gwnightscream
Mel Gibson directs and stars in this 1993 drama based on the novel which co-stars Nick Stahl, Margaret Whitton and Geoffrey Lewis. This takes place in the late 1960's where we meet Charles Norstadt (Stahl), a troubled boy who wants to leave home and attend military school. Soon, he meets Justin Mcleod (Gibson), a former teacher with a scarred face who takes him under his wing, tutoring him and they become friends. The late, Whitton (Major League) plays Charles' mother, Catherine and Lewis (Tango & Cash) plays Police Chief, Stark. I've always liked this film and Gibson and Stahl are great together. I recommend this.
to_co
"The Man with out a Face" is the story of an eccentric teacher with a unique gift of reaching emotionally distraught pupils and fuelling their ability to learn. Calamity strikes his life in the form of a car accident while transporting a particularly responsive pupil home from a competition, who unbeknownst to him had developed a fixation with him. Even though he is an exceptional teacher he is ill-equipped, at the young age of 26, to deal with the ensuing escalation. When he tries to set the boy straight he regretfully is too harsh in the effort and the boy panics causing the accident. It kills the boy and leaves the teacher permanently disfigured.The scaring is symbolic of the internal wound he carries inside from guilt, coupled with the reinforced rejection of society, first in response to the accident, by jailing him for involuntary manslaughter and then as it treats him as a monster due to, first and unchallenged impressions of the appearance of his scars.Years later another struggling young boy enters his life, who will not take no for an answer, and convinces the teacher to tutor him for an entrance exam to a military college he is desirous to attend. His unorthodox style brings perspective and enlightenment to more than just the subjects for the entrance exam but also to the boys life and his own. They find in each other both true friendship and the dignity and lightening effects of grace. Learning to trust in the face of all the apparently well meaning yet paranoid and unruly responses of those who assert themselves to be responsible and clear.This film brings a wonderful insight to the mistaken impressions that can happen in society when the right questions are never asked within the mind and heart of the individual or by officials. And once asked, whether they are clearly heard or not, without the bias of agenda. It also addresses the question of what people believe societal authorities should be acting upon and what they actually are constrained to. How the disconnect between the personal desire for truth to rule the day conflicts with the assumptions made by those in the legal system, which admittedly is driven not by interested in justice but rather the strict application of the code, the way it exists at the time of an offence.The film exposes the nature of the corruption of the individual through the weights of life and error and the rationalization of the fear of facing that nature, in order to see the truth ourselves. The clear truth, the honest truth, that we are all flawed, all monsters and all, contrastingly, capable of extending grace to lift that weight in the lives of others, if we are willing to dare, with a little empathy and simple understanding, enter a path that can result in a better kind of life.This battle, that continues to go on everywhere, between the desire for personal accountability to oneself and through this the collective governing of society by conscience and respect contrasting the desire to throw that responsibility on external representatives who society has dubbed authorities, and through that become victim to the fickle impressions of a few.The resultant situation exposes the the very real hypocritical nature that exists in the dichotomy in most cultures today. Leaving only the impression of dignity, the vainer of office and the shallowness and illusion of control when confronted by the true dignity of someone with moral substance. That which exists in the hearts of those who except the challenge of stepping into the work of needful change.A very good watch, if you will allow yourself the change.Volpe Verte. Aug. 2nd 2014.
Marcin Kukuczka
There are such special people in our lives that we cherish regarding them as those who left an undeniable trace on our memory lane. These people left a bit of themselves in us not through words but deeds that awed us. Yes, example speaks far more powerfully than words. Such is the theme of this wonderful movie where you cannot see everything if you rely solely on the basic senses. Amidst a lot of reviews on the movie, Roger Ebert's observation occurred most convincing to me: "this movie's theme is trust" while "the most striking element is the intelligence of the language."Chuck Norstad is a simple youngster, there is nothing unusual about him. Yet, some delicacy of his character and inner conflicts resulting from his upbringing, the absence of a man in the family, some confusion stimulated by female dominance in his house do not allow him to listen to his own inner voice, his male voice. An ambiguous situation in his home truly considers a serious obstacle. His peers, therefore, ignore him and mock him. His destiny, however, grants him with a wondrous gift, a teacher like no one else, one Mr Justin McLeod, misunderstood terribly by the locals, a man seemingly living as a recluse within the walls of his own world, a tutor, a friend, a face that will always be with him from the moment they fist meet. Yet, far is the way from overcoming the fear of "otherness" of this man to friendship of uncommon and unpredictable price...The movie's major strength, apart from the two wonderful performances that I am going to discuss later, lies in the austere form it takes. That is clearly revealed in the language (somewhere, images speak more than script, elsewhere, the script is clever and very much corresponds to the feelings of particular scenes). It is no preaching, prescriptive picture of human relations, it is no wordy script delivered with considerable pomp, it is just a simple, natural and genuine depiction of growing friendship that does not take into account any borders, like age difference, some background rumors or any other prejudice. Consider, though, that this friendship, which is also tutorship, does not exclude any storms of diverse emotions, torments, confusion. It is no oasis of idyll in the boy's escape world. It is natural, growing under the custody of mutual loyalty and honesty. And performances?No wonder that all the supporting cast appear in the shadow of the two leading characters, Nick Stahl as Chuch and Mel Gibson as McLeod. What a wonderful duality the two deliver in their roles, what a splendid bunch of diverse human emotions!Nick Stahl gives a tremendous performers for his age delivering all that is necessary for is role and supplying us with additional assumptions about the boy of his age. The difficult age of puberty is handled in a respectively subtle manner. In one scene, we see him looking at the Playboy magazine and there is a slight indication of the strong connection between the visual and mental stimuli. What this boy sees is deeply carved in his psyche, what he experiences is deeply influenced by his ever-going unpredictability. However, he is most interesting in the relation with Justin McLeod: the growing trust, the growing desire for loyalty, mutual understanding and, foremost, ability to think on his own. He is a good student who has a good teacher, the one who helps him, inspires him to discover the complexities of the world around, including hard, witty, challenging, rewarding moments. Mel Gibson is impressively captivating as a disfigured character, a man of great inner conflicts and intense abandonment, yet, a man who can beautifully capture the very essence of good vs evil. One of the most memorable moments is when he recites Shakespeare's MERCHANT OF VENICE to little Chuck and focuses on the aspect that, seemingly, refers to his personal situation. Inspiring and touching. His early meetings with Chuck are most interesting, though. The growing confidence endangered from time to time by some vague, even bizarre reactions memorably build up emotional resonance of the relation that is crucial for the story to be rightly interpreted. We do not find out much about his past, that does not matter. We are to conclude as the boy is to conclude who the man is once you get to know him in reality and put aside all you have merely heard of him.An educational film highly worth seeing! A movie that captures the gist of those few human relations that deserve to be called 'friendships.' Yes, a human being can be far more to another human being than just a sheer stranger, someone who meet and pass by, whose face you easily forget. He can be a unique 'face,' somewhere out beyond the edge of the crowd, which, for some short period perhaps, gives freely and generously moments of grace.
Aaron1375
This was a well acted movie, nothing to grandeur to be sure but interesting enough. The film has a boy who actually wants to go to a boarding school which is kind of a nice change of pace, but he does not really have the grades to do so. Well lucky for him there is a recluse living nearby, and he just happens to be a teacher. Well he tries to get this guy's help, but the guy is rather hesitant to do so. He is disfigured thanks to an incident in the past and he is frowned upon by the community. He does take the boy in though as you knew he would have to do seeing as there would not be much of a movie if he did not and the two form a bit of a bond. Not really a big one where the guy makes up for the fact the boy is fatherless, but a student teacher one to be sure. Well something happens and the boy is caught at this mans house by some authorities and there is a big court scene and we learn why the man has lost half his face and why he is frowned upon by the community. Usually I would say this movie is trying to say people unjustly accuse people of things based on appearances and such, but it just does not work in this case as there was sufficient evidence and circumstances to believe the man could have done what he was accused of. Still, Mel Gibson turns in a good performance and it was somewhat entertaining to watch, just nothing that would top any favorite movie lists of mine.
