is a
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...
novel written by the Japanese novelist
Kōbō Abe. Like other stories written by this author, the novel explores the
alienation of modern man from urban society.
It is written in the
first person narrative mode, and is divided into a prologue, three "notebooks" (black, gray, and white), and a concluding letter from the protagonist's wife.
In 1966, it was adapted into
a film
A. Film Production A/S (previously A. Film A/S, A. Film ApS and A. Film I/S) is a Denmark, Danish animation studio currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Affiliated to the Copenhagen studio are A. Film Estonia located in Estonia and A. Film L ...
directed by
Hiroshi Teshigahara.
Synopsis
An industrial accident has severely burned the face of Mr. Okuyama, a plastics scientist. His wife is repulsed by his disfigurement and refuses to have sexual contact with him. In an effort to regain the affection of his wife, he attempts to create a
prosthetic mask in a rented apartment. With this new "face," the protagonist sees the world in a new way and begins a clandestine affair with his estranged wife. Although the mask gives Okuyama newfound freedom, at the end of the story, it becomes difficult to determine if the mask has taken ownership of the man or the man has taken ownership of the face.
There is also a subplot following a ''
hibakusha'' woman who has suffered burns to the right side of her face. In the novel, the protagonist sees this character in a film; in the film version, this is deliberately obscured.
See also
* ''
La Belle Image'' by
Marcel Aymé, a novel with a similar premise
References
External links
''The Face of Another''at the
Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Face Of Another
1964 novels
Novels by Kobo Abe
Japanese novels adapted into films