Eyes Without a Face: The Unreal Reality
By October 18, 2004
There is a moment in Eyes Without a Face—you’ll know it when you see it—when, according to L’Express, “the spectators dropped like flies.” At the Edinburgh Read more »
- France
- 1960
- 90 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.66:1
- French
SYNOPSIS: Secluded in the French countryside, a brilliant, obsessive doctor attempts a radical plastic surgery to restore the beauty of his daughter’s disfigured face—but at a horrifying price. At once ghastly and lyrical, Eyes Without a Face is a true rarity of horror cinema and has influenced countless films. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Georges Franju’s classic in a long-awaited, fully restored DVD edition.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Doctor Génessier | Pierre Brasseur |
| Louise | Alida Valli |
| Christiane Génessier | Edith Scob |
| Jacques Vernon | Francois Guerin |
| Edna Grüberg | Juliette Mayniel |
| Detective Parot | Alexandre Rignault |
| Paulette Mérodon | Beatrice Altariba |
| The pound employee | Charles Blavette |
| Second police detective | Claude Brasseur |
Credits
| Director | Georges Franju |
| Producer | Jules Borkon |
| Based on the novel by | Jean Redon |
| Screenplay | Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Jean Redon and Claude Sautet |
| Dialogue | Pierre Gascar |
| Music | Maurice Jarre |
| Production manager | Pierre Laurent |
| Cinematography | Eugen Schüfftan |
| Sets | Auguste Capelier |
| Assistant director | Claude Sautet |
| Cameraman | Robert Schneider |
| Makeup | Georges Klein |
| Special effects | Henri Assola |
| Editing | Gilbert Natot |
| Sound | Antoine Archimbaud |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Blood of the Beasts (Le Sang des bêtes), Georges Franju’s 1949 short documentary about the slaughterhouses of Paris
- Archival interviews with Franju on horror, cinema, and the making of Blood of the Beasts
- Excerpt from Les Grands-pères du crime, a documentary featuring Eyes Without a Face writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac (Diabolique, Vertigo)
- Theatrical trailers
- Stills gallery of rare production photos and promotional material
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: new essays by novelist Patrick McGrath and writer and film historian David Kalat
