"Eyes Without a Face" - Film Review

Eyes Without a Face is usually labeled as a horror film, and largely to an extent it is. But more often it feels more like an incredibly disturbing melodrama.

The film is more concerned with setting a mood or staging scenes so that you feel the utter isolation, sadness, and desperation of the characters than with trying to scare you. The film is thoroughly frightening but less because of the presentation of the story and more due to how unsettling the film’s premise is.

Doctor Génessier (Pierre Brasseur) is performing experimental surgery in order to restore his daughter Christiane’s (Edith Scob) damaged face; all that remains unscarred are her lovely, sad blue eyes (hence the title). With the help of Louise (Alida Valli), his assistant who he restored the face of, he kidnaps unsuspecting women with similar faces to Christiane’s. 

There’s a somber beauty to the film. The film is filled with a sense of anguish and psychological pain. This is perhaps best exemplified by Maurice Jarre’s haunting score; the leitmotif musical piece that plays when Christiane is on screen is unspeakably chilling. While the visuals formed by Eugen Schüfftan’s vivid black and white cinematography are striking and enchanting with undercurrents of melancholy. 

Though largely overlooked in its own time, through theatrical and home video releases the film began to collect a greater reputation. It’s now widely accepted to be a major influence on both European and American horror movies.

Its fascinating, poetic exploration of identity and beauty, and its considerations of the price being paid to achieve the surgery make it achingly mesmerizing even as it continually unnerves us. 

Grade: A