The Human Face

Rating:
Summary: A light documentary that was both humorous and informative
Review: I enjoyed this series and learned some new and amazing aspects of human physiology. I would especially recommend this` for young teenagers who might be caught up in the "am I beautiful / handsome" worries of adolescence. Interviews with individuals who have rare facial disorders, gave me a special appreciation of the "inner beauty" hidden in all of us.

Rating:
Summary: Very Interresting
Review: I'm a bit early in rating this because I've just watched the first half tonight but... I think it's very interresting and a very enjoyable piece of work. Elizabeth Hurley is great, and I thought the chemistry between her and John Cleese was very good. I especially liked the study on what defines a persons features as beautiful and the relative 1.6 to 1 measurement ratio system. I also liked the beginning when they teach or try to teach how to detect when someone is lying, they mentioned watching the forehead if someone rinkles up. Later notice the fellow who was just given acting advice and his reaction, he say's something to the effect of she really helped me alot and then he rinkles his forehead. Is he lying?

This is not a laugh fest, it's a serious documentary with some laughs. So far I've enjoyed it very much

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous, a Cleese Classic!
Review: If you're fan of the Python team or
If you're interested in BORING scientific stuff, this DVD is for you.
When I saw this series on the bbc, I was looking for it.
Funny, interesting, enjoyable, I can't believe that you learn .

Rating:
Summary: Face Facts...
Review: John Cleese is the writer and creator of this fabulous series. But, in addition to it being a fascinating topic, it is also presented in a wonderful manner. It mixes comedy and fact, testimonials and mockery and all in all is a great social commentary. And the delicate balance allows Cleese to have fun and explore serious issues within minutes of each other. With proper implementation, this series could literally change lives. Here is a look at the individual episodes:

"FACE TO FACE." The first episode in this fascinating series examines the power of the facial expression. There are several case studies including a young girl born unable to show any facial expressions, a young couples failing marriage and the possibility that it stems from their facial expressions, even a study of the facial musculature of Elizabeth Hurley.

"HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU." The second look at THE HUMAN FACE tackles the brain and its relation to the face through visual recognition. The case studies include a young child viewing photos of her Mother, a Father who has lost his ability to recognize anybody and a young man who was legitimately convinced that his parents where replaced by look-alikes. Also featured is a young woman who feels a need to change her normal face and a young woman who sees no need to change her extremely unique face.

"BEAUTY." In Part 3 Cleese examines Beauty. He begins by getting where many would sell their nose to get... extremely close to Elizabeth Hurley's face. This fun episode has several celebrity interviews including Candace Bergen, Joan Rivers and Pierce Brosnan. It also follows a young girl picked to be the next super model. Once again, the content puts `just a pretty face' on its ear.

"FAME." The last session is also the least intriguing as most of the episode is focusing on one thing, Fame. And that only relates to the face indirectly. Much time is spent following 3 wanna-be actors who are to meet a great casting agent... And so the series ends without a final close-out of any sort.

The 2-DVD set has all four episodes on the 1st disc in a Widescreen format and the 2nd disc contains several unused interviews, information on the face, cast information and trailers for the BBC television special...

Rating:
Summary: Face Facts...
Review: John Cleese is the writer and creator of this fabulous series. But, in addition to it being a fascinating topic, it is also presented in a wonderful manner. It mixes comedy and fact, testimonials and mockery and all in all is a great social commentary. And the delicate balance allows Cleese to have fun and explore serious issues within minutes of each other. With proper implementation, this series could literally change lives. Here is a look at the individual episodes:

"FACE TO FACE." The first episode in this fascinating series examines the power of the facial expression. There are several case studies including a young girl born unable to show any facial expressions, a young couples failing marriage and the possibility that it stems from their facial expressions, even a study of the facial musculature of Elizabeth Hurley.

"HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU." The second look at THE HUMAN FACE tackles the brain and its relation to the face through visual recognition. The case studies include a young child viewing photos of her Mother, a Father who has lost his ability to recognize anybody and a young man who was legitimately convinced that his parents where replaced by look-alikes. Also featured is a young woman who feels a need to change her normal face and a young woman who sees no need to change her extremely unique face.

"BEAUTY." In Part 3 Cleese examines Beauty. He begins by getting where many would sell their nose to get... extremely close to Elizabeth Hurley's face. This fun episode has several celebrity interviews including Candace Bergen, Joan Rivers and Pierce Brosnan. It also follows a young girl picked to be the next super model. Once again, the content puts 'just a pretty face' on its ear.

"FAME." The last session is also the least intriguing as most of the episode is focusing on one thing, Fame. And that only relates to the face indirectly. Much time is spent following 3 wanna-be actors who are to meet a great casting agent... And so the series ends without a final close-out of any sort.

The 2-DVD set has all four episodes on the 1st disc in a Widescreen format and the 2nd disc contains several unused interviews, information on the face, cast information and trailers for the BBC television special...

Rating:
Summary: A great documentary with a nice touch of Python nonsense.
Review: John Cleese takes a different style in teaching us about the power of the human face. The documentary does contain tons of interesting facts about the human face and its role through history. What makes it stand out as a documentary is the twisted humor John Cleese, Michael Palin, and Liz Hurley (to name a few) inject into it. Subjects of Beauty, Expressions, Identity, etc are explained not only verbally, but with great skits and sketchs. Everything from skits with Michael Palin trying to get his face on a coin to Cleese and Hurley posing for the 18th Century French paparazzi painters, help make this as entertaining as it is educational.

Great for the whole family.

Rating:
Summary: A great documentary with a nice touch of Python nonsense.
Review: John Cleese takes a different style in teaching us about the power of the human face. The documentary does contain tons of interesting facts about the human face and its role through history. What makes it stand out as a documentary is the twisted humor John Cleese, Michael Palin, and Liz Hurley (to name a few) inject into it. Subjects of Beauty, Expressions, Identity, etc are explained not only verbally, but with great skits and sketchs. Everything from skits with Michael Palin trying to get his face on a coin to Cleese and Hurley posing for the 18th Century French paparazzi painters, help make this as entertaining as it is educational.

Great for the whole family.

Rating:
Summary: The Human Face
Review: The Human Face DVD ~ James Erskine is an amazing tribute to the human face. John Cleese makes it all very light and funny whilst adding many interesting facts to a previously ignored subject.

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous, a Cleese Classic!
Review: The Human Face is a fascinating but scattershot approach to the topic. John Cleese's approach is sure to delight his fans and annoy his detractors. He manages in his own unique way (while ripping Elizabeth Hurley's face off and shooting fellow Monty Python alum Michael Palin not once, but twice! Pythons always were excessive!) to convey many interesting and pertinent facts concerning the human face and our reactions to it.

Several sections were absolutely fascinating. The discussion on the evolution of the face claims that humankind's move toward an upright posture created an emphasis toward the eyes and visual stimuli and away from the nose and the sense of smell. Our profound reactions to facial expressivity are demonstrated in MRI brain scans that reveal activity deep in the amygdala as a reaction to faces showing fear although no conscious reaction was felt. Several curiosities reminiscent of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" are explored, including a man who, following an automobile accident, wholeheartedly believed that his parents had been replaced by other people who looked exactly like them--he was able to recognize their physical appearance but had lost the emotional attachment that allowed him to recognize their relationship. Most heartening was a young woman with an exceptionally large jaw who had not only come to accept her looks but further to find her unique appearance a source of pride.

The series closes with an examination of fame, and here it seems to go astray--so much so that Cleese resorts to acts of gratuitous violence against Palin. The focus shifted rather unsettlingly away from the face to the idea of fame. The linking premise, of course, is that in the modern day it is our faces which make us famous (or not), while in the past it was our actions, and before the days of photography and portraiture particular faces were unknown. This departure is not enough to spoil an otherwise excellent and wildly quirky series, though.

Rating:
Summary: Quirky Romp
Review: The Human Face is a fascinating but scattershot approach to the topic. John Cleese's approach is sure to delight his fans and annoy his detractors. He manages in his own unique way (while ripping Elizabeth Hurley's face off and shooting fellow Monty Python alum Michael Palin not once, but twice! Pythons always were excessive!) to convey many interesting and pertinent facts concerning the human face and our reactions to it.

Several sections were absolutely fascinating. The discussion on the evolution of the face claims that humankind's move toward an upright posture created an emphasis toward the eyes and visual stimuli and away from the nose and the sense of smell. Our profound reactions to facial expressivity are demonstrated in MRI brain scans that reveal activity deep in the amygdala as a reaction to faces showing fear although no conscious reaction was felt. Several curiosities reminiscent of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" are explored, including a man who, following an automobile accident, wholeheartedly believed that his parents had been replaced by other people who looked exactly like them--he was able to recognize their physical appearance but had lost the emotional attachment that allowed him to recognize their relationship. Most heartening was a young woman with an exceptionally large jaw who had not only come to accept her looks but further to find her unique appearance a source of pride.

The series closes with an examination of fame, and here it seems to go astray--so much so that Cleese resorts to acts of gratuitous violence against Palin. The focus shifted rather unsettlingly away from the face to the idea of fame. The linking premise, of course, is that in the modern day it is our faces which make us famous (or not), while in the past it was our actions, and before the days of photography and portraiture particular faces were unknown. This departure is not enough to spoil an otherwise excellent and wildly quirky series, though.