European Films

Based on his own 1986 novel of the same name, writer-director Emmanuel Carrère new film La moustache (The moustache) is relatively short at 86 minutes, but nevertheless the film’s endless narrative illogicalities might make the film seem long for some, despite two excellent performances from its lead actors and an intriguing premise. The titular moustache disappears early on in the film, when, on a whim, its owner Marc (Vincent Lindon) decides to shave it off. But when Marc’s wife Agnès (Emmanuelle Devos) cames back from running some errands, she does not seem to notice anything has changed at all. Weirder still, when they go to visit some friends for dinner in the evening, they never mention his new appearance either.

Has Marc gone mad or has the world around him? When Marc confronts Agnès with his questions, she flatly denies he ever had a moustache in the first place. Angry, Marc goes in search of evidence of his former moustache’s existence, a proof that would prove that he has not gone entirely mad. Easier said than done, Marc’s search will take him from his own home to his parents’ house, which he is unable to find, to Hong Kong, where Marc feels most happy on the ferry between the airport and the city; a no man’s land on water.

Cynics might rename this film How Worry Over One's Facial Hair Can Unhinge Your Life but it is clear that Carrère is not so much interested in the hairy versus shaved upper lip controversy, but instead uses it as a starting point for an exploration of issues of communication and difference of vision by the different characters and sexes. With a warped understanding of time and the titular protagonist that is visible to some but not others, La moustache is not in itself logical or consistent. Its two main characters, however, are all the more real. Marc and Agnès, as expertly portrayed by Devos and Lindon, clearly love each other and were happy in their relationship, at least until the moustache issue came out of the closet. The issue places itself between them as a major problem that both would like to resolve but neither know how to tackle. It is clear that both want their relationship to work, but what is to be done if one sees things that another cannot discern?

This simple premise with its strong metaphorical overtones has some mileage but ultimately proves too thin to be intriguing for the film’s entire running time. Unlike Christoffer Boe's Reconstruction from 2003, where the story was not always logical but ultimately it was the journey that mattered, here the essence of the story is hidden behind an overgrowth of hair. Yes, the moustache is a metaphor; but of what exactly?

It does not help either that the director is fond of underlining the metaphorical nature of the story by including many other metaphors such as endless shots of water and rain (which could represent the fluidity of our perception), Marc’s fondness for Hong Kong's no man’s land (where his -or anybody else's- perception does not matter because he is neither here nor there) and the closing scenes set at a casino that suggest that chance has perhaps more to do with a successful relationship than worrying about finding proof of one’s shaving. Does this mean that we sat through the film for nothing?

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