One day a middle-aged architect of Paris suddenly cuts off his mustache, but his surrounding claim he has never had one. Somebody is wrong, and since nobody shares his opinion, he has to escape to Hongkong from the forced mental treatment. Here, in the meantime, he cuts again his regrown mustache, and because this time the change was recognized by his wife, they, again, find each other. What is this film all about? Perhaps about the importance of the everyday matters of no significance, which can still, somehow, ruin our life. About whether we really know each other, listen to each other or even our closest relationships are superficial? Or are we a witness of a disintegration of an instable personality? There is a short-story with the same title Moustache" written by the French novelist, Maupassant in 1883, which can elucidate a different way of interpretation. The story is a real ode to the mustache by a fictitious lady. But one can read about other interesting things in that letter And mainly I adore mustache because it is French, pure-blooded French wear. We inherited it from our Gallic ancestors, and deserve it, like the symbol of our national character." From this point, the saucy mustache of our hero becomes the last symbol of a national identity. He and his wife live a life of a typical citizen of a Western world in the multicultural Paris. They prefer sushi to French food, travel Bali for holiday, and buy Chinese dresses and trinkets in Hongkong. His close surrounding, his wife and his friends, do not even notice the change caused by the disappearance of his mustache, but from an objective point of view (policewoman) the difference is obvious. The past is coming to an end, which is presented by the death of his father, and the vain search of the house of his childhood. This necessarily leads to the development of a split personality: is it himself who is insane or the others? Is he a victim of a conspiracy, or is he suffer from persecution mania? The never-ending ferry-boat journey between two coasts representing a loss of his footing, and the spin of the drum of a washing machine in his dream (head) becomes a symbol of a brainwash. This film is a story about a man who has lost his national identity, and if there is a chance to get it back. There is no answer but perhaps he has to travel to the other part of the world to make even his wife understand; yes there is something what we have lost, but it is good as it is. Still, the last picture is quite worrying: a man without a mustache is lying in a dark sleeplessness, like in a grave.
Review of The Moustache
