Running Time: 88 minutesDirected By: Georges Franju
Written By: Pierre Boileau. Claude Sautet, Pierre Gascar, Thomas Narcejac, from novel by Jean Redon
Main Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, Alida Valli, Francois Guerin
HOCKEY FANS REJOICE...THIS ONE'S A REAL FACE-OFF
When I made the decision to start moving through the "1001" book in random order, I knew that it would be the movies that I'd been chomping at the bit to see that I'd watch first. So when I discovered "Eyes Without a Face" streaming instantly on Netflix, I fired up my compatible Blu-Ray player and buckled up for a French horror flick. While I wouldn't say that the film completely lived up to my expectations, it wasn't an entire loss and Georges Franju's 1959 picture kept me well occupied.
The movie starts out presenting us, the viewer, with some puzzle piece-like scenes that we eventually piece together as we're given more information within the first fifteen or so minutes of the film. We eventually learn that Dr. Genessier will be one of our main characters, along with his daughter, Christiane. As the film opens, Dr. Genessier's assistant, Louise, dumps a body in the Seine river, a woman who's face we never see and can only assume, that it's because of the lack of one. A little later Dr. Genessier identifies the body that was dumped by Louise to be that of Christiane. Upon arriving back at his palatial palace, we learn that Christiane is alive, although she isn't all that well. Christiane seems to be missing a very important and critical part of her epidermis...her face. Where her skin once lay, now is home to only an open wound and although Franju never allows the viewer to see the obviously gruesome sight, it makes it worse, because we only imagine the worst.
We're eventually fed more information, like the fact that Dr. Genessier himself is responsible for the disfigurement of Christiane's face, as he was driving like a "lunatic" and caused a car crash. The body that was dumped into the Seine at the beginning of the film, was that of a human guinea pig, who's face Dr. Genessier tried to remove and graft onto Christiane's, despite the fact that her body rejected it. The doctor tries and tries, leading to one of the sickest scenes, not only of this film, but one of the most gruesome scenes I've been privy too and one that I immediately described as "squirmy". As Edna Gruber, the latest victim of Dr. Genessier and Louise, lay on a table sedated, the doctor draws lines around the outline of her face and carefully removes the face, in a scene that Franju allows to develop and doesn't rush, which makes it all the more creepier. Will Christiane's body accept the new face of Edna Gruber or will the good intentions of Dr. Genessier go unrealized?
It really seems that the movies that I really anticipate watching, always seem to let me down and although I certainly didn't hate "Eyes Without a Face", I really expected to like it more than I did. The film is a real creep-out fest, which is intensified by the carnival-esque music that erupts through the television speakers every time Louise is on the prowl for a new female victim. It's funny because when you hear the term "French cinema" this isn't the type of movie that immediately pops to mind, however the cinematography really captures the French countryside and I really enjoyed some of the imagery that was captured, from the opening shot of the dark road with the headlights shining on it, to a seemingly throw away shot of an airplane in the sky, as Dr. Genessier digs up Christiane's "grave". I also liked the fact that the silence of the main character, Dr. Genessier, really fleshed him out more. While he's a man of very few words, it only makes him more mysterious and scary and makes his persona capable of committing any act, no matter how horrible.
RATING: 6.5/10 That rating could definitely grow as time goes by and there's really nothing wrong with the film, other than the fact that I expected a little more than I got.
MOVIES WATCHED: 134
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 867
September 4, 2010 1:48am
I enjoyed this one. I am not sure if it is on the list, but you can skip Franju's remake of Judex.
ReplyDeleteTo my knowledge and without looking, I think this is Franju's only contribution to the book.
ReplyDelete