Skin Deep is not a film that easily fits into any particular genre; it has elements of exploitation and sex comedy, but basically this is a character lead drama. The film doesn't really appear to have any sort of point to it; there are some brief tidings of young love, but it seemed to me to be just a by-product of the fact that most of the central characters are young people. In spite of its lack of point, however, I would still rate Skin Deep as an extremely worthwhile effort as the drama is always interesting, and director Marcello Aliprandi excels at capturing beautiful locations, which makes the film really nice to look at. The plot focuses on a trio of young people; a young Casanova, his girlfriend and another friend. They're on a sailing trip, and it's turned upside down when they come across a Norwegian couple whose boat has broken down. The Norwegians are nudists, and after all five of them arrive back at a beach house; the young trio decides to join in by ditching their clothes, and creating sexual tension within the group.
A lot of the film depends on its characters; and they are all interesting enough to make it work. The film doesn't really have a plot to speak of; there are a few minor threads, but basically it all just focuses on the interactions between the characters; and this is always at least interesting. All the cast are good looking and of course the film takes full advantage of the nudist idea and there's plenty of flesh on display; which is nice, especially when you consider the bodies of Ilona Staller and Lilli Carati, which are on show for most of the film. As mentioned previously, the locations are beautiful and exquisitely shot; and this bodes well with the characters. Given the nature of the film, one would be forgiven for thinking that there would be nothing substantial about it; and while that is true to an extent, the characters do at least go through some development. Overall, I have to admit that this film will not be everyone's cup of tea and I wouldn't rate this quite so high if I rated my films objectively; but I don't so I'll just say that I enjoyed it and leave it there.
