flashbacks which did not quite gel all the time, the tale was developed more or less linearally which made the whole thng clear. The one thing that does puzzle me is the change to the ending of the book which does rather change the overall gestalt. A fine film but not a great one.