Markou Abdelaaziz This is a strange story of mental illness (at least that's how I chose to interpret it). A man, Marc, gradually loses his grip on reality after shaving his mustache that was always there as part of his look as a man (or at least he thinks it was). The movie is seen through Marc's perspective which makes it difficult to discern reality from his bouts of schizophrenic hallucinations. At some points the movie reminds me of Lost Highway in the manner with which it represented the split of the protagonist (or rather a metamorphosis) into two different characters. In La Moustache the split happens at the level of the "life" of the protagonist, his world is constantly subjected to transformations, while he more or less stays the same. However in LH we can discern the "true" part of the protagonist from his "imagined" part. That distinction is impossible in La Moustache ; we don't know where his madness starts and where it ends. He is a total mess, and it is upon this ambiguity that everything we see is built.All in all, this movie was a really nice surprise that I highly enjoyed and that I recommend for fans of Lynch, Cronenberg and psychological thrillers/dramas.

FilmCriticLalitRao It can be said that French cinema has always had its fair share of daring films. These are films which have challenged viewers' notions about understanding a film through what it contains and how it is perceived by viewers.La Moustache is one such French film which mocks viewers as a hard to crack puzzle but fails to connect emotionally with viewers due to its absolute lack of coherence which is a much sought element in the field of cinema.Before directing films including this film in question,Emmanuel Carrère enjoyed a good literary career. However,"La Moustache" is a major disappointment as it does not give viewers enough material to be able to answer numerous unanswered questions.As the casting of this film is nice,watching Emmanuelle Devos,Mathieu Amalric and leading actor Vincent Lindon is a consolation even at a time when the film's leading man travels aimlessly as far as Hong Kong in order to understand his life's raison d'être due to an incident involving the proverbial mustache.Lastly,what would shock the viewers the most about this film is that towards the end all scattered pieces are neatly arranged to give a sense of relief to viewers.However, viewers cannot be underestimated as they choose their relief in cinema using own methods.

regina265 serious spoilers belowi really loved this film, and i didn't expect to! i always log onto IMDb (while viewing netflix) to see what people think (and to figure out the ending b/c i hate suspense.) :D i felt like i was in marc's head the whole time. i related to him running to hong kong, and i related to him being on the boat, back and forth, over the water, clearing his head, regaining a sense of balance and normalcy. (if you've ever traveled where you can't communicate the language, you tend to think... A lot... and it can be very soothing.) i loved the way the carrére showed this bit by bit, as marc started going with the flow in the culture he was a guest in, by moving the seat for the lady, getting proper change for the boat, etc.i loved that when agnés showed up, marc didn't try to argue about anything, he just went with the flow b/c he was so happy to have her back. and in true french film fashion, we get to see agnés as a beguiling woman (doing simple things like brushing her hair and packing) through marc's eyesi recall, many years ago, a great (male) pal of mine said "the way to make a woman happy is to say 'yes dear!'" now - i don't agree with that per se - but it has it's strong points, believe me - on account of we women can make very little sense to our men at times. i thought (within that concept) it was very brave of marc to shave his mustache at the little hotel. hence, he risked "losing" her again. but he finally puts the past behind him when he tosses the postcard in the water.going with the flow is something one must do as a tourist, and it's something one must do to effect compromise with one's mate. oddly - it's also something one should do to enjoy this film (judging from the comments.)this is a gorgeous, gorgeous film. all the tension in Paris is released over the water in hong kong (and glass's score suddenly feels peaceful, as opposed to totally triste.) and vincent lindon's subtlety as marc blows me away. to me, the key is in what marc wrote on the postcard, and the fact that he threw it in the water (if that makes sense.) that, to me, was the (unexpected) moment i was waiting for as a viewer. i wish i could truly define and dissect this movie as an experience - but i don't have the educational chops for that. all i can write is that i felt an emotional shift at the end, and very light. much like seeing an excellent live show, when the band is in their groove and the audience is right with them. it's a little bit of a give and take, i guess, between carrére and us.

jwatson-16 Because I'm about to tell you you've been had, like someone swindled by a two-bit fortune-teller.Before I explain why, let me start by saying that it did not bother me that this film didn't resolve itself. I've watched some pretty challenging and experimental films that leave a LOT hanging, and I love them! Try El Topo sometime. There are more mainstream ones too like Naked Lunch, or Brazil. These films do not have nice tidy plot lines where everything makes sense -- they are still brilliant films.The difference in the case of "La Moustache" is that while this film also happens to lack nice tidy plot lines, the film-makers seemed to think that that, all by itself, makes this film brilliant too.I have never before seen a film that was so elitist, so vapid, and so disrespectful of its audience in assuming it is more clever than they are. The really sad thing is that, judging from reviews here, and even many professional reviews, the film succeeded in pulling the wool over many peoples' eyes.Who the hell am I to say these things? Well I watched this film with a professional artist, and man with a PhD in comparative literature (who did extensive work in film studies). And you can probably tell from my writing, I'm no dummy either.And the three of us were in total agreement: This film is like an inside joke whose punch line doesn't make sense, and yet everyone, maybe for fear of appearing not to "get it" starts nodding and laughing nervously.Why is everyone doing this? Because the punch line SEEMS like it should make sense. We want it to make sense. There are all kinds of symbols and portentous happenings that are vaguely related to one another in some way or another -- like tarot cards sitting on the table. Stare at them long enough, and squint, and suddenly you can see "the answer".But your subconscious is really just inventing whatever story it likes, and omitting any details that didn't fit. The movie is not smarter than you are. It is a bunch of seemingly "deep" events that strut around like a Chinese emperor in his newest outfit. (Psst, he's naked!)As a film maker, if you're going to make a film that doesn't tie things together neatly, then you need to realize you have an obligation to make your film about SOMETHING more meaningful than the incongruous events you are showing on the screen.Naked lunch was about the visions of a writer who is losing his mind. Brazil was about how dreams are powerful enough to transcend even a post-apocalyptic nightmare of a future.This film is not about ANYTHING, except how you can make your audience follow a carrot on the end of a string, just by editing together a lot of scenes with great acting, great direction, and high production values that don't actually make any sense.It's apparently what happens when you take a neat starting idea (a man shaves off his mustache, and everyone seems not to notice, then they claim he never had one), and then you become more interested in making yourself look clever than in actually telling a story that bears some relevance on our lives.Very, very sad, or the French would say: Pathétique.