05 September 2006

The Insect Woman & Les yeux sans visage

Two more movies at 'Cinemateket':


Nippon konchuki (The Insect Woman) by Shohei Imamura.This is a film about a woman who lives in an incestuous relationship with her father but finally decides to leave her home in order to settle down in Tokyo. After having tried a diversity of jobs she ends up as a prostitute and the main responsible for a brothel.
Meanwhile her daughter stays at home, overtaking her mother's role as mistress to her grandfather.
After a couple of years the daughter also moves to Tokyo, starting to live in the same way as her mother but contrary to the latter, she has other plans. She wants to start a farm of her own. Finally she succeeds.
This is an ethically profound œuvre and important questions are evoked throughout this film, well worth seeing.

The second film - Les Yeux sans visage - by Georges Franju is a film about a surgeon who is responsible for having damaged his daughters face in a car accident.
He now tries to help her by transplanting tissue from women who he and his nurse/secretary/mistress kidnaps. A nasty business which ends in disaster for all parts involved.
A bit melodramatic but also quite thrilling.
Could have become more exciting if it hadn't been a bit to predictable.

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