Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

tomgillespie2002 Mr. Okuyama (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a physically and emotionally wounded man. After an industrial accident at work, his face has been scarred and mutilated beyond recognition, and even his wife rejects him, even though she says his physical appearance doesn't matter. It has left him bitter and angry, until his psychiatrist Dr. Hira (Mikijiro Hira) comes up with a way to fashion a 'face mask' that will give him the appearance of having a completely normal face, albeit with a few joining marks. Hira doesn't do this just out of kindness, he is fascinated how this new face will alter Okuyama's personality and way of life.The Face of Another is a fascinating film that highlights the social attitudes to physical appearance. There are hundreds of films and morality tales that teach you that it is inner beauty that counts, and once you allow this to shine then your physical attractiveness becomes irrelevant. Everyone knows that this is bullshit, so its refreshing to see a film that makes it clear from the outset that physical appearance has a massive part to play in society. Okuyama's new face, which is an attractive one, changes him so much that he takes on an almost dual identity. Dr. Hira delights in telling him that he has bought flashy new clothes, something he was never concerned with before. It becomes clear that whilst before Okuyama merely wanted to be normal again and fit back in society, his new face is engulfing him, and to be 'normal' simply isn't enough anymore.As with many of the Japanese New Wave film-makers of the 1960's-70's, director Hiroshi Teshigahara takes some bold steps and sneaks in some surrealist and art-house values in a movie that is otherwise played relatively straight. A 'fictional' character appears every now and then throughout (she is first imagined by Okuyama's wife as a character in a movie); one side of her face is scarred and burned. She appears quite rarely, but seems to serve as an alternative to Okuyama's increasingly vain soul. Another scene seems a ball of hair that floats in the air, unnoticed by the people in the laboratory. I have no idea what it meant, and couldn't really admit to it being wholly successful, but it certainly got my attention nonetheless.A powerful, disturbing, and poignant drama/horror from the greatest era in Japanese cinema. The film seems all the more important now, 45 years on, in a world where a botox injection can be as easy as buying a pack of cigarettes, and where physical 'beauty' is less a bonus than a necessity.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

crossbow0106 A film as brilliant as it is unsettling, the story of Okuyama, a married man who gets disfigured in the face by an industrial accident and goes to a psychiatrist, who makes a mask for him to wear. Tatsuya Nakadai is not even recognized until 50 minutes into the film, otherwise his face is in bandages. Its amazing what happens from there, what Okuyama discovers about himself once he dons the mask (or, the mask dons him) and how it has changed him. If the film centered only on him it would be more than fine. However, there are two unusual female roles which deserve mention: One is a girl who is obsessed with yo-yo's and who knows that Okuyama is the person in the mask (you will see why). The other is the very pretty Miki Irie, whose story is similar to Okuyama in that she is horribly disfigured, but her hair hides it until it doesn't. Okuyama and this lady never meet, which I think is a great idea, since wearing the mask means Okuyama does not have to show his disfigurement in public. The acting is uniformly wonderful, with lesser but pivotal roles by Machiko Kyo as Okuyama's wife and Kyoko Kishida as the nurse. Just be warned that this film is in no way conventional. It is a psychological drama rather than science fiction. I thought it was excellent.

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.

AkuSokuZan movie about self perception and the bond between the mind and the body...soundtrak really set the mood for the increasing horror in the story line. Nakadai downplays his role to give an overall flawless performance. Watch for some really good lines which will undoubtedly force the viewer to start thinking right away which may distract from the plot (but hey, it's an artsy masterpiece right?)...There is a lot of experimentation in the cinematography such as a door which opens and reveals a cluster of hair in ocean tides...this effect serves to foreshadow the action but may in the view of modern audiences comes across as trying TOO hard to be an art film. I left the movie still trying to link the two parallel story lines in the film and you may too...but don't worry you get two stories for the price of one...DO NOT watch this movie in the dark even though there is nothing VISUALLY terrifying it is still a great horror film...