IHR induction #28: "Eyes Without a Face" (1962, Georges Franju)

It's entirely likely that you haven't seen this film, and even more likely that you haven't even HEARD of it. For yours truly, this was true up until two years ago. One fateful night, I decided to take in the feature-length documentary on the making of John Carpenter's "Halloween." One bit from that featurette in particularly interesting; I was fascinated when Carpenter related the story of how the faceless, featureless mask of serial killer Michael Myers was inspired by a similar mask from this creepy little French film from 1960 called "Eyes Without a Face." He went on to explain the plot in extremely brief detail, and it sounded very promising. To make a long story short, I tracked down a copy of the DVD and added it to my collection. The decision has not been regretted; this is some good film, and despite its tendency to brood and occasionally drag on (this is a pre-slasher era horror flick, after all), it's got more than a few passages with the uncanny power to unnerve and unseat the audience.

Wow - that's a much shorter introduction than you're all used to. Maybe I'm getting better (read: more user-friendly) at these things.

THE MOVIE!!

"Eyes Without a Face" is, at heart, the story of family values, and the lengths to which a father will go to have the daughter he knows and loves back. The only difference is that this father, Dr. Genessier (Pierre Brasseur) seems to equate appearance with the personality of a human being, a theme that the movie uses as its lynchpin. The first scene we bear witness to is Louise (Alida Valli, in perhaps the movie's best performance) dumping a body in a river, and returning to the spacious (and quite creepy-looking) mansion of Dr. Genessier. According to what we know so far, the body belongs to Christiane Genessier, the good doc's daughter and the victim of a horrible car accident.

The TWIST (M. Night Shyamalan mode) is that Christiane did not die in the car accident; instead, her father has brought her back to the mansion. When we are introduced to her, she is already wearing the mask that will no doubt ingrain itself into your subconscious and haunt your dreams for the remainder of time. Yes, the similarity to Mr. Myers' mask is VERY apparent from the get-go; the look is iconic for a reason, and John Carpenter definitely made the right choice in having the most badass villain in the history of slasherdom use it as his avatar. And in an example of cruel fate, Dr. Genessier now considers his daughter to be a monstrosity, and is using all of his medical and scientific know-how to get his daughter's beautiful face back.

The plot of "Eyes Without a Face" is something that has been seen before, but perhaps never pulled off with as much aplomb as it is here. It's essentially the "Frankenstein" model in reverse; instead of a slightly mad doctor harvesting parts from the dead in order to create a new life, Genessier is having his assistant Louise cruise for life, beautiful human faces and luring them back home in some sick way of "helping out" his daughter. At this level, this movie is some very disturbing stuff; while Brasseur is by no means a great actor, the character takes on the mythos of being a tragic figure. At his heart, he is a good person who loves his daughter and only wants the best for her; on the other hand, he is a megalomanical, and even amoral, psychopath who doesn't care about the lives he destroys in order for his world to be returned to normal. To say nothing about what his daughter thinks of his schemes...

Ah, yes, the schemes. As the movie's story picks up, Louise makes her presence felt. This character is endlessly fascinating to me; as written, she is nothing more than Genessier's assistant, but it's presented in such a way to almost actively encourage debate about the nature of her relationship with Genessier. After all, this is one DEVOTED assistant. She is successful in luring an attractive young woman named Edna (Juliette Mayniel) back to the mansion of doom, at which point Genessier chloroforms her and begins the movie's money scene.

By 1960 standards (which is when this film was released in France - the 1962 release date refers to the subtitled American release), the skin graft scene was both cutting edge and extremely horrific. We see - in pretty graphic detail - Genessier remove the face of Edna and attach it to the burned shell that is Christiane's head, and later get several loving close-ups of the grotesque, faceless Edna. It has been said that John Woo was heavily inspired by this scene, perhaps even copycatting it scene-for-scene in the 1998 action tour-de-force "Face/Off." I definitely prefer the scene as it is shown here; not only is it done to showcase superior makeup effects as it was done in the Nicholas Cage/John Travolta shoot-em-up, it's emotional to the max and disturbing as all hell considering the ramifications that it has on the two subject characters' lives.

Of course, not all goes to plan for the good doctor and his daughter. Christiane's body rejects the new skin, and within days she is back to wearing her mask. While all of the above has been going on, the movie has given us several glimpses of Christiane attempting to reconnect with her life before the horrific accident that left her disfigured, including attempting to call her fiancee twice. It is through this act that the movie reaches its resolution; "Eyes Without a Face" is a tragic story at its heart, but it is also a movie that knows how to give the audience what it wants. The ending portions of this movie won't exactly have you up on your feet cheering, but you will definitely walk away from your television happy at what transpired.

There is a lot to admire about "Eyes Without a Face." Director Georges Franju, filming a version of Jean Redon's novel, gives this sicko story just the right mix of surrealism and chilling reality. While I'm ordinarly not a big proponent of black and white cinema, this is one movie where the lack of color is actually a BIG benefit to the goings-on unfolding before you. The dreamlike nature of black and white blends seamlessly with the trancelike, nightmarish quality of the story. Visually, this is a movie that you won't be forgetting anytime soon...especially that mask.

Now, to speak about the girl behind the mask. Edith Scob is the actress who plays Christiane, and once again putting my own name in a redundant hat full of praise, she does an amazing job. Behind a mask for the vast majority of the movie's running time, Scob nonetheless projects both a sadness and an innocence that makes the movie's final trimester all the more satisfying. The ability to send forth so much emotion is impressive in and of itself; to do so behind total BLANKNESS is even more incredible. While both Dr. Genessier and Louise have more speaking lines, this is the character that the entire movie hinges on. If, for one second, Christiane seems complicit or supportive of her family/captors' actions, the entire movie doesn't work. Scob knows what feelings to convey to the audience, and as such, the movie works marvelously.

While "Eyes Without a Face" sees occasional airplay on late-night TV (I've seen it once on AMC and once on TCM), this is a flick that likely none but the most hardcore horror/thriller aficionados are aware of. Thankfully, it is now more than accessible; the current Criterion DVD release is readily available on Amazon and other online retailers. Good thing, too, because this movie is essential to your horror collection. It's a movie that has the best quality that any film can have - it connects with your emotions - along with stirring performances, excellent direction and, of course, the unforgettable visage of Christiane Genessier.