L'homme sans tête (2003)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Juan Diego Solanas

Writer:

Juan Diego Solanas (writer)

Release Date:

18 December 2003 (France)

Genre:

Short | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

Phelps, a solitary man who lives in a big industrial city by the sea, is very happy tonight. He is getting ready for a ball...

Plot Keywords:

Flowers | Flower Market

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Laurent Bert	...	Un client du bar
Patrick Béthune	...	Le fleuriste / Un docker (voice)
Yannick Blivet	...	Le vendeur de journaux (voice)
Christophe Botti	...	Le vendeur de têtes bellâtre
Stephane Botti	...	La deuxième tête
Ambre Boukebza	...	La jeune femme
Damien Carrand	...	Le vendeur de journaux
Laurent Casanova	...	L'homme au vélo
Evelyne Chartier	...	Le corps de la cliente âgée au visage jeune
Jacques Cusin	...	L'acheteur de journaux
Alain Donadio	...	Un docker
Laure Dratler	...	L'une des trois jeunes femmes (voice)
Philippe Ferrandini	...	Un docker
Danielle Hazan	...	Les clientes / L'une des trois jeunes femmes (voice)
Alain Hocine	...	Alain Phelps
Lucien Jean-Baptiste	...	La toisième tête
Lucie Jeanne	...	Le jeune visage de la cliente
Bruno Magne	...	Un docker (voice)
Mady Malroux	...	L'une des jumelles qui sort du magasin
Monette Malroux	...	L'autre jumelle qui sort du magasin
Karine Pinoteau	...	L'une des trois jeunes femmes (voice)
Maurice Portalier	...	Un docker
Alain Prorok	...	Le fleuriste
Karine Rouard	...	L'une des trois jeunes femmes
Andrée Rozenn	...	L'une des trois jeunes femmes
Juan Diego Solanas	...	Un docker (as Juan Solanas)
Karine Steger	...	L'une des trois jeunes femmes
Salah Teskouk	...	Le marchand de têtes
Julien Vanni	...	Le marin dans le bar
Yorkshire	...	Yorkshire

Also Known As:

El hombre sin cabeza (Argentina) (festival title)
The Man Without a Head (International: English title)

Runtime:

Argentina:18 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

France | Argentina

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Argentina:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Bar Les Flots Bleus - 82 Corniche Kennedy, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Trivia:

The post production lasted 900 days.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Near the end, when they are walking to the ball, a huge ship floats by, creating no visible wake. A ship of that size would make a very large and obvious wake.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Phelps l'homme sans tête - Making of (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

All of you

A real visual and stylist treat with a meaning that, although not clear, will still have you thinking

A shy man lives in the big city alone. When he gets two free tickets to the ball he invites a girl he has had his eye on for quite a while. She agrees to meet him later and go as his date. He dresses well but he feels rather self-conscious because he has no head – and never has. He sets out to buy some flowers and a head before meeting his date, but finding a head that suits him is no easy task.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film but, given that it was about a man with no head, I was quite sure that it would be a little out of the ordinary – and I was right! The film follows our man of the title getting ready for his date and trying to find the right head. He isn't happy with his choices at the shop and even the one he eventually settles on has problems; it is enjoyable, weird, moving and amusing but, what does it all mean. Well, that's the thing – I'm not entirely sure. I think it was about image and just being comfortable with who you are instead of trying to be what society or peers want you to be, a valid message (although if you are 25 stone and don't wash then you should give into some image pressure!) and certainly the one that appears to be being made here but this is not the sole appeal of the short.

If it was preachy or a little full of itself then I would have been turned off but it wasn't. Instead it is light, fanciful and imaginative. Technically the direction is very good although I'm sure experts will tell me that the 'no-head' effect is very simple. What isn't so simple is making a character out of a headless man – and in this the direction is even better. We care about this guy and we feel for him when he is shy, sad and temporarily happy. The film also serves us a practical feast as it establishes a wonderful urban world that is real but yet fantastic – the whole film looks amazing and I never took my eyes off it. The 'man' of the film is well done and the actors who play him do well with the body language. The dance moves are fitting with the fanciful nature of the film but special mention should go to the black head (bad turn of phrase but you know what I mean!) who really did well with one scene – I was convinced he was seeing himself for the first time.

Overall a very imaginative little short that is fun, fanciful, imaginative, emotive and interesting. The plot is open to interpretation but I think it is reasonably clear and, even if you don't bother to look for a message there is still plenty for you to enjoy here.