ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

vincenzo_camoranesi What Bergman was doing for the Sweden (and the Northern Europe) of the sixties, Teshigahara, Kobayashi and Imamura were doing for Japanese society. _The Face of Another_ is one of the finest examples of this school, now overshadowed in popularity by the work of Kurosawa, which it splendidly complements.The film is a philosophical, contemporary and surprisingly lasting reflection on an old theme: that of the double. The originality of the Abe screenplay (and novel) lies in the fact that this is a self-double, a device that adds an exotic as well as an erotic dimension to what is a personal psychological drama rooted in a Japan that was trying to put on a new face, metaphorically speaking, trying on this and that, in an attempt to be something. That the attempt looks desperate on film only reaffirms the message: a lonely crowd in a crowded place and a lonely man in a lonely crowd. Thus, the film is a cold shower, even chilling at times.A special word for Japanese starts Tatsuya Nakadai and Machiko Kyo (both still with us), accompanied by a splendid cast. The black and white photography is magnificent and the subtle soundtrack punctuates rather than underline.In summary, this film is mandatory viewing for anyone interested in Japanese film, and particularly for those interested in the sociology of postwar Japan and of the developed world generally. It is an excellent companion film to David Riesman's classic study _The Lonely Crowd_. I can think of no better introduction to master artist Teshigahara.It is a great pleasure to have this pristine DVD of a forgotten masterpiece.

gentendo In the search for self-discovery, one who suffers from an inferiority complex cannot mask who they really are from the public. This film brought certain questions to my mind: Which is worse? Suffering the physical and external conditions of a burned face, or, suffering the emotional and internal conditions of low self-worth? In the beginning, Mr. Okuyama is a self-loathing and debased man who in consequence of his own self-rejection polarizes the relationships he has with others. The laboratory incident that subsequently disfigures his face causes Okuyama to finally have reason to unleash the inner-poison he has festered inside for a long time. The inner-poison he carries is the self-absorbed and accumulated hatred he has for himself. He tries to blame his wife for not showing the affection he wants from her by stating that it is because of his external ugliness that she rejects him, when really this is a mere mask for his internal ugliness he has not yet accepted. Okuyama's arc will deal with his transformation from reproached and depraved thinker to confident and strong human participant.After receiving his new face from a complete stranger, he "allows the mask to take over" and become who he always wanted to become—a confident human participant. But it seems only a transient form of hiding from who he really is. Soon, his true and inner-self begins leaking through the mask; as seen when the retarded hotel daughter realizes who he is, and, when his attempts to seduce his wife fail. The attempts fail because she claims she already knew it was him despite his cover-up. When he realizes that the mask is wearing off, he tries to resort to alcohol to cover up his insecurities. Despite his efforts to cover-up who he really is, the truth of his character haunts him like a shadow that doesn't depart.The most pervasive ideology that I observed within the Japanese culture was the idea of isolation. During the beginning credit sequence, seas of people are shown mindlessly crowded together and slowly walking along the city streets of Japan. With so many blank faces to observe and not a clear direction on who to focus on, the viewer becomes anxious and feels rather isolated—not connected to any of the people shown. It brought to mind how seemingly insignificant all of us sometimes feel when walking in a crowd of people, asking ourselves: "Who am I to be anything important when others are more capable, beautiful, and intelligent as I?" As the film demonstrates, it is a personal subject matter on the nature of identity. The Japanese seem to feel that the search for one's identity is one that is lonely, fearful, and full of angst and despair. All of these ideas are exposed through Mr. Okuyama—a man who has not accepted who he is and attempts to mask his true identity from situation to situation.Further evidence of this isolation is seen in a very literal rendering of the idea of losing identity. Seas of people are seen once again walking along the city street towards Okuyama and his psychiatrist, this time, however, with no faces at all. The psychiatrist says, "The pathway to freedom is a lonely journey." To me this spoke of how when one becomes enlightened to the truth of the world (that is, the way it really is), the lonelier it becomes because of the fact that most people don't question their identity. They just seem to be mindlessly drifting from situation to situation, never once taking thought or examining the nature of their existence. The loneliness also increases because the enlightened doesn't have anyone to share his/her experience with that will understand let alone accept their position. It reminded me of Plato's cave. Okuyama is attempting to break free of the chains that bind him inside the dark and damp lit cave (i.e. the world and his place in it) and see the truth and beauty of the outside world. The journey to do so is a difficult one—full of doubt, discouragement, feelings of low self-worth, and confusion.The idea of internal and external beauty is also an important idea inside this culture. The seemingly insignificant side-story of the beautiful woman with the scarred face helped demonstrate this idea. When she is seen walking along the city street and flirtatious chants are thrown her way, she turns her face in their direction and immediately the chants cease. They become aware of her external ugliness—their once playful manners have now turned into cold and harsh rejections. The Japanese culture (like most) seems to be suggesting that the world has not yet learned to accept inner beauty, but is still judging the books by their covers. The same judgment is intertwined into Okuyama's character. He is constantly thinking that others are judging him and that they will reject the "monster" that he supposedly is. When he receives a new face entirely, he still believes that others, namely his wife, are rejecting him. It goes to prove one thing: No matter how attractive the masks we wear appear outwardly, if the soul is scarred, we will still be ugly on the outside.

CLEO-8 This is a nice movie about a whiny faceless complaining. There is another half faceless who has her face licked by her brother before walking into the ocean to die. the whiny faceless has a nice beard which he uses to try to trick a retard girl. his wife is not impressed. i give it 7. the doctor is a sicko and wants everyone to be faceless because he says there would be no crime that way. i don't get what he meant by that. i guess he's referring to the low crime rate in china. i don't know what i meant by that. anyway, it makes u think a lot. i suggest you get your hands on a copy of this gem. It's very cerebral in that way. Sometimes when i was watching this movie, i couldn't help thinking if i had the power to change my face, who i would try to seduce. i don't think it would be my wife like this guy did, mostly because i don't have a wife. if you are going for a faceless theme, this movie makes a good double feature with Eyes Without A Face. that's a french film. This movie should not be confused with the Mel Gibson classic Man Withoug A Face.

gordon-31 This is a story about a man whose face is badly disfigured in a fire but not his body or hands. Instead of going to a plastic surgeon to have his face restored he goes to a scientist who specializes in plastics. The scientist makes him a plastic face mask which when it is put on is the actual face of the actor. You are never allowed to see the scarred face except for a tiny portion of it.Then the man gets the bright idea to try to seduce his wife with his new face. She knows it's him all the time. He goes nuts and wants to kill his wife but all the doors are locked. He does kill the doctor which might not be a bad idea.As if this is not bad enough there is a sub plot of a beautiful girl whose face is badly blemished on one side. For reassurance she seduces her brother and then commits suicide. Not a bad idea for the entire cast out of embarrassment for a terrible film. This film is so bad it may become a cult film.