The Duality of the Face in Cinema: From Ubiquity to Obscurity
Arts
Film 195 - Senior Thesis
For this project, I explored the concept of “facelessness,” or what I have dubbed the obscured face in cinema. In narrative film and critical film analyses, so much emphasis is put on the face and its meaning that I was curious as to what meaning could be derived from characters without human faces, whether their faces be hidden or removed from the image altogether. What role does the face play in one’s understanding of and connection with a character/narrative? What meaning (if any) is lost when the face cannot be seen, and thus read? How are these obscured faces made accessible to the spectator? By borrowing from notable film theorists such as Christian Metz, Béla Balázs, and Mary Ann Doane, my goal was to analyze the face's progression from ubiquity to obscurity over time while connecting the obscured face in cinema to concepts of anonymity and identity. In an era of mass media and hyper-visibility, the obscured face is both dehumanizing and empowering.
