FACING THE FACTS

“Eyes Without a Face” (Les Yeux Sans Visage) was indeed a haunting, evocative film as Kenneth Turan said (“A ‘Face’ You Won’t Forget,” Jan. 21), but the audience and I had another reaction to it.

During the “gory” scenes, the surgery sequence in particular, we were laughing at it. Makeup effects have come far in 37 years and these old shocks no longer hold their power. This inadvertent humor did not mar the poetry of the film’s imagery, but it did make me wonder what it takes to jolt a contemporary audience.

One pleasure of such old movies is seeing what power they still command years after they were made. “Les Yeux Sans Visage” holds up very well, but I found the laughter saddening. It was like discovering stains on an old photograph. I guess that’s the price of getting old.

GEORGE WALDEN

Ventura