Eyes Without a Face- Movie review

Eyes Without a Face (1960) French horror film also known as “Les Yeux sans visage”

You can watch for free on Pluto tv (that’s where I watched it).

Anyways, I came across this movie somehow (honestly idk how I keep finding older media), and the high hippie with some mid-level vocal fry in his early 20s that lives in my head thought “woah, cool movie poster dude! I should totally check that out”. I kept putting it off until I had gotten sick and was restless.)

 ABSOLUTE PEAK MOVIE!!! 

Now, for a movie that is considered a horror movie, it’s not at all scary. To sum up, the movie is one large metaphor with plot and some symbolism. The metaphor being the movie’s title “Eyes Without a Face” meaning the loss/stripping of identity, hollowness, or emotional detachment.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

I absolutely adored the ending when she cuts the almost next victim free, and lets her father be mauled by the same dogs he would test on. Furthermore, how she frees these doves from the cage they were in, symbolizing her own newfound freedom, and also symbolizing her acceptance of her identity.

It’s also very fitting how she’s a young girl experiencing this most likely being in college age-range. As, most likely people tend to experience the loss and discovery of identity at these transformative stages of life.

Now, a little more on the face thing how unlike these other faces (or identities in a metaphorical sense) would reject her skin, with her growing to being able to accept her identity/face for what it was (idk if this makes sense I’m kinda sleepy, but I hope it’s clicking to you). 

However, the way she even ended up like this in face situation in the first place is what makes me thing this was a trauma response as well. As, the movie heavily implies is that she was involved in a car accident where she lost her mother and ended up losing most of her face, and most victims of traumatic experiences tend to describe a “emptiness” or “hollowness” similar to what is shown with the face situation.

Anyways, this is a great movie I highly recommend if you like media on identity or media that has metaphorical meanings. 

Pls leave a comment I’d highly appreciate your own thoughts even if you have or haven’t watched this peak movie.

Btw, srry for any typos in case there’s any!