| ||||||||||||||||||
|
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
Special Features
- Photo gallery
- Deleted scenes
- Fact file
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Anthropology, psychology, cultural history, and biology provide key filters in this breezy but substantial exploration of the focal impact of the face. Produced by the BBC as a four-hour series and broadcast in the U.S. on the Learning Channel, The Human Face benefits from host, narrator, and cowriter John Cleese's signature blend of erudition, enthusiasm, and wit. Along the way, Cleese presents information on the evolution of human facial features, the face's role in sexuality (including the biological significance of "bedroom eyes"), communication through facial expressions, and the face's essential role in defining identity. Ideals of physical beauty, the reasons why visual development and artistic expression focus on the face, and the nature of celebrity are examined, as are medical anomalies such as Mobius syndrome, a condition that eliminates the ability to smile. The presenter gets strategic help from guest Elizabeth Hurley, who gamely lampoons her own celebrated beauty in various sketches, and Cleese's fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who pops up in Python-esque skits during the program's fourth segment on fame. Comments from scientific sources are augmented by thoughtful interviews with Pierce Brosnan and Candice Bergen, who convincingly address the downside of being drop-dead gorgeous. --Sam Sutherland
Product Description
Join host John Cleese for a four-part BBC series that studies the nuances of "The Human Face," from what defines beauty to the countless array of expressions used to communicate emotion, from biological, psychological, historical and cultural viewpoints. Special guests include Candice Bergen, Pierce Brosnan, Elizabeth Hurley, and Michael Palin. 3 1/3 hrs. on two discs. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo; photo gallery; biographies; interviews.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By "wneils"
Format:DVD
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.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By A. Gaston
Format:DVD
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
For Film Actors, the Face is Their Theatre
Controlling facial expressions is vital to becoming a consummate actor. This book opens the door and let's you discover possibilities.
Published 2 months ago by Erik Sean McGiven
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome video
this video is awesome, cleese is wonderful along with others!! it great for everyone. my teenagers are going to watch it next.
Published 13 months ago by A. Link
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic (though not always funny) program
If you are familiar with John Cleese as one of the members of the Python gang (i.e. Monty Python's Flying Circus), the first part of the program is not quite as funny as you might... Read more
Published on January 2, 2011 by Carol Klavon
4.0 out of 5 stars
Portions are somewhat cheesy, but overall entertaining and informative
I enjoyed The Human Face - it's an interesting examination of how facial features have evolved, how one's face is interpreted by others, and tackles some elusive topics such as... Read more
Published on June 10, 2010 by Comdet
3.0 out of 5 stars
No show
This DVD did not make it to me. It got lost in the mail. The seller ended up having to reimburse me for it. Read more
Published on May 20, 2010 by No name plz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth EveryPenny!
This documentary interweaves science, psychology, sociology, and humor to create a very accessible, informative, and entertaining program. Read more
Published on July 8, 2009 by Mrs. Entity
4.0 out of 5 stars
John Cleese introduces the human face
A great series of hour-long episodes with host John Cleese introducing the human expression. It has some humor, but it is also factual with interviews with professionals and sad... Read more
Published on November 19, 2008 by Sara F. Thomason
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very good, but before choose...
The product, this dvd, claims some type of "decode" software, if you want to see this in your PC, or a kind of domestic dvd machine capable of to read it format, from Englad, I... Read more
Published on September 17, 2008 by Antonio Ney C. Braga
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun at first - last episode boring
The first 3 episodes are pretty interesting and use a combination of animation and strange setups to make the points vivid and entertaining. Read more
Published on September 10, 2007 by Potter Bosky
3.0 out of 5 stars
it had me until... ZARA
ive watched this program before and ignored the one big part that can enable one to totally disregard the findings of that "beauty scientist": the fact that he agreed with the... Read more
Published on July 23, 2007 by blah
Look for Similar Items by Category
|
