Eyes Without A Face (George Franju, 1960): France/ Italy

Reviewed by Daniel Matthew Harrington. Viewed at AFI Fest 2011.

In Georges Franju’s Eyes Without A Face, is about Professor Genessier (Pierre
Brasseur), a famous Parisian plastic surgeon, is anguished that his reckless
driving caused a car accident resulting in disfiguring his beautiful young daughter’s face Christiane (Edith Scob). He becomes obsessed with the belief that he can restore her face and beauty, he wants his daughter and assistant to have “Faith” in him .

With the aid of his assistant, Louise (Alida Vali) they kidnap similar looking women to his daughter, to have their faces removed and to transplant onto his daughter’s face. Through many attempts, problems always seemed to come about and Christiane is starting to loose faith. Christiane has a conflict with identity because no matter what face she has or even if she is wearing a mask she doesn’t see her true self in the mirror. The gore and violent sequences are overturned with beautiful and delicate moments such as Christiane fluttering like a ghostly angel around her mansion while wearing her white porcelain mask; also the darkness of the professor’s lab in contrast with scenes full of dreamy light as in the perfectly lit mansion.