The basic story idea for LA MOUSTACHE is unique and intrigued me. A seemingly insignificant action occurs and then a man's entire existence changes! This occurs when the lead, on a whim, shaves off his mustache. Oddly, his wife didn't notice nor did his friends. At first, it's no big deal, but later the man becomes angry--how could they be so self-absorbed that they didn't notice or care?! Oddly, when confronted, they have no recollection that he had one, even though the audience saw he had one and saw pictures of the man with the mustache! This part of the film was interesting and pulled me in very well.
However, out of the blue, the man disappears to Hong Kong and from then on the plot really makes no sense at all. At first, I thought I'd missed something when the film ended--there were just too many dangling plot points and things that just confused me. So, I watched the "making of featurette" on the DVD and one of the main characters confided that she read the script and she was also confused and it made no sense. Some people might like this and normally I don't mind a film that leaves unanswered questions, but this goes way beyond this to just confusing and...well, stupid. It took a film that might have earned a 7 or 8 and made it, at best, a 4.
Decent acting but a bad script sink this film. But, like so many sub-par films, the DVD case made it sound amazing and worthwhile with phrases like "A paranoid thriller in the manner of Alfred Hitchcock" or "...a mini-masterwork". Yeah, right. The film had little to do with Hitchcock's style and comparisons to Hitchcock are a dime a dozen. Many of Chabrol's films (even his bad ones) are also often compared to Hitchcock's and I'm getting sick of this disingenuous advertising. One of the very few films that might really deserve this comparison is the original LES DIABOLIQUES. In contrast, LA MOUSTACHE seemed about as "Hitchcockian" as MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III!
However, out of the blue, the man disappears to Hong Kong and from then on the plot really makes no sense at all. At first, I thought I'd missed something when the film ended--there were just too many dangling plot points and things that just confused me. So, I watched the "making of featurette" on the DVD and one of the main characters confided that she read the script and she was also confused and it made no sense. Some people might like this and normally I don't mind a film that leaves unanswered questions, but this goes way beyond this to just confusing and...well, stupid. It took a film that might have earned a 7 or 8 and made it, at best, a 4.
Decent acting but a bad script sink this film. But, like so many sub-par films, the DVD case made it sound amazing and worthwhile with phrases like "A paranoid thriller in the manner of Alfred Hitchcock" or "...a mini-masterwork". Yeah, right. The film had little to do with Hitchcock's style and comparisons to Hitchcock are a dime a dozen. Many of Chabrol's films (even his bad ones) are also often compared to Hitchcock's and I'm getting sick of this disingenuous advertising. One of the very few films that might really deserve this comparison is the original LES DIABOLIQUES. In contrast, LA MOUSTACHE seemed about as "Hitchcockian" as MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III!