Before I post my DVD Column this week I wanted to alert readers to a very special film. Simply put La Moustache is one of the best movies I’ve seen in the last two years. I’ve been aching for it to hit DVD and now that I’ve got it in my hot little hands all I want to do is evangelize. La Moustache tells the story of a man who decides to shave off his moustache only to discover that everyone he knows, including his wife, denies he ever had one. The mystery sends him on a dark search for himself only to discover he does not know who, or even where, he is anymore. Part comic farce, part existential thriller this gem leans heavily on the unforgettable performance of it's lead Vincent Lindon who manages to convey fear, sadness, lostness,and comic irritation with the subtlest of facial movements emerging in the end as the quintessential French everyman. That this film is a masterpiece is apparent in comparing it with any other psychological suspense film in recent memory. It offers a compelling ending, deeply emotionally resonant, surprising, and yet at no point does the film ask the viewer to do more than follow the characters on their journey and examine where they find themselves. What is truly surprising about La Moustache is that a film can be so funny, and ultimately so haunting.
For some La Moustache will seem sloppily vague for a film that posits questions about how we know who we are, where our "I" resides. But for those who have struggled deeply with the vaguery of their personhood the film will likely hit a bullseye- a metaphysical close shave if you will. The DVD came out yesterday and so I'm leaving you with a short review that will hopefully send you scurrying to the store or to your Nelflix queue. There is a short making of featurette and an interview with Carrere but the real value here lies in the fact that La Mustache will be a slightly different film every time you watch it.
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