SIFF 2013 Notebook: Another Woman’s Face

English: Plastic Surgeon Vishal Kapoor, MD performing liposuction surgery on female patient using the super-wet technique. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In Pappi Corsicato’s madcap “Another Woman’s Face,” TV star Bella and plastic surgeon René preside over a fantasy kingdom of manufactured beauty. The couple host a reality show from René’s alpine plastic surgery clinic, celebrating hubby’s miracle makeovers. A dip in ratings convinces the show’s producers to replace Bella in the upcoming season. However, a minor accident and pretended disfigurement enable Bella to win back the limelight as her husband’s star patient. René concocts a scheme to defraud the insurance company, deceive the audience, and rake in the cash. As the famous facelift artist goes to work, three attendants glide into position behind decorative models of a mouth, ears, and eyes to mime neither speaking, hearing, nor seeing evil. All the while, news reports chatter in the background about a gigantic asteroid hurtling toward earth.–In fact, blunt, unsexy facts (toilets, leaking pipes, lies, asteroids) crash into Bella and René’s magical kingdom throughout the film, generally unrecognized or unheeded. Corsicato’s beauty merchants and consumers seem so absorbed in misdirection and manufactured desire that they don’t know reality even when it (yes, literally) hits them over the head. The best thing about Another Woman’s Face? It provides the simple joy of watching heavy objects (plumbing, asteroids) hurled at self-absorbed people.