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(aka "Tanin no kao" or "I Have a Stranger's Face" or "Stranger's Face" or "The Face of Another")

directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
Japan 1966

Following Woman of the Dunes [Suna no onna]  in 1964, Hiroshi Teshigahara continued his collaboration with avant-garde novelist/playwright Kobo Abe and experimental composer Toru Takemitsu for The Face of Another [Tanin no kao]. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai (Yojimbo, Kagemusha) as a man "buried alive behind eyes without a face", the film addresses the illusive nature of identity and the agony of its absence.

A man (Nakadai) facially disfigured in a laboratory fire persuades his doctor to fashion him a lifelike mask modeled on a complete stranger — totally different from his own face. Shortly after the mask is made, he successfully seduces his own wife (Machiko Kyo) but becomes angry at her falling for a handsome stranger. Worrying about his looks, and the way the mask seems to influence his identity, he begins to question everything.

Takemitsu's musical score is one of his best, contrasting sweet, sad melodies with eerie, experimental motifs. Alongside Franju's Les Yeux sans visage [Eyes Without a Face], Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Whale's Frankenstein, and Freund's Mad Love, Teshigahara and Abe's The Face of Another stands proud as one of cinema's most haunting explorations of identity.

Excerpt from the Eureka Website

Theatrical Release: July 15th, 1966 - Japan

Reviews       DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Eureka (Master of Cinema series # 6) - Region 2 - PAL

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Distribution Eureka (Master of Cinema Series # 6) - Region 2 - PAL
Runtime 1:56:52
Video 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: ? mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
Audio Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) 
Subtitles English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio:
Eureka (Master of Cinema Series # 6)

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• Exclusive full-length audio commentary by Tony Rayns
• New English subtitle translation
• 16-page booklet with an essay by David Toop
• Original trailer
• Gallery containing rare production stills and artwork

DVD Release Date: February 21st, 2005

Transparent Keep Case
Chapters: 18

 

 

Comments:

Image is very strong! - comparable to "Pitfall", and also has excellent contrast and strong black levels - well-appointed subtitles - Full-length Tony Rayns  commentary and David Toop booklet! This again is HD-sourced and progressive. Great quality! Intriguing film that is another must-own for Japanese cinema fans.    out of   

Gary W. Tooze

 





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DVD Box Cover

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Distribution Eureka (Master of Cinema Series # 6) - Region 2 - PAL

 


 



 

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