Filipe Neto This film is the debut of Mel Gibson as director, in a film where also it plays the main role, as a man who lives away from the other people due to his past and a serious deformation of his face, having by sole company and friendship a young boy, who asked him for private lessons in order to become a military. The film gives a very interesting message about the differences between people, the prejudices and the distorted way we sometimes look at people who are simply different from us. This is the great moral beauty of the film, which shows us that ugly faces may not mean evil intentions, and that we should not judge people without knowing them. Gibson is great in the main character, filling the film with his withdrawn personality and his mysterious past. Although the film isn't excellent, its a good exercise in direction of a multifaceted actor.

slightlymad22 The Man Without A Face (1994)Plot In A Paragraph: Chuck (Nick Stahl) wants to leave home, but can't make the grade for military school. Then he finds out the disfigured recluse named McLeod (Gibson) living nearby is an ex-teacher.It's a very touching and sad movie, and it doesn't fall into some of the clichés that you would expect. Nick Stahl gives a great performance and I think it features one of Gibson's best performances. Without going into spoiler territory, I hate a lot of what happens during the second half of the movie, and I was close to tears at the end. It took me a while to recognise where I knew Chucks sister (Gabby Hoffman) from... Eventually I placed her in one of my top 10 movies of all time (Field Of Dreams) There are small roles for Geoffrey Lewis and Richard Masur.Hamlet showed Gibson wasn't scared of taking chances; and instead of a safe choice Gibson chose this character driven movie as his first directorial effort. The Man Without A Face grossed $24 million dollars to end 1993 The 67th highest grossing movie of the year.

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.

giftofgodoflove I first watched this film as a child. My imagination was immediately engrossed, and it hasn't since recovered. McLeod was a commanding figure to me. I related to Chuck on almost every level. I think McLeod's character was very well done. I think the story was standard, but that it was the atmosphere and the characters which carried the movie.What I loved most was McLeod's home and yard. The house is filled with nautical themes, books, and various antique collector items. There is an art studio, since he paints for Time Magazine. You hear the constant noise of falling waves and sea-gulls overhead. There is a blue lake in his back yard about an acre from the house, which itself is hugged by green trees in the front and the sides.But he is lonely. His only company is a German Shepherd named Mickey. He's alone because of his painful past. The reason he is 'without a face' is because he has burns over half his body from a car crash in which a boy was killed. The event was surrounded by controversy. People thought McLeod and the boy were having a sexual relationship of sorts, but the charges were dropped. McLeod was deeply hurt by the incident; not only because a boy died who he cared deeply about, but because of everyone's misperceptions and judgmentalism. So, he chooses to live alone in a big house and stay to himself. He preoccupies himself with building a boat, training his dog, reading books, creating models of ships, painting, playing chess, taking care of his horse, and making his usual trip to the grocery store.There is a very touching scene in which McLeod is brooding over his condition. He feels exiled from humanity. He is on a journey, but doesn't know where to go. Dramatic opera plays in the background. He reads the beginning lines of Virgil's Aenied. After reading, he holds a mirror up to his face, placing the edge on his nose, so that only the unscarred part of his face reflects. For a moment, he looks normal; but as he moves the mirror more and more to the left, more and more of the scars are laid bare, and he is disgusted. I think that is such a symbol of the human condition! Chuck is a dreamer, full of hope. His father killed himself in a mental institution; his mother is manipulative; his older half-sister is malicious; his younger half-sister is kind-hearted, but still only a child. He dreams of going to military school! The only problem is that you have to pass the entrance exams. You need to know Latin and some high-level mathematics. He is in need of a teacher.I won't get into all the details. The movie is great because of the growing relationship of McLeod and Chuck. The movie's scenes of their intimacy are truly delicious. For example, McLeod teaches Chuck how to read poetry and perform Shakespeare plays. McLeod takes home the poem 'High Flight' and reads it in his bathroom in a very sublime scene.All in all, a very good movie!