EYES WITHOUT A FACE

EYES WITHOUT A FACE (LES YEUX SANS VISAGE), 1960
France, Italy | HDD, Black & White, 90’ | French
Director: Georges Franju
Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Juliette Mayniel

Based on Jean Redon’s novel, Eyes Without A Face is the first and only film in the horror genre by George Franju, one of the founders of the Cinémathèque Française. In the years since its making, the film has been an influence on movies in diverse genres by many directors including Almodóvar. Plastic surgeon Dr. Génessier promises to restore the face of his daughter Christiane whose has been severely disfigured in a traffic accident. To find a suitable face for his daughter, the doctor, who feels responsible for the accident, starts kidnapping young women with the help of his loyal assistant. He experiments with transplanting their faces onto hers, but none of the grafts will take. Yet the obsessed doctor continues to abduct girls, and the kidnapped women continue to die one by one. Interweaving poetic imagery with poignant and scary touches, the film is sure to lodge itself into your subconscious.