American critic Jonathan Rosenbaum referred to The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes as "one of the most direct confrontations with death ever recorded on film.
[6] Some critics argued that the silent film style enables viewers to form their own interpretations and judgment on the subject matter.
[6] In a Senses of Cinema profile of Brakhage, film-maker and curator Brian Frye wrote, "The key image of The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes is quite likely the bluntest statement on the human condition ever filmed.
In the course of an autopsy, the skin around the scalp is slit with a scalpel, and in preparation for exposing and examining the brain, the face of each cadaver is literally peeled off, like a mask, revealing the raw meat beneath.
"[2] Martin Smith describes the film as an act of mortality salience, a reminder of the inevitability of death and the joy of being alive.