Chicken Skin (film)

Chicken Skin (Carne de gallina) is a 2001 Spanish black comedy film directed by Javier Maqua from a screenplay by Maqua and Maxi Rodríguez. Its cast features Karra Elejalde, Anabel Alonso, Nathalie Seseña, Amparo Valle, Txema Blasco, and Maxi Rodríguez.

Plot
Set in a mining town in Asturias, the plot follows the family of a retired miner, Luisón Quirós. After Luisón dies in a brothel, the family members try to conceal the news and the corpse as they are economically dependent on the subsidies earned by Luisón.

Production
The film was produced by Último Pase and Cartel and it had the additional participation of TVE and Vía Digital. It boasted a €1.9 million budget. It was shot in Mieres, Asturias in 2000.

Release
The film screened as the closing film of the 39th Gijón International Film Festival (FICX) in November 2001. Distributed by Lauren Film, it was released theatrically in Spain on 1 February 2002.

Reception
Jonathan Holland of Variety deemed the "delightfully oddball, bad-taste comedy with a political point" to be "a surprise pleasure".

José Luis Sánchez Noriega considered that despite the film falling short of being exceptional, "Spanish film buffs will be pleased" by the film for how "it cultivates the literary, theatrical and filmic vein of black humor" along the lines of Berlanga or Buñuel.