Poetic and Surrealist Symbolism in Eyes Without a Face
Eyes Without a Face is a 1960 French-Italian horror film directed by Georges Franju. It is an adaptation of Jean Redon's novel. Dr. Génessier, played by Pierre Brasseur, deals with an immense amount of guilt after an automobile accident that causes his daughter, Christiane’s, face to become disfigured. Christiane is played by Édith Scob, and outsiders believe that she is dead after the crash. In reality, her father and his assistant, Louise, are luring in female victims to remove their faces in an effort to replace Christiane’s. Eyes Without a Face is a film that is heavily laden with symbolic surrealistic and poetic aspects revolving around the notions of penitence, corruption, and tragedy within a family structure.
Dr. Génessier, at a first glance, would strike many as being a traditional doctor that goes to a hospital and does his job on a daily basis. Even so, this normalcy of his, is what makes Eyes Without a Face a shocking and unsettling film. The doctor is unstable because of the pain he has caused his daughter. Therefore, his removal of his victims’ faces is quite bizarre and unreal. Also, according to, Philip French of The Guardian, in a documentary called, Les fleurs maladives de …show more content…
This, in a way, represents the anxiety and entrapment that Christiane feels while concealed from the world. For instance, after her staged funeral, Génessier walks into his home, where viewers first see caged doves, which this is the first association that Franju makes with Christiane and doves (Schneider and Shaw 38). The doves, one could argue, represent purity and perfection. Christiane has a surreal way of carrying herself in many scenes – much like a bird. In the final scene, she nearly floats away in a white dress with a freed dove on her hand. This linkage is foreshadowed by a shot displaying a painting of a woman with a dove earlier in the
Eyes Without a Face is a 1960 French-Italian horror film directed by Georges Franju. It is an adaptation of Jean Redon's novel. Dr. Génessier, played by Pierre Brasseur, deals with an immense amount of guilt after an automobile accident that causes his daughter, Christiane’s, face to become disfigured. Christiane is played by Édith Scob, and outsiders believe that she is dead after the crash. In reality, her father and his assistant, Louise, are luring in female victims to remove their faces in an effort to replace Christiane’s. Eyes Without a Face is a film that is heavily laden with symbolic surrealistic and poetic aspects revolving around the notions of penitence, corruption, and tragedy within a family structure.
Dr. Génessier, at a first glance, would strike many as being a traditional doctor that goes to a hospital and does his job on a daily basis. Even so, this normalcy of his, is what makes Eyes Without a Face a shocking and unsettling film. The doctor is unstable because of the pain he has caused his daughter. Therefore, his removal of his victims’ faces is quite bizarre and unreal. Also, according to, Philip French of The Guardian, in a documentary called, Les fleurs maladives de …show more content…
This, in a way, represents the anxiety and entrapment that Christiane feels while concealed from the world. For instance, after her staged funeral, Génessier walks into his home, where viewers first see caged doves, which this is the first association that Franju makes with Christiane and doves (Schneider and Shaw 38). The doves, one could argue, represent purity and perfection. Christiane has a surreal way of carrying herself in many scenes – much like a bird. In the final scene, she nearly floats away in a white dress with a freed dove on her hand. This linkage is foreshadowed by a shot displaying a painting of a woman with a dove earlier in the