La Moustache (2005)
83%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 4 wins & 2 nominations
Though the premise may be modest on the surface, Carrere uses a man and his mustache that may or may not exist as a springboard into psychological suspense and unsettling questions
The Moustache is a French film that will leave you scratching your head and questioning reality. It’s like a thriller and an art film had a baby, and that baby was raised by philosophers. The story follows a man who shaves his moustache, but then everyone in his life denies that he ever had one. It’s a Kafkaesque nightmare that will make you wonder if you’re losing your mind too. But don’t worry, you’ll be in good company with this film. Just make sure you don’t shave your own moustache before watching it.
Production Company(ies)
Constantin Film Norddeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Roissy-en-France, Val-d’Oise, France
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2005
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):French, English, Cantonese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Oct 3, 2006
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Hippolyte Girardot, Cylia Malki, Macha Polikarpova, directed by Emmanuel Carrère, written by Jérôme Beaujour, Emmanuel Carrère, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by John Monaghan, Stephen Hunter, Michael Phillips, Ruthe Stein, Steven Rea, Wesley Morris, Felicia Feaster, A.S Hamrah, Eric Monder, Brian Gibson, Louis Proyect, MPAA rating, identity, marriage, psychological suspense, unsettling questions, architecture, mustache, paranoia, commitment, French film, existential doubt, ennui, Kafkaesque, thriller, philosophy, surrealism, literary quality, storytelling, pretty pictures
Worldwide gross: $3,044,771
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,640,180
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,200
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 506,017
US/Canada gross: $244,771
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $373,027
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,406
US/Canada opening weekend: $9,148
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $13,941
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,624
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Emmanuelle Devos – Agnès Thiriez
Mathieu Amalric – Serge Schaeffer
Hippolyte Girardot – Bruno
Cylia Malki – Samira
Macha Polikarpova – Nadia Schaeffer
Director – Emmanuel Carrère
Producer – Anne-Dominique Toussaint
Writers – Jérôme Beaujour, Emmanuel Carrère
Director(s)
Emmanuel Carrère
Writer(s)
Jérôme Beaujour, Emmanuel Carrère
Producer(s)
Anne-Dominique Toussaint
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (43) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (6)
What the movie lacks visually, it makes up for with the performances, especially by Lindon, who leads us on a journey we want to stick with even if we can’t fully understand.
November 3, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
In one sense it’s what might be called ‘typically French,’ an exquisitely observed fable of bourgeois life that is mordant, witty and yet low-key. In another sense, it’s what might be called ‘nuts.’
November 2, 2006
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
An absorbing riddle posed in cool, matter-of-fact tones.
September 28, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
I found it mesmerizing from beginning to end.
September 22, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
An intriguing study of identity, marriage and, perhaps, madness.
September 1, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Leaps from a gripping identity thriller into a strange yet equally involving adventure about the bounds of self-knowledge and the incredible liberty of disregarding them.
August 25, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Adapted from a novel by first-time director Carrére, the film retains a literary quality in playing with our faith in the conventions of storytelling and in its sly, understated surrealism.
January 29, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Creative Loafing
Carrère shows how a minor change can make the world a different place, how it disappears under our feet without our noticing, how glimpses into little truths can make the people around us seem hostile and ultimately drive us mad.
July 6, 2010 | Rating: 3/4
A.S. Hamrah
Boston Phoenix
Those looking for a good thriller should be pleased enough and those seeking a serious art film will get plenty of philosophy with their pretty pictures.
March 1, 2007
Eric Monder
Film Journal International
Bristling with existential doubt and ennui . . . Carrère’s half-nightmare, half-dream vision of one man’s imprisonment in his own life remains satisfyingly unresolved and stubbornly unique.
February 11, 2007
Brian Gibson
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta)
Kafkaesque story of man who shaves trademark moustache. Afterwards everybody–wife included–insists that he has never had one!
February 1, 2007
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews
A dizzying experiment, evocative and frustrating at the same time.
January 17, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com…
Plot
An architect becomes increasingly paranoid when he shaves off his mustache and no one seems to notice in the French drama film, “The Moustache.”
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Vincent Lindon delivers a captivating performance as the lead character in The Moustache.
Emmanuel-Carrère.jpg
