{"id":33733,"date":"2026-06-24T15:16:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:16:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33733"},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:16:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:16:53","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-la-tete-contre-les-murs-1959-aka-head-against-the-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33733","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: LA TETE CONTRE LES MURS (1959) aka HEAD AGAINST THE WALL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is now\navailable from most retailers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Radiance Films continues their exceptional track record of\ntitles this week with two titles featuring popular French director Jean-Pierre\nMocky. For those unfamiliar with Mocky, he began his career as an actor, before\nturning into a filmmaker. He would primarily make a living as a director, but\noccasionally returned to make onscreen appearances as an actor. La T\u00eate\nContre Les Muirs<\/em> was a project he developed as a young man with the hopes\nof directing. When he couldn\u2019t get the financial support to make his debut\nbehind the camera, he found another man to helm the feature and agreed to star\nin the film (in order to maintain some control over the final\nresult).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there may have been a bit of conflict behind the\nscenes between the director and the star\/screenwriter, the end result is\nphenomenal. This picture was well ahead of its time, critiquing the way in\nwhich mental illness is treated in French society. It boasts a compelling\nstory, impressive performances, great black and white photography, and an\neffective message. The image quality on this Blu-ray is excellent. A 4K\nrestoration of the film is the one appearing on this disc, and any movie\nenthusiast will be impressed. The disc contains some great bonuses that give\nnewbies like myself important background information about the production and\nthe importance of the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fran\u00e7ois G\u00e9rane (Jean-Pierre Mocky) is a young man in his 20s who doesn\u2019t possess much direction in life. He\u2019s from a wealthy family and is the son of a prominent lawyer Ma\u00eetre G\u00e9rane (Jean Galland), but he spends his time on the other side of the tracks, often getting into trouble. With debts growing, Fran\u00e7ois decides to steal some money from his pop. He\u2019s caught, and his furious dad decides that Fran\u00e7ois should be committed. It\u2019s clear that Fran\u00e7ois isn\u2019t unstable and simply hasn\u2019t found his purpose yet. Ma\u00eetre just wants to punish him in the worst manner possible. Fran\u00e7ois is placed under the care of Dr. Varmont (Pierre Brasseur) at a psychiatric institute on the outskirts of town. Varmont is a terrible caregiver, believing all who are under his care are monsters that need to be drugged and kept away from society. Thankfully, Fran\u00e7ois does find a friend in the sweet, epileptic patient Heurtevent (Charles Aznavour), while also receiving visits from girlfriend Stephanie (Anouk Aim\u00e9e). <\/strong>The pair try to get their care transferred to the more progressive Dr. Emery (Paul Meurisse), but end up being denied. Desperate, they mount an escape from the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is a low-key and beautifully shot effort that clearly\nwas ahead of its time. While Fran\u00e7ois isn\u2019t the nicest individual, his issues\nare solvable, and the audience ends up having to endure his horrible treatment\nat the hands of Varmont. Additionally, Heurtevent clearly shouldn’t be in the\ninstitute, and has simply been thrown away by society. They are different, but\nboth relatable characters who are easy to sympathize with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The dialogue scenes between the characters feel more\nauthentic and believable that many other titles of its era and there is\nconstant friction. Obviously, they are contending with their own psychological\nissues, but there is also great conflict between the leads and their doctor\n(not to mention disagreement between the doctors themselves about the correct\ncourse of treatment), and a few tense attempts at escape. The story maximizes\nall of this drama and makes a powerful impression on the viewer. And, the photography\nis impressive and moody, with the institute having a shadowy and foreboding\nappearance like that of a prison. The disheartening finale makes a lasting\nimpression as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s a striking picture about important issues, and the quality on the Blu-ray is exceptional. This is a much-beloved movie in France, and a great deal of care has been taken with it. The film has been given a 4K restoration through Mocky\u2019s own company and the image quality impresses throughout. It\u2019s crisp and clean, with black looking inky and consistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because the film may not be quite as well known here as\nin its homeland, there are several informative extras with wonderful background\ndetail about the production. The first is an enlightening 2008 interview with\nMocky. He explains how he got the idea and that he really wanted to direct, but\ncouldn\u2019t get any backing. He eventually convinced noted documentarian Georges\nFranju to take the helm, and the pair secured enough funds to start production.\nMocky and Franju butted heads here and there (Mocky likes to take credit for a\nlot of the picture, although it\u2019s very evident that Franju had a distinctive\nstyle and eye for the photography, helping to elevate many aspects of the\npicture. The speaker also talks about falling for his leading lady, who was not\nparticularly interested in him, and notes that this helped with his\nperformance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also an archival interview with Franju and co-star\nCharles Aznavour, who was a famous singer. The performer explains that he was\nhappy to take a supporting role in the picture simply because it was a great\ncharacter and that he didn\u2019t feel the need to be a cinema star, he just enjoyed\ntaking on meaty roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And you will find a lengthy discussion with Mocky\u2019s assistant, who is straight-forward about the production. He notes that Mocky was very excited about presenting a more realistic tone with the characters and situations, and that his screenplay captured this well. The assistant notes that scenes outside of the asylum had more of Mocky\u2019s touch, while the institute scenes had a more moody and interpretive tone, which was a Franju touch. He notes that it all gels together remarkably well, and that the film did make one think about the care of those in institutions. The speaker states that when these places existed, they were far from hospitals and weren\u2019t overseen by anyone, meaning that the care of the patients ultimately suffered in the process. He also explains that the film\u2019s success allowed Mocky to begin making his own pictures as director, and cemented Franju as a notable talent (the following year he would direct the 1960 French classic, Eyes Without a Face<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, a booklet is included that contains an\ninformative chapter from the writer\u2019s book on director Georges Franju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, this is another great Blu-ray from Radiance Films\nthat will appeal to anyone who enjoys classic French cinema. La T\u00eate Contre\nLes Muirs<\/em> is a fantastic release well worth picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films is now available from most retailers. Radiance Films continues their exceptional track record of titles this week with two titles featuring popular French director Jean-Pierre Mocky. For those unfamiliar with Mocky, he began his career as an actor, before turning into a filmmaker. He would primarily make a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[88,1914,2928,2933,3073,4115,4483,6251,7798,7934,8205,10504,11999,12000,12001,16583],"class_list":["post-33733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-88","tag-asylum","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-charles-aznavour","tag-classic","tag-drama","tag-france","tag-french-film","tag-georges-franju","tag-jean-pierre-mocky","tag-la-tete-contre-les-muirs","tag-la-tete-contre-les-muirs-film-review","tag-la-tete-contre-les-muirs-review","tag-radiance-film"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}