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LA MOUSTACHE
A man loses touch with reality after shaving off his mustache in this French-made excursion in surreal paranoia that’s ominous, unsettling and extremely well acted.
The Package
LA MOUSTACHE (THE MUSTACHE) was made in 2005 by writer-director Emmanuel
Carrere, who’s better known as a
novelist. This film was adapted from one of
Carrere’s novels, a 1986 work of fiction that was much acclaimed by the likes of
John Updike. It’s about a man who shaves off his mustache and then goes mad
when nobody notices. This film follows the book fairly closely until the
ending, which Carrere has expanded and improved upon from the book’s gross and
inconclusive coda (in which the protagonist slashes up his face during a final
shave).
The Story
Marc, a smug Parisian yuppie, shaves off his mustache one evening as a
surprise for his wife Agnes. Agnes, however, doesn’t seem to notice the absence
of Marc’s ‘stache and neither do his friends. Marc eventually cracks and asks
Agnes if she notices his missing mustache. She replies that he never had one in
first place.
Marc grows increasingly paranoid. He comes to suspect
his wife and friends are all in on a plot against him, which seems confirmed
when he overhears them planning on having him hauled off to a mental
institution.
Marc decides to hightail it to his parents’ house--but when he tries to
phone them an operator informs him the number he’s calling doesn’t exist. Now
completely discombobulated, Marc heads for the airport and takes off to the
first destination that catches his eye: Hong Kong, where he becomes a drifter
amidst the teeming populace and in the process grows his mustache back. But
then he rents a motel room, which he enters to find...his wife Agnes!
The Direction
Many commentators (this one included) figured the primary influences on
this strange tale were the works of Kafka and
David Lynch, but Emmanuel Carrere is adamant
that his true inspiration was the veteran American horror/sci fi master Richard
Matheson, of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN, I AM LEGEND and DUEL. Matheson is
known for his vivid depictions of men locked in a lonely struggle with
otherworldly forces bigger than themselves, and it’s that sense of paranoid
apprehension Carrere was clearly striving for in LE MOUSTACHE. What he wasn’t
trying for was a coherent story; Carrere says he doesn’t have an explanation for
the film’s bizarre events, and none is offered.
Carrere’s direction is resolutely straightforward and non-showy. There are
no weird opticals or voice-overs to help along the story (although there is
a noisy Philip Glass
score that would have benefited from more judicious usage), which is almost
entirely psychological in nature.
It’s largely up to the actors to keep things moving.
Vincent Lindon is certainly up to the challenge as the increasingly befuddled
Marc, but the real surprise is Emmanuelle Devos as his wife. The role is
thankless and (as the actress has admitted) largely reactive, but Devos lends it
a real sense of sexiness and gravity. As played by Devos, the character’s
determination to carry on with the mundane details of her day-to-day life in the
midst of increasing insanity comes to take on a vaguely threatening air. The
effect is one of subtle menace that will make an undeniable impression on
viewers, whether they “understand” the film or not.
Vital Statistics
LE MOUSTACHE
Pathe
Director: Emmanuel
Carrere
Producer: Anne Dominique Toussant
Screenplay: Emmanuel
Carrere, Jerome Beaujour
(Based on a novel by Emmanuel Carrere)
Cinematography: Patrick Blossier
Editing: Camille Cotte
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Emmanuel Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Hippolyt Girardot, Cylia
Malki, Macha Polikarpova, Fantine Camus, Frederic Imberty, Brigitte Bemol, Denis
Menochet, Franck Richard