Product Details

• Actors: John Cleese, David Attenborough, Candice Bergen, Pierce Brosnan, Mali Finn
• Directors: David Stewart, James Erskine
• Writers: John Cleese
• Producers: David Stewart, James Erskine, Michael J. Mosley, Nancy Lavin, Nicholas Rossiter
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Warner
• DVD Release Date: August 28, 2001
• Run Time: 200 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005LC1B
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,093 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Human Face" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

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
THIS 4 PART BBC SERIES EXAMINES THE SCIENCE BEHIND FACIAL BEAUTY, EXPRESSION, AND FAME IN AN ENTERTAINING FASHION.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quirky Romp, October 19, 2001

By	Dr. Christopher Coleman (HONG KONG) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great documentary with a nice touch of Python nonsense., September 2, 2001

By	A. Gaston "Gadget Monkey" (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A light documentary that was both humorous and informative, August 28, 2001

By	"wneils" (Wappingers Falls, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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.