THE FACE OF ANOTHER-1966-This is an interesting sometimes disturbing psychological drama, sometimes advertised as a horror film. A man is horribly burned in an accident. Although his head is wrapped entirely in bandages he tires to continue to lead his life without much success until a plastic surgeon creates a special mask for him to wear. Though it seems a neat trick the man develops serious identity problems cumulating in his plan to seduce his own wife while in disguise. There’s a lot of talk but direction and acting holds it together. It’s based on a novel by Kobo Abe (who also wrote the screenplay and has a cameo in a bar scene).

Director Hiroshi Teshigahara had previously made the classic WOMAN IN THE DUNES (also based on a Abe novel) but worked only sporadically in film after this, devoting most of his time to painting.

Lead actor Tatsuya Nakadai was in Kurosawa’s YOJIMBO and SANJURO and later in KAGEMUSHA and RAN as well as KWAIDAN and many other famous Japanese films. FACE also features actor Eiji Okada who was in the international films HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR and THE UGLY DUCKING (with Marlon Brando) as well as WOMAN IN THE DUNES.