FACE/OFF
US, 1997, 140 minutes, Colour.
John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Gina Gershon, Allesandro Nivola, Harve Presnell, Dominique Swaim, Nick Cassavetes.
Directed by John Woo.
Face/Off is an extraordinary tour-de-force of spectacular action adventure from Hong Kong's John Woo. However, Woo is also interested in the psychological dimensions of his thrillers. With FBI agent, John Travolta, pursuing terrorist, Nicholas Cage, and then, defying credibility, changing places (and faces) with each other, there is a great deal of interest in the complementarity of the two mirror image characters.
Woo also used religious icons in his Hong Kong films and the final shootout here is in a church with crucifixes, candles, flowers and doves in slow motion to give symbolic dimensions to this confrontation between good and evil. Action with panache and psychological flair.
1.The success of the film at the box office? Worldwide? Its action appeal? Imaginative appeal? Psychological?
2.The work of John Woo as an action director? His Hong Kong films? His Hollywood films? The transferring of the Hong Kong style and conventions to Hollywood films?
3.The impact of the action sequences, their choreographed and balletic style, the special effects? The musical score backing the action?
4.The Los Angeles setting: the city and its buildings, homes, the offshore prison, government offices, the church, the harbour? Los Angeles as a background character to the film?
5.The significance of the title? The face-off between the two? The literal surgical operation?
6.The introduction to Sean: the killer and having Sean and his son in the gun's sights, the merry-go-round, the affection between father and son, the death and the grief? His own injury and scar and keeping it? The passing of the six years, his continued obsession? His relationship with Eve and her wanting him to move out of his work and come home? Jamie and her dress, teenage attitudes, rebellion? His tough stances with his staff? His upholding the law? His vengeance for Castor?
7.The introduction to Castor: the killing and his attitude towards the death of the child? His attacking Sean? The passing of the six years? His disguise as a priest, putting the bomb in place, the choir with Handel's Messiah, his lewd dance and sexual behaviour with the member of the choir? The irony with his appearance? His relationship with his brother, caring for him, tying his shoelace? His blend of terrorism with glee?
8.The plane, the agent on the plane and the sexual encounter - and Castor kissing and killing her? The pursuit, the pilot, his being killed? The cars and Sean chasing the plane? The tension for the crashes? The plane crashing into the hangar, the chase, the confrontation, the face-off, the shootout? Castor and his injury? Being taken into custody? Pollocks and his arrest? The death of the agents? The visualising of the shootout - the bullets and Woo's using slow-motion and effects style? The huge blast?
9.Sean and his return to the office, his applause? His concern about the dead agents and his stern attitude? His discussions with his boss and responsibility? The possibility of retirement, going home, the bond with Eve, his love for her, the facial gesture over his wife's and daughter's face? The promise that he would come home? Jamie, her rebellion and his reaction?
10.The build-up to the bomb situation? Information about the bomb, the interrogation of Castor's associates, Sascha and her hostility towards Sean, her brother and his friendship with Castor? The stand-off and the defiance? The official coming with information about the bomb, the tape, the proposal for the changing of faces, the credibility of such literal undercover activity? The point of no return? His going to see his wife, her disappointment in his change of heart? Dr Walsh and his skills, the visuals of the literal operation?
11.Sean, the surgery, the computer techniques, the laser surgery, the face coming off, Sean becoming Castor? The face and the emotional change? His wanting the wound kept when he returned? The irony of Castor awaking, the phone call, without his face, bringing the doctors back, forcing them to transfer Sean's face? The brutality of his killing and burning of the staff and agents?
12.Sean and his going to prison as Castor, the scorn of his fellow agents? The theme of the wrong man? The nature of the prison, the magnetic boots, the computer control? The encounter with Pollocks, trying to persuade him that he was Castor, the discussion about the pills? Establishing trust? The fights, the brutality, imitating Castor's mania? The guards and their brutality and Sean's response? The fight in the dining room? Sean asserting Castor's supremacy? Credibility? The criminals and their support of him? The exercise yard, the cigarette? The irony of Castor visiting him with Sean's face, Sean in a more desperate situation? Getting the information from Pollocks about the bomb? The futility with Castor's visit? The setting up of the escape, the guards and their reaction, the mayhem? The associate and his help, his violence and his death? Getting out into the air, discovering that the prison was offshore, on top of the rigger, the helicopters and their pursuit, the dive into the bay?
13.Castor impersonating Sean? Imitating Sean's manner but his entirely different attitude, wanting to be the celebrity with his staff, their reaction to him? The interactions with his boss? His persuasiveness in getting Pollocks out of the jail? Treating Pollocks as an informer, yet feting him with a special dinner? Setting himself up as a hero, the melodrama and the flair of the defusing of the bomb, the split-second timing? The television interviews and his address to Sean in prison? His going home - missing the house and having to go back? His impersonation of Sean at home, audiences knowing his lewd background and the menace to Eve and to Jamie? His discussions with Jamie, invading her room, the cigarettes? Her trying to understand the change? His trying to be a father - and the brutality of his bashing the boyfriend who made advances on Jamie? Eve and the seduction? Manipulation of her? His success at home and at work, the applause? The authorities wanting him to tone down his investigations - and his brutality in killing the boss?
14.Sean and his escape, the desperate phone calls to Eve, visiting Sascha, the background of Sascha and her son Adam, the irony that he was cast as son and the parallel with Sean's own dead son? The lavish house, Sascha's brother and the drugs, the thugs and the girls? Sean and his trying to get some base to attack Castor? The information and the SWAT team attacking the mansion, the mayhem and the action, the effects? Sean and the confrontation with Castor? His going home, talking to Eve, her fears, the blood information, Eve and Castor in bed, her taking the blood, going to the hospital and testing the blood? Sean and his disappearing as Castor came with the authorities to the hospital?
15.The funeral, Jamie not being at the funeral? Castor being there as Sean and officially mourning? Eve and her presence? Sean and his hiding at the back of the church? The Latinate ceremony and the hymns? The religious milieu, the focus on the crucifix? The altar and the candles? The build-up to the confrontation between the two in the church? Castor and his talking about eternal myths and the confrontation between good and evil? His mocking the crucifix in his body language (and the irony of his own death, crucified and pierced)? The taking of Eve as hostage, Sascha and her not being sure of what was happening, the shootout, her death and asking Sean to look after Adam? The background to Castor giving Jamie the knife for her self-defence, her stabbing him with the knife and disabling him? Her shooting her father?
16.The anticlimax of the church finale and then the harbour chase, the explosions, the police, the boats, special effects, the pacing and energy of the chase, the final confrontation, the harpoon and Castor's death?
17.The final surgery, the explanation of the team coming from Washington, Eve at home, Jamie back to normal, Sean coming home as himself? The reunion and apologies? Adam and the family's acceptance? The theme's coming full cycle in terms of the child, death and life, good and evil, family split and family reunion?
18.The plausibility of the plot? Plot and style over the top? John Woo's delineation of characters - with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta in themselves, with the face-off change and their imitating each other's style and mannerisms? Audiences believing that each was in the other and that building up to dramatic and psychological confrontation? The strength of Joan Allen's performance as Eve giving credibility to the film? 1990s action entertainment?
