(Georges
Franju/1960/France)
What’s
immediately striking about this film is the opening scene of a lady
in a car with a manic score pronouncing a state of dramatic tension.
Its similarity to the car scene early on in Hitchcock’s Psycho is
remarkable especially as both films were made and released in 1960 so
neither director was influencing the other. Synchronicities aside
Eyes Without A Face is a psychological horror movie about a plastic
surgeon attempting to reconstruct his daughters face after a car
crash. His methods stray into morally reprehensible territory and the
resulting effects on all involved are devastating. The story plays
out nicely and the thematic score is an ear worm, working brilliantly
throughout to cue immediate tension in the viewer. It falls down a
bit in terms of direction; it was Franju’s first foray into feature
films having established himself as a documentary filmmaker. Some
scenes are slightly wooden in both dialogue and acting but it redeems
itself with a superb and surprising ending. Frequently described
elsewhere as poetic, the final images strike an eloquent note and
show why it’s considered a classic. The influence of much of the
imagery and themes in Eyes Without A Face can be seen in films like
Halloween, The Skin I Live In or Face/Off for example.
(3/5)
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