Reviews by:
@hk_movieaddict
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“𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎, 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 - 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚕𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.”
Pushing the envelope even further, The Face of Another is a bold venture into experimental / avant-garde films. While it’s not for everyone, the story never deviates from the main themes of Teshigahara / Abe works i.e., the loss of identity within an absurd scenario, and the search for meaning of life.
Recovering from a work-related accident, Mr. Okuyama took the offer to wear a new and handsome prosthetic face. As he assumes new identify under the mask, his more erratic and evil intentions also begin to surface. The Psychiatrist famously commented during the beautiful Waltz scene, that “masks like this could destroy all human morality”. The mask/face represents the ability to hide and escape from reality, which somewhat resonates with the world we’re now living in, like individuals behind a screen.
The narrative is abstract and experimental, much like the Psychiatrist’s surrealistic clinic design (constructed by Arata Isozaki who drew inspirations from the legendary Antoni Gaudí). The side-story of the beautiful girl with severe disfigurement on the right cheek has no connection with the main story, while both characters suffer from alienation. The girl’s constant worry about another war and memory about the sea at Nagasaki suggest that her physical injury and mental trauma were caused during WWII, which carries a subtle but clear anti-war message.
I’d leave the rest to interested viewers to unveil the mask themselves. Overall, I’m under the impression that only Hiroshi Teshigahara was able to adapt Kobo Abe’s novels, which are often thought to be excellent but unfilmable.
𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖇𝖞: Hiroshi Teshigahara
𝖂𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖓 𝖇𝖞: Kôbô Abe
𝕻𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖊 𝖔𝖋 𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖎𝖓: Japan
𝕽𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊: 2 hours 4 minutes
𝕭𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖘𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖊: (~81 mins) “Waltz” scene
𝕾𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖈𝖊: Criterion
𝕸𝖞 𝕽𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌: 78/100
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