Groping for Truth in the Forest of Subjectivity

In the social context of South Korea, the film "The Faces" (얼굴) carries a powerful resonance. While a work like Frankenstein might utilize a grand, sweeping stage, this film masterfully illuminates the diverse "faces" of humanity found in Korea's modest, even gritty corners. Amidst its dingy atmosphere, it delivers a chilling yet poignant message about the human traits we must recognize and guard against, balanced with sudden bursts of warmth like rays of sunlight.

The Veiled Face and the Violence of Curiosity

At the heart of the film is a woman named Jeong Young-hee. She passed away 40 years ago without leaving behind a single photograph, remaining a veiled mystery. The desire to know her face is the engine that drives the film to its conclusion.

The other axis is her husband, Im Young-gyu. Overcoming the limitation of being blind from birth, he becomes a master seal engraver with 50 years of experience. Throughout his life, he has been an object of curiosity for those around him—a curiosity that fluctuates between ridicule and praise. Once despised for his disability, he eventually gains honor for his ability to carve intricate characters into wood. The process through which public interest shifts from mockery to admiration exposes the duplicity and volatility of human attitudes.

The Refraction of Memory and Perception

The first keyword of the film is Memory. Human memory is imperfect; it is often distorted and refracted by overflowing emotions, yet we live believing these memories to be absolute facts. Our emotions are often what pull these memories to the surface in the first place.

Jeong Young-hee was a hated figure. At home and at the factory, she was branded as someone who spread "strange rumors." However, her son, Dong-hwan, and the audience instinctively realize the truth: she was simply a person who spoke the facts she saw and heard—someone who was, perhaps, "too" honest. The intense depiction of her soiling her clothes just to keep a strictly scheduled time serves as a testament to her almost foolish level of integrity.

The second keyword is Truth. The flashback scenes in the latter half of the film rely on Im Young-gyu’s subjective imagination. His victim mentality ends up staining the memory of the only person who ever truly accepted him—his wife. Though he was an artist who knew how to sell "beauty" and despise "ugliness," he failed to truly "feel" the truth in his wife's face, choosing instead to rely on the subjective opinions of others.

The Cowardice Named "Ugliness"

The way people in the film label Jeong Young-hee as "ugly" or "hideous" is intriguing. It is portrayed as a form of cowardice—a way for people to evade the responsibilities she exposed. The factory manager calls her ugly to dismiss her for uncovering his sexual assault; her family labels her hideous because she threatens the stability of the father who provides for them.

When a photograph of Young-hee’s plain, ordinary face is finally revealed, the audience realizes the director’s intended message: "ugliness" and "beauty" are entirely within the realm of subjective emotion. It highlights our own uncomfortable tendency to label those who speak inconvenient truths as "ugly" people. Similarly, Im Young-gyu calls his son—who fails to understand him and labels him a murderer—a "parasite," a hideous object. This is the cycle of cognitive dissonance, rationalization, and the transgenerational transfer of victimization: even after being deceived and victimized, one inflicts pain on others using the same logic.

There is no need to point fingers at others, for doing so is no different from failing to see the essence and shifting responsibility. The moment you point a finger, you are committing the same mistake. As René Girard’s theory of "Mimetic Rivalry" suggests, two conflicting parties easily end up resembling each other.

A Humble Touch to Reach the Truth

The film tells us that the moment we are swayed by the subjectivity of others, we lose sight of the essence. Regardless of how others treat us based on lies, we must respond based on facts and hold onto the truth we find ourselves to protect what is precious. There are many dangerous entities in the world, but we must not exempt ourselves from the list of things that threaten what we hold dear.

In the end, Im Young-gyu confesses to being a "murderer." It is the unintended penance of a man who worshipped beauty but ended up breaking his beautiful wife through his own delusions. He claimed that because he couldn't see, he contemplated and felt his way toward beauty more deeply—and he likely did. Yet, he was blind to the truth standing right beside him. The moment he boasted of knowing the whole truth, he was furthest from it. This is Overconfidence Bias.

Like a blind man tracing a seal with his fingertips, I find myself reflecting on whether I have been "feeling" the world with humility and honesty. Perhaps truth and beauty are only reachable when we reach out to touch them just one more time.

Psychological Analysis of The Faces

Here is a summary of the psychological perspectives reflected in the film, written in a concise, analytical tone:

1. Identification with the Aggressor: Reenacting Harm to Hide Powerlessness Instead of healing the pain of victimization, this tragic defense mechanism involves adopting the logic and methods of the victimizer. One chooses to become a "strong aggressor" rather than remain a "helpless victim" to gain a sense of psychological security. When Im Young-gyu, who was ridiculed his whole life, hurls the verbal abuse of calling his son a "parasite," he becomes the very reflection of the cold world he once loathed.
2. Projection and the Shadow: Masking Others with One's Own Ugliness This is the phenomenon of attributing one's own unacknowledged negative traits or guilt to others. When we point a finger at someone, that arrow is often aimed at our own "shadow." The people who brand Jeong Young-hee as "ugly" are fundamentally avoiding the confrontation with their own cowardice and the hideous truths she exposed.
3. Mimetic Rivalry: The Paradox of Resembling What We Hate As René Girard observed, the deeper a conflict becomes, the more the two opposing parties begin to resemble each other. The more intensely one criticizes and attacks an opponent, the more they replicate that opponent's violence and narrow-mindedness. Pointing a finger makes us fall into the same trap as the person we despise.
4. Cognitive Dissonance and Rationalization: Inventing "Ugliness" to Reject Truth When faced with an uncomfortable truth that conflicts with one's beliefs, the mind distorts facts or justifies the situation to alleviate the psychological pain. Because Young-hee's truth threatened their security, the manager and the family branded her "ugly." By defining the truth-teller as hideous, they turned their own cowardly evasion into "justified exclusion."
5. Overconfidence Bias and Intellectual Hubris: Blind Spots at the Peak of Knowledge This is the cognitive error of being so convinced of one's own rightness that all opposing evidence is blocked out. Those with high intelligence or pride in their perceptions often use sophisticated logic to rationalize their errors. Im Young-gyu’s blindness to his wife's truth, despite his 50-year career as a master, stemmed from the arrogance of believing he was the ultimate judge of beauty.

Closing Thoughts The "ugliness" we project onto others is often a subjective refraction created by our own evasion of responsibility. Truth does not reside in flashy certainties; it reveals its face only when we have the humility to admit we might be wrong and "feel" the world honestly once more.