The Face of Evil

The belief that a tendency towards evil can be ascertained from a person's appearance is chronicled in David Tosco's stylistically staid but intriguing documentary The Face of Evil, which not only covers the history of attempts to draw a connection between physiognomy and character but also focuses on a particular case. The broader framework follows efforts to uncover a propensity towards criminality, or at least viciousness, first through painting (with the work of Hieronymus Bosch cited as an example) and then via such supposed “sciences” as physiognomics (studying the “animalistic” aspect in faces to predict violent behavior) and phrenology (analyzing the bumps on a person's skull), before addressing the use of photography to create “banks” of suspects categorized by physical characteristics, the emergence of the eugenics movement (predicated on the assumption that deviance can be eradicated by medical engineering), and the more modest claims of modern criminal anthropology. Interwoven throughout is the story of Bruno Lüdke, charged by the Nazi regime as a mass murderer but believed by some experts today to have been innocent; the case is illustrated through archival materials, commentary from experts, and scenes from Robert Siodmak's 1957 film The Devil Strikes at Night. Featuring ample interview segments with sociologists, historians, criminologists, and others scholars, The Face of Evil presents an absorbing, if extremely sober, take on the subject—and a timely one in our contemporary age of profiling and widespread surveillance. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)