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Zachary George Najarian-Najafi
4May12
Best known for his 1964 masterpiece of existential dread, Hiroshi Teshigahara has developed quite the cult following among film buffs despite being silent for decades; devoting his life to leading his family’s flower arranging school. There is a similarity between the arrangement of flowers and the direction of a film. Both art forms require a strong sense of composition, placement, and space. His films have a strong compositional sense, boasting almost obsessive framing and camerawork. He is both rigid and fluid. In The Face of Another, Teshigahara, again collaborating with novelist Kobo Abe, returns again to the theme of identity. The main character Mr. Okuyama is a businessman whose face has been scarred in some sort of horrible industrial accident. He finds himself under the care of an eccentric psychiatrist who fashions a new face for him, and allows him to assume a totally new identity. The angst of post-war Japan permeates the film, and Teshigahara be it nuclear anxiety to social anxiety to sexual anxiety. The film is thoroughly entrenched in that late-60s alienation. Taking a cue from Kurosawa’s corporate thrillers like High and Low, most of the action takes place in the apartments and streets of modern Japan, which are rendered to look like a sprawling metal spider of unfeeling modernity. The one exception is the surreal psychiatrist’s office which is an open space separated by glass panels decorated with designs. It’s a brilliant piece of set design, and certainly one of the most unique set pieces ever filmed in the cinema. The Face of Another, however, never really takes off. For some reason Teshigahara decided to insert another storyline parallel to Abe’s original. Though it is intriguing, the story of a scarred, but beautiful woman is never developed enough, and then plummets into absurdity without much build up or transition. The film feels almost half cooked. Whereas Woman in the Dunes fired on all cylinders, it seems here Teshigahara isn’t sure what kind of film he wants to make, and that hurts the production. But still, it’s a peculiar and surreal film, and should not disappoint those looking for something different. Watch it in a triple feature with Georges Franju’s Eyes without a Face and Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In for a couple different perspectives on the theme of identity, doppelgangers and body horror.
Franklinton Underground Cinema
9Nov11
Interesting that this was released the same year as Bergman's "Persona" - the only other film that I could think of that reaches so deeply into the psychology of existentialism.
Lia likes this
Mr. Arkadin
2Nov11
The third in his collaboration with Japanese novelist Kobe Abe, Face of Another was apparently met with lukewarm regard (at best) at the time of its release. Repeat viewings reveal it instead to be his most startling, experimental, technically impressive film. Utterly modern, as well as utterly Japanese. Taboo-busting “existential science fiction."
Alexandre Ovídio
26Oct11
Nunca tinha visto um filme de nouvelle vague japonês, com as suas narrativas entrecruzadas e fragmentadas mostradas com movimentos de câmara, fotografia e direcção de arte excepcionais. A premissa fantástica em que assenta o filme leva-o para terrenos desconcertantes, entre o horror psicológico e o tratado sobre os monstros que se escondem mais no interior que no exterior dos homens.
apexa
25Sep11
Talk about a visually amazing film. There's a real attention to visual detail that I think speaks of the artistic view to Teshigahara as an artist that comes across through the unusual objects and sculpturing in the film.
Filme likes this
trolley freak
30Mar11
Teshigahara's ultra-stylish follow-up to the award winning Woman of the Dunes features typically excellent performances from Japanese superstars Tatsuya Nakadai and Machiko Kyo in an enigmatic story of a horribly disfigured man's attempt to rejoin society with the aid of a life-like mask provided by his creepy psychiatrist.
Samuel Cogrenne
5Jan11
That was a great idea to add this story about this girl from Nagasaki. It gives an emotional force, a heart to this emotionally cold masterpiece.
Tristan P. Teshigahara and Filme like this
Zachary Curl
12Oct10
this movie was really creepy in all the best ways. i've never read the book, so i have nothing to go on, but this was something i thought about for a long time afterwards.
Bubi girl
21Jun10
its quite different from book and i find both great . though it's true that in the film i felt some lack of a more human, personal, refined insight to the caracters' souls and feelings, rather than pathetic speeches. i wish more was said through details, acts, atmospheres. the scene when mental girl recognises him really freaked me out - so excellent!
Daniel S.
3Dec09
I like visual metaphors but there are simply too many of them in this film so that you’re spending your time trying to understand them instead of keeping track of the action. OK, you’ll tell me now that there isn’t any action here and you’ll be perfectly right. Too much food for the mind and nothing for the heart. I didn’t feel any empathy for the characters because they are only intellectual creations without feelings nor blood in them. So the next time I want to watch a Teshigahara movie, I will stick to PITFALL.
Christopher Smith
1Jan09
Strange psychological drama tells an intriguing story with some incredible images. Some of the dialogue is really pretentious, and the pacing gets pretty slow towards the end - but the complexities of the story and surreal atmosphere keep it intriguing every step of the way.