CinemaClown
Mel Gibson's directorial debut is a much serene, sombre & sincere effort compared to the rest of his filmography and though somewhat uninteresting at first, it does manage to pique our interest with its touching portrait of teacher-pupil bonding, and only gets better as plot progresses.The story of The Man Without a Face follows a young kid from a dysfunctional family who one day encounters the town's mysterious figure, a disfigured man who keeps to himself, and after learning that he used to be a teacher, he tries to persuade him to tutor him for his upcoming exams.Directed by Mel Gibson, his first attempt at feature filmmaking is vastly different from his later works, for the film lacks all his now distinguishing trademarks. Still, for a debut effort, Gibson does a good enough job to prove that he is capable of handling the responsibilities that comes with helming the director's chair.What binds this tale together is the trust & friendship that develops between the disturbed kid & his reclusive teacher, and it isn't until it is fully formed that we get on board with where the plot is headed. Both Mel Gibson & Nick Stahl contribute with honest performances, especially Gibson whose input here is as restrained as his direction.On an overall scale, The Man Without a Face is a well crafted, patiently narrated & finely acted melodrama that touches on themes of trust, compassion, friendship & isolation while offering a critique of our society that's always had this tendency to judge a book by its cover. The final act is heartbreaking but everything before it isn't as engaging as it should be. Nevertheless, The Man Without a Face makes up for a satisfying sit, if not a memorable one.
gwnightscream
Mel Gibson directs and stars in this 1993 drama based on the novel which co-stars Nick Stahl, Margaret Whitton and Geoffrey Lewis. This takes place in the late 1960's where we meet Charles Norstadt (Stahl), a troubled boy who wants to leave home and attend military school. Soon, he meets Justin Mcleod (Gibson), a former teacher with a scarred face who takes him under his wing, tutoring him and they become friends. The late, Whitton (Major League) plays Charles' mother, Catherine and Lewis (Tango & Cash) plays Police Chief, Stark. I've always liked this film and Gibson and Stahl are great together. I recommend this.
Marcin Kukuczka
There are such special people in our lives that we cherish regarding them as those who left an undeniable trace on our memory lane. These people left a bit of themselves in us not through words but deeds that awed us. Yes, example speaks far more powerfully than words. Such is the theme of this wonderful movie where you cannot see everything if you rely solely on the basic senses. Amidst a lot of reviews on the movie, Roger Ebert's observation occurred most convincing to me: "this movie's theme is trust" while "the most striking element is the intelligence of the language."Chuck Norstad is a simple youngster, there is nothing unusual about him. Yet, some delicacy of his character and inner conflicts resulting from his upbringing, the absence of a man in the family, some confusion stimulated by female dominance in his house do not allow him to listen to his own inner voice, his male voice. An ambiguous situation in his home truly considers a serious obstacle. His peers, therefore, ignore him and mock him. His destiny, however, grants him with a wondrous gift, a teacher like no one else, one Mr Justin McLeod, misunderstood terribly by the locals, a man seemingly living as a recluse within the walls of his own world, a tutor, a friend, a face that will always be with him from the moment they fist meet. Yet, far is the way from overcoming the fear of "otherness" of this man to friendship of uncommon and unpredictable price...The movie's major strength, apart from the two wonderful performances that I am going to discuss later, lies in the austere form it takes. That is clearly revealed in the language (somewhere, images speak more than script, elsewhere, the script is clever and very much corresponds to the feelings of particular scenes). It is no preaching, prescriptive picture of human relations, it is no wordy script delivered with considerable pomp, it is just a simple, natural and genuine depiction of growing friendship that does not take into account any borders, like age difference, some background rumors or any other prejudice. Consider, though, that this friendship, which is also tutorship, does not exclude any storms of diverse emotions, torments, confusion. It is no oasis of idyll in the boy's escape world. It is natural, growing under the custody of mutual loyalty and honesty. And performances?No wonder that all the supporting cast appear in the shadow of the two leading characters, Nick Stahl as Chuch and Mel Gibson as McLeod. What a wonderful duality the two deliver in their roles, what a splendid bunch of diverse human emotions!Nick Stahl gives a tremendous performers for his age delivering all that is necessary for is role and supplying us with additional assumptions about the boy of his age. The difficult age of puberty is handled in a respectively subtle manner. In one scene, we see him looking at the Playboy magazine and there is a slight indication of the strong connection between the visual and mental stimuli. What this boy sees is deeply carved in his psyche, what he experiences is deeply influenced by his ever-going unpredictability. However, he is most interesting in the relation with Justin McLeod: the growing trust, the growing desire for loyalty, mutual understanding and, foremost, ability to think on his own. He is a good student who has a good teacher, the one who helps him, inspires him to discover the complexities of the world around, including hard, witty, challenging, rewarding moments. Mel Gibson is impressively captivating as a disfigured character, a man of great inner conflicts and intense abandonment, yet, a man who can beautifully capture the very essence of good vs evil. One of the most memorable moments is when he recites Shakespeare's MERCHANT OF VENICE to little Chuck and focuses on the aspect that, seemingly, refers to his personal situation. Inspiring and touching. His early meetings with Chuck are most interesting, though. The growing confidence endangered from time to time by some vague, even bizarre reactions memorably build up emotional resonance of the relation that is crucial for the story to be rightly interpreted. We do not find out much about his past, that does not matter. We are to conclude as the boy is to conclude who the man is once you get to know him in reality and put aside all you have merely heard of him.An educational film highly worth seeing! A movie that captures the gist of those few human relations that deserve to be called 'friendships.' Yes, a human being can be far more to another human being than just a sheer stranger, someone who meet and pass by, whose face you easily forget. He can be a unique 'face,' somewhere out beyond the edge of the crowd, which, for some short period perhaps, gives freely and generously moments of grace.
nicoochan
This was truly a heart-warming story; it was a mix of emotions -- sad, cheerful, humorous, and never boring. I can watch this movie a hundred times! Nick Stahl, even at a very young age, was an excellent actor. Every move, every expression added great humor and passion to each scene. At the beginning of the movie, it's fast-paced and energetic, but at the end it's really sad, so you'll need a box of tissue~ I was kind of disappointed at the end because Mel Gibson actually ends up being restrained from seeing Nick Stahl. Very sad. It wasn't lacking any quality at the end, so you cannot stay mad. But overall, you HAVE to watch this movie.
