The Face of Another (I Have a Stranger's Face) (Tanin no kao) (1966)

100% of critics liked it
(6 reviews)
90% of users liked it
(1,521 ratings)

Bearing traces of both Frankenstein and the 1959 Georges Franju horror classic Eyes without a Face, the Japanese The Face of Another is a disturbing Japanese drama featuring Tatsuya Nakadai. His face horribly disfigured in an accident, Nakadai, a wealthy industrialist, commissions a special mask… More Bearing traces of both Frankenstein and the 1959 Georges Franju horror classic Eyes without a Face, the Japanese The Face of Another is a disturbing Japanese drama featuring Tatsuya Nakadai. His face horribly disfigured in an accident, Nakadai, a wealthy industrialist, commissions a special mask from a renowned plastic surgeon. Nakadai's wife fails to recognize her husband and makes advances to him, which effectively destroys their relationship. Driven insane, Nakadai turns to murder to compensate for the loss of his identity. The melodramatic elements of the film are neatly blended with moments of erotica and generous doses of existential philosophy. The Face of Another is another thought-provoking "documentary fantasy" from the director of the cult classic Woman in the Dunes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 4 min.
Directed By: Hiroshi Teshigahara
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Jun 9, 1967 Wide
On DVD: Jul 10, 2007
Studio: Toho Company Ltd.

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
The theme is brilliantly and imaginatively explored, and the acting is potent.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
The age of masks -- who wears what?
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
presages the thematically similar, if more abjectly gruesome, works of David Cronenberg
Don Willmott, Filmcritic.com
By the time the movie is over you'll want to rush to a mirror to spend a few minutes staring at yourself.
Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette
masks the uneasy rebirth of a nation behind its story of personal transformation
Matt Bailey, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
I watched Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another and read about it and thought about it, yet ultimately failed to connect with it.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

This is a film that crawls around inside your head long after the credits have rolled and the lights have come back on. A person could spend hours analyzing and dissecting the symbolism and social commentary.
danny d

what a brilliant film. entrenched in philosophy, the dialogue in the film and the films entire concept were incredibly profound and thought provoking. nakadai put in a great performance as always and the images produced through some great cinematography were perfect for creating… More
what a brilliant film. entrenched in philosophy, the dialogue in the film and the films entire concept were incredibly profound and thought provoking. nakadai put in a great performance as always and the images produced through some great cinematography were perfect for creating just the right feel for the subject matter. a phenomenal film.
First L

A man with a burned face teeters on the brink of madness, torturing himself and his wife with his daily obsessions over appearance and how people are looking at him. He goes to his psychiatrist friend who also happens to be an expert in prosthetics, and is given a lifelike mask to… More
A man with a burned face teeters on the brink of madness, torturing himself and his wife with his daily obsessions over appearance and how people are looking at him. He goes to his psychiatrist friend who also happens to be an expert in prosthetics, and is given a lifelike mask to wear, only so the Doctor can observe and study his reaction to the mask. Soon, the man has an entirely new outlook on life, but the doctor wonders if it's the man or the mask that's living this way. There's quite a surrealistic element to this film, especially with the subplot involving a disfigured girl, suicides, and Nagasaki. Unfortunately, these surrealistic elements tend to sidetrack the main narrative rather than enhance it. And while the direction is sometimes amazing, it just as often gets lost in poor editing decisions. There are scenes that have no business being in the movie or being as long as they are, and it slows the story down to a halt. I'm also not quite sure what conclusion the film intends to lead me to. I'm not sure the filmmakers knew what conclusion they were leading me to either. Having said this, I can't deny the film has a certain charisma that draws you in, and the performances by the lead actors are really quite good. In any event, I'd trade a thousand Hannah Montana films for just one film like this. A for effort.
El Hombre I

A highly stylized, psychologically dense, and provocative analysis on identity, persona, freedom, and intimacy. The film asks, "If no one knew who you were, what kind of mischief would you get into?" What would happen to society if we were all anonymous? A must see for… More
A highly stylized, psychologically dense, and provocative analysis on identity, persona, freedom, and intimacy. The film asks, "If no one knew who you were, what kind of mischief would you get into?" What would happen to society if we were all anonymous? A must see for lovers of film and art in general to experience for its' cinematic eye, the surrealistic descent into the mind of a man conflicted about his own identity, the horror and sci-fi themes and its' highly effective score and performances. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view¤t=faceofanother.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/faceofanother.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Doctor S

This movie is rather...strange. Quite strange. Hard to categorize - part psychodrama, part thriller, part new wave, and not really any of those. Moves slowly but I was kept occupied (I kept thinking the psychiatrist/maskmaker had an ulterior motive), but an unrelated sideplot… More
This movie is rather...strange. Quite strange. Hard to categorize - part psychodrama, part thriller, part new wave, and not really any of those. Moves slowly but I was kept occupied (I kept thinking the psychiatrist/maskmaker had an ulterior motive), but an unrelated sideplot involving a scarred woman seemed repetitive of the main story and therefore rather pointless. Some diverting avant-garde sets and non-sequiturs (woman's bed flying through the city??) kept things edgy. A commendable experiment from '60s Japanese cinema.
Christopher B

Another incredible adaptation of a Kobo Abe novel by the amazing Hiroshi Teshigahara. Having just finished the novel, I might even go as far as to say the movie was better. The addition of the doctor was an ingenius one and the filmmaking is simply fantastic. Every shot could be… More
Another incredible adaptation of a Kobo Abe novel by the amazing Hiroshi Teshigahara. Having just finished the novel, I might even go as far as to say the movie was better. The addition of the doctor was an ingenius one and the filmmaking is simply fantastic. Every shot could be framed and put up on a wall (more than likely, the strange wall of the doctor's office). Another masterpiece resulting from the author and director's team ups.