Eyes Without a Face (1960)

  A mad, gray-zone plastic surgeon Professor Genessier is a prominent figure within his profession as well as in the general public of his Parisian audience. He is well versed in his domain and a staunch follower of a medicinal procedure dubbed “heterografting”-meaning the transfer between living tissues among two people. Genessier’s objective stems from the horrible car accident that he has brought both upon himself and his daughter, Christiane. Christiane’s face has deformed beyond imagination, an image of the utmost grotesque, and her life is ultimately ruined by this occurrence. Her father, however, has devised a plan to reinvent Christiane’s face by taking living tissue from women around the Parisian circle who resemble exactly Christiane to maximize success in his efforts.

With this premise, one might observe this strategy as inane and farcical, though one would be extremely incorrect. Genessier’s assistant, Louise, is the pinnacle of his craft-retaining her beauty and charm through the unorthodox methods of her mad scientist lover Genessier. The unhopeful and desolate Christiane, who wishes death cast upon her because of her pain, is constantly given hope and expectancy by her father’s magnum opus. However, it is about time to assert that the methods of “acquiring” the living tissue from a woman resembling Christiane is, evidently, extremely unethical and a crime against the natural order.

 Although we are not provided the exact number of victims in the film, we can point out at least three: the first victim was dumped into a river because of some medical complications, the second had provided Christiane with a face for a short while before initiating another facial complication, and the third ultimately bringing about the demise of both Genessier’s fateful practices. Christiane’s face is, as the title of the film suggests, left open for only her eyes, everything beside that is concealed with a mask that both Genessier and Louise want her to equip. While there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that Christiane has accepted herself as she is, the ending sequence may hint at her acceptance of her situation instead of escaping or letting it poison her life.

All in all, Eyes Without a Face (1960) is a riveting, noir-horror story that is not bereft of grotesque or disturbing images, sequences, and plot elements. The monomania of Genessier is his ultimate downfall, and his downfall is the ultimate success-and acceptance-of Christiane, who evidently succumbs to emotions of despair as she understands the nature of her father’s practices.