All of us have something we hide from the prying eyes of the world. For most us its things like our interior decorating habits coin collections, or maybe like the Gilmore Girls House how shockingly sparse the fridge is. For some though a darker secret lies hidden from the public view, only meant for the unfortunate few. HH Holmes’ Hotel of Horrors or even the inhabitants of Dr. Moreau’s Island might be familiar examples. Today’s subject deals with the latter kind of secret. Hidden underground for only a stark few to ever see, cloaked by an opulent mansion, much like a mask, hiding a face unseen.
So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the emotion and impact they convey, then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that’s some Natty Boh from our friends at National Bohemian in Baltimore. So sit back, relax, and let’s talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.
Our subject begins with trees passing by us during a car ride at night. The passing of white lit trees and roadside grass go by one by one as circus-like music plays in the background as the opening credits flash on the screen. Soon we are on the hood of the car looking in at the driver, a woman in a black coat and bandana head dress. She looks stressed, gripping the wheel tightly with both hands and we even see her nearly make a wrong turn, which she corrects. As she adjusts the rearview mirror we see a hat in the mirror itself…a figure in the backseat. Headlights appear behind the car, prompting the driver to look back. As she does we see a slouched figure in the backseat whose face is shrouded by a tilted hat. As the headlights draw nearer the driver’s face grows more concerned and soon she pulls over, to let the approaching car by. As it passes the figure in the backseat slumps more, as if asleep or unconscious. Next we see the driver outside the car, dragging the slumped figure out of the car. Dragging the figure down a path she stops by a body of water and we watch as she dumps it in and walks back to the car. Next we see a man lecturing a large group of people on surgical procedures regarding plastic surgery. This is how we are introduced to our subject today, with a feeling of tension, questions and intrigue.
Les Yeux Sans Visage or Eyes Without a Face is a French film that holds much behind its facade. Based on a novel by Jean Redon of the same name it’s a film unknown to many, but beloved by those aware of its existence. A film
Eyes without a Face tells the tale of a brilliant, but disturbed surgeon on a path of destruction, power, and reclamation. Driven by the desire to help restore his daughter’s beauty after a car accident left her with facial disfigurement he enlists the help of his assistant on a terrible plot. In secret she captures and brings young women to him for his secret experiments in the hopes of replacing his daughter’s face with that of another. The surgeon will go to any lengths to restore his daughter’s beauty, even if that means killing innocent young women to do so. Performing his experiments in a hidden basement shelter his evil is kept in the shadows. Meanwhile his daughter is locked hidden in his opulent mansion, away from his secret experiments, away from the world, and all the while made to wear a featureless mask to hide her true face.
One day Christine escapes her room and follows her father to discover what he’s been hiding. While not knowing the full extent of his plans or motives she must decide with the information she has how she handles the situation. Does she stand idly by and let things fall into place or will she take control of the situation and her own life?
Eyes Without a Face was directed by a very important figure in French cinematic history, Georges Franju. We’ll get into his importance to French cinema a little later on. A man who upon making our titular subject was embarking on only his second full-length feature in the director’s chair. Previously he had worked on a number of shorts and another full-length feature titled Head Against the Wall just a year prior. He was called upon to direct today's subject in response to Britain's Hammer Films, which were all the rave in France at the time.
Hammer Films were lower budget movies made by an English Film Studio called Hammer Film Productions. The studio released films like The Abominable Snowman, Die, Die, My Darling, and a slew of Dracula pictures starring Christopher Lee. The French producer didn't want to copy what the English were doing though, so he hired Franjou to head the project and the rest as they say was history. Franjou called the novelist of the title book, Jean Redon to help write the screenplay to help its three main characters come to life on screen. Franjou also wanted to say something with this film and wanted to push the envelope of possibilities, for which he had to be edited quite a bit.
There are three principle characters in this film, each cast very well to fit the right mold. Firstly there is the surgeon professor, Dr. Genessier, played by Pierre Brasseur. He is what some would call a mad scientist, but cloaked in a subdued shell. Genessier outwardly seems perfectly normal. He is mild-mannered, careful, and thoughtful. Professionally he is a brilliant mind and is highly respected in his field. Then there is his assistant Louise, played by Alida Valli. For fans of Argento’s Suspiria you might recognize her as a young Miss Tanner. Louise is faithful to Genessier and dutiful in assisting him with his experiments. She cares deeply for him and his daughter, who is kept locked away, sedated from the world. The final of the three characters is of course, Genessier’s daughter, Christine. Played by Edith Scob, Christine is an innocent and curious girl who sees more than what Genessier would like her to see despite his best efforts to control her movements. Christine is caring, sensitive, and since her accident has been locked away in more ways than one. She is not only kept in her room and sedated, but also made to wear a white featureless mask to hide her true face.
Eyes Without a Face plays visually and thematically to create a sort of beautiful horror film, what some have coined as a poetic horror film. It deals with suspense and shock to round itself out, but there is surrealism at play along with a film noir approach to camera work. Coupled with the very human and deep themes it delves into poetic certainly fits. It’s the final scene of the film that in my opinion blends these perfectly, but I’ll leave that for you to experience. It should be mentioned that for those squeamish regarding surgery should beware. There is a rather infamous scene of facial transplant that for some might be a bit much.
Filmed in warm black and white tones the movie has a kind of softness to it visually. There are a lot of greys at play, which also helps Christine’s stark white mask stand out in most scenes it’s featured in, creating a focal point. It’s a film that is quite unique in its approach to horror as it’s more atmospheric and psychologically haunting than it is outright scary.
The first time I remember seeing this film I was in my early twenties. One night around this time of year I was watching an old scary movie on TV with my parents, of which I don’t recall. After that the title of our subject today flashed on the screen and the title caught me. I wondered, what did they mean Eyes Without a Face? What kind of horror movie will this be? I remember my dad went to bed, but my mom and I stayed up and we figured, we’ll at least listen to the intro. The description interested us both and we decided, what the heck, we’ll give it a try. From the opening sequence, which is dark and mysterious to the ending I was hooked. It had elements of other horror movies I liked, but was on its own unique. Visually it reminded me of The Haunting, the mask made me think at least in some ways of Halloween, and I also got Island of Dr. Moreau vibes. I really liked it and it made me wonder why nobody talked about it. For a long tome I chalked it up to it being a foreign language film…Which by the way America…subtitles are your friends. But then I found it had a cult following, which was really exciting.
When Eyes Without a Face was released to a wide audience in 1960 and received mixed reviews…and in some cases was billed with a different name. In the USA the movie was released as an English dubbed version and advertised as “The Horror Chambers of Dr. Faustus”. Which is a bit odd considering there are no chambers or a Dr. Faustus to be found in the film. It also played in double feature at the time, paired with another horror film called “The Manster”, a movie about about a man who grows two-heads. Now while that sounds amazing in its own right, it’s probably not the best pairing for this film as an advertiser.
Regardless of the name advertised some enjoyed the movie while others were shocked by it due to the grotesque and unflinching surgery scenes. Some countries banned the movie altogether because they thought it to graphic.
Eyes Without a Face has been sited as an inspiration for many directors throughout the years including Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, and John Woo. It has overtime gained notoriety and is now considered one of the finest French horror films of all time and of the 60’s.
The film was an inspiration for an artist of a different medium as well, one that some might not be aware of. While living in New York a young British man was thinking of writing what he would later call an anti-love song. A ballad that instead of being about love was about killing love. After having seen our subject today he heard the melody to go with the title and added the chorus lyrics Les Yeux Sans Visage. When the song was released it launched Billy Idol into stardom with his first Top Ten hit, Eyes Without a Face.
As for Franju, after today’s subject he went on to make more movies including Therese and Les Rideaux blancs. Arguably his biggest contribution to French cinema however came thirteen years before Eyes Without a Face would be greenlit for production. Franju before ever sitting in a director’s chair co-founded along with his friend Henri Langlois, La Cinematique Francaise. Beginning with the goal of saving French silent films from loss and destruction during World War II it grew with time and has played a vital role in preserving French cinematic films, documentaries, and masterpieces alike. It has since become France’s most important film archive to date, having successfully housed 40,000 films in its libraries, one of which is Eyes Without a Face.
So if you’re looking for a horror film to watch and you’re looking for something older, something with a bit of charm to it. Give our subject today a try, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
If you’d like to watch Eyes Without a Face for yourself you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find it on The Criterion Channel. The Criterion Channel is a streaming service from our friends at the Criterion Collection which offers an amazing array of content and regularly curated content for seasoned and bourgeoning film fans alike. Pricing offerings include $10.99 per month and $99 per year, which is what I chose to do.
Apart from the Criterion Channel you can also find it on Max. Max is a streaming service from HBO offering Movies, TV shows, and sports both from under and outside the HBO umbrella. Pricing options include $9.99 per month with ads, $14.99 ad-free, and $19.99 premium ad-free. You can also watch on Hulu if you have the HBO add on as well.
Lastly, you can also find it on Prime Video and Apple TV for $3.99 to rent.
If you like this podcast tell your friends and follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Each week there will be new content including hints about episodes before they air. If you’d like to learn more about the podcast visit our website at glazedcinema.com. There you’ll find more info about the show and a place to submit ideas for future episodes. For film fans who are hearing impaired the blog page on our website features each episode in written form as well. As always, thanks for listening and I hope to see you next time with another beverage and another fine film on Glazed Cinema.
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