Eyes Without a Face

Title: Eyes Without a Face
Director: Georges Franju
Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Juliette Mayniel
Year: 1959
MPAA: Not Rated
Date of Review: May 31, 2006

Georges Franju's Eyes Without a Face (curiously renamed The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus for American audiences) sets an uneasy tone from the opening shot, taken from inside a car driving down a rural road at night as circus-like music plays in the background. The audience comes to know this music quite well, as it becomes the theme song for the film, and a signal that another act of desperation and cruelty is going to occur. This is one of those very rare films often referred to as "a thinking man's horror film", which, rather than bombarding the audience with grotesque gore and unnecessary sexuality, actually asks them to think about what is happening, and to come to their own conclusions about the message.

The film stars Pierre Brasseur as Doctor Génessier, a brilliant doctor in Paris who believes he has discovered a means of transplanting bodily tissue (quite a groundbreaking idea for the film's 1959 release date). And in a cruel twist of fate, his daughter is left, quite literally, without a face after a horrendous car wreck, forcing the doctor to put his techniques to practical use right away. His sick mind, however, leads him and his assistant Louise (played by Alida Valli) to kidnap and murder young women of the "same type of beauty" as his daughter, and steal their faces in an attempt to fix his daughter, Christiane. Part Frankenstein, part Silence of the Lambs, this film is not conventional horror in any way - it combines ideas frequently seen in slashers, monster movies, and supernatural thrillers.

Eyes Without a Face is beautifully photographed, giving it an almost Gothic look and texture, especially in the house in which Christiane resides. It is visually wonderful in every way, and this is where it achieves its scares, as well. The mask Christiane is burdened to wear is much more frightening than any scars or bruns could ever be - a plain white sheet of plastic molded to the contours of her face, completely colourless and expressionless, giving a ghost-like quality to her already gaunt figure. She roams around the house like a child lost in a dream, and seeing no changes in the facial expression is quite unnerving.

A very effective film, Franju's Eyes Without a Face is both frightening and heartbreaking. Nothing could be more devastating to a young woman than the total loss of her face - and so the audience understands her pain and why she feels as though she is already dead. It is definitely best to watch this film without any expectations regarding how frightening it is, as it is more ghastly in its concept and what the audience imagines for themselves, rather than what is actually given to them on screen. However, this is not a negative - it is simply for a different audience than those that would enjoy the gorefests of today.

8/10

A History of Violence

Title: A History of Violence
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt
Year: 2005
MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal violence, graphic sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use.
Date of Review: May 24, 2006

Artistic liberty is a tricky thing. When a writer and director approach a piece of work to adapt to film, they must deal with several important facts that can make or break the final product. One of the most important of these facts is that said piece of work probably has a fanbase - whether it's of enormous popularity, or just a cult-like following - and these people want to be pleased. This does not, however, mean an absolute word-for-word adaptation is necessary. In A History of Violence, David Cronenberg has taken several artistic liberties, which add up to a final film that is nearly a complete deviation from the source material (a graphic novel of the same name by Vince Locke and John Wagner), but has crafted his own style and substance into it so effectively, that it stands alone as a masterful piece of filmmaking, and an astute analysis of the violence inherent in human beings.

Viggo Mortensen plays the lead role of Tom Stall, a smalltown family man and well liked member of the community, owning his own diner and building strong friendships with the townsfolk. His life is - by today's standards - dreamy. This lovely life comes crashing down when two hoodlums come into his diner at closing time, demanding money and intent on killing Stall, his staff, and the customers. It is with a swift act of courage - and violence - that Stall fights off and kills the two assailants. He is then thrown into the national media as being a hero of monumental proportions - the type of man people should look up to as the pinnacle of manhood, protecting his family, his friends, and his business. From here, the story takes off and leads the audience through a maze of deceit, emotion, and of course, grisly violence that have become a staple of David Cronenberg's films.

A History of Violence is very much a modern-day Taxi Driver in its message and how it is handled. One who uses violence to kill "bad men" (as they are called numerous times in the film - no doubt intentionally) is toted as being a hero, eliminating the dredges of society and making the world a better place. But what else looms behind the picture-perfect exterior of these so-called heroes? While Cronenberg shows us very gruesome images of incredibly violent acts, it is not for shock value - he asks the audience to think about what they are witnessing on the screen. This is echoed in the surprisingly graphic sex scenes between Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello, which take on two very separate but very strong emotions - that of pure, endearing love, and that of violent, animalistic lust.

While it has been said that the film strays so far from the source material that it should not even share the title, A History of Violence is a stunning film in its own right, and is David Cronenberg's own take on an already controversial story. Locations are changed, names are changed, characters are tweaked and the finale is entirely different, but the film should not be taken as a literal adaptation of the original work. Every performance, from Viggo Mortensen's frighteningly schizophrenic portrayal of Tom Stall, to Maria Bello as his terrified wife and William Hurt's Oscar nominated performance as a Philadelphia mobster, these feel like real people in real a real story. The violence on screen is not stylized with wire-fu, dual-handed gun fights and millions of bullets - it is quick, brutal, and achieves its goal of making the audience uneasy about what is happening, not thrilled by the idea of another bad guy biting the dust.

Cronenberg's A History of Violence may not be as strange as his past works, and is definitely not of the horror genre which he so often works in, but it is without a doubt among his very best work. He has proven himself to be a filmmaker that can cut to the core of humanity in many different ways, and his intensely visual style does nothing by enhance the story. In the recent uproar of comic book adaptations, Cronenberg's name is one that wouldn't be expected to pop up at first, but his entry into this pop culture phenomenon is one of the strongest.

9/10

Lone Star

Title: Lone Star
Director: John Sayles
Cast: Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, Elizabeth Peña
Year: 1996
MPAA: Rated R for brief language, sex and violence.
Date of Review: May 22, 2006

John Sayles' intricate character study Lone Star, is reminiscent of the classic whodunit murder mystery, but injects life and feeling into the story and the characters that rarely any movie of any genre can claim to have achieved. Not only is Sayles' direction beautiful and intricate, weaving past and present storylines seamlessly throughout single scenes, but the acting from every performer is so natural - from the stars of the film to the brief but equally important bit parts - that it feels as if it is a real story simply being documented by Sayles.

Frequent Sayles collaborator Chris Cooper stars as Sam Deeds, the sheriff of a small Texas border town, living in the shadow of his father's legendary status. The film begins with a bang, as the bones of an unknown individual are found by treasure hunters, and the case is given to Deeds, who creates an obsession over how these bones got where they are, and the history of all the people involved in the story. The story spans two time periods, and jumps between them frequently and easily, often within the same set piece and scene. The audience is introduced to a whole town full of characters involved with the finding of this body, and they are played by such actors as Kris Kristofferson, Elizabeth Peña, and Matthew McConaughey.

Despite the main plot of discovering the whole story behind the skeletal remains, Lone Star spends most of its time getting to know the characters and the town. Sayles examines the racial conflicts which arise between the predominantly Mexican population, and the whites and blacks which also try to make a living there. All of these people use historical conflicts as an excuse to take out their own frustrations on each other - which is best shown in a heated argument between parents and teachers in a classroom. Sayles' wonderfully intelligent and character-fitting dialogue is able to bring to life the hatred and prejudice felt by these people much more effectively than any gun battle, fist fight or gang war ever could - which probably would have been the route taken by many other writer/directors tackling such a story.

With Lone Star, John Sayles truly has said something about the human condition, which is universally considered to be the goal of any artist. While it is important to know of our past and to be respectful of history, we - as individuals and as a people - cannot allow ourselves to live in the past, and to allow it to overshadow who we are and what we want to be and do with our lives. Lone Star is a movie that entertains with the writing and rich characters and dialogue, rather than flashy action or break-neck speed, and that's what sets it apart and makes it such a joy to see.

9/10