How to tell a story that deals with a work of art that uses the skin of a human being as a canvas?

That "The Man Who Sold His Skin" is still watchable is because the premise is still inherently thought-provoking, and Ben Hania's shot composition and cinematographer Christopher Aoun's images have a confident painterliness.

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How to tell a story that deals with a work of art that uses the skin of a human being as a canvas? Well director Kaouther Ben Hania found a formula to tell this story that sounds quite bizarre at first if it wasn't partially based on the real story of the Belgian artist Wim Delvoye who did it.

In the script for the film "The Man Who Sold His Skin" (2020) as well as to add to the dramatic value of the story we meet two lovers in Syria in 2011 - just before the war. Raqqa Sam Ali (played by the excellent Yahya Mahayni) and his fiancée Abeer (the beautiful actress Dea Lianne) who are madly in love until an incident separates them forcing Sam Ali to flee to Lebanon in order to escape prison in Syria.

Time passes and Sam Ali begins to adapt to life in Beirut but keeping in touch with Abeer, who is favored by his family and the political situation in Syria getting worse, marries a man with a lot of money who takes her to Brussels, Belgium.

Poor and without much hope of finding his love again Sam Ali attends some clandestine art events in Beirut because as a refugee he cannot be identified with the penalty of being deported. And in an artist presentation he meets two people who will completely change his life the internationally known artist Jeffrey Godefroi (the equally excellent Koen De Bouw) and Soraya Waldy (Monica Bellucci in an interesting appearance) as an art dealer. In this meeting, Jeff proposes to Sam Ali that he is able to free him from the limits imposed by the refugee situation in which he lives with wide freedoms and can even travel to Belgium and meet his lover Abeer.

The price will be a contract in which Sam Ali grants his back being tattooed with a work of art by Jeffrey as well as being available to him when necessary to display it in the art gallery. Reluctant Sam Ali eventually accepts and that life-changing choice is what the movie is about.

With some amazing and provocative scenes we discreetly experience the sensation that the director manages to subtly place us inside Sam Ali's life.

I don't recall feeling such an effect in recent times with such delicacy that we clearly understand the benefits Sam Ali comes to experience as well as his deepest afflictions. This is all without ever falling into the obvious or empty.

In one of the many interesting scenes in this movie is an auction of artwork at which Sam Ali is eventually sold. The intensity and temperature raise so much at this particular moment that if you're not enjoying this movie too much you'll change your mind on this mesmerizing scene.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film 2020. This film surprised me because everything I expected didn't happen and it was positively surprising and I congratulate director Ben Hania for exceeding my expectations. Well done.