• Japan
  • 1966
  • 124 minutes
  • Black and White
  • 1.33:1
  • Japanese
  •  
  • Spine #395

A staggering work of existential science fiction, The Face of Another dissects identity with the sure hand of a surgeon. Okuyama (Yojimbo‘s Tatsuya Nakadai), after being burned and disfigured in an industrial accident and estranged from his family and friends, agrees to his psychiatrist’s radical new experiment: a face transplant, created from the mold of a stranger. As Okuyama is thus further alienated from the strange world around him, he finds himself giving in to his darker temptations. With unforgettable imagery, Teshigahara’s film explores both the limits and freedom in acquiring a new persona, and questions the notion of individuality itself.

Cast

Mr. OkuyamaTatsuya Nakadai
Mrs. OkuyamaMachiko Kyo
PsychiatristMikijiro Hira
Nurse KyokoKishida
Girl with scarMiki Irie
The bossEiji Okada
Apartment superintendent Minoru Chiaki

Credits

Film Essays

The Face of Another: Double Vision

By James QuandtJuly 09, 2007

After making his international reputation in the sixties with a series of eerie existential . . . Read more »


Film Essays

The Spectral Landscape of Teshigahara, Abe, and Takemitsu

By Peter GrilliJuly 09, 2007

The names Hiroshi Teshigahara, Kobo Abe, and Toru Takemitsu loom large among Japanese . . . Read more »

Film Essays

The Face of Another: Double Vision

By James QuandtJuly 09, 2007

After making his international reputation in the sixties with a series of eerie existential . . . Read more »


Film Essays

The Spectral Landscape of Teshigahara, Abe, and Takemitsu

By Peter GrilliJuly 09, 2007

The names Hiroshi Teshigahara, Kobo Abe, and Toru Takemitsu loom large among Japanese . . . Read more »