Film: La Mujer Sin Cabeza
Director: Lucrecia Martel
Country: Argentina
Released: May 2008
Runtime: 87 minutes
Genre: Thriller
Studio: Lita Stantic, Wanda Visión, Teodora Film
Influenced: Claudia Llosa, Pablo Larraín, Amat Escalante, Natalia Smirnoff, Federico Veiroj
The third instalment in Lucrecia Martel's Salta Trilogy, which also includes La Ciénaga (2001) and La Niña Santa (2004), La Mujer Sin Cabeza explores themes of guilt, disorientation and social privilege. The film's title translates as The Headless Woman, which has both a literal and metaphorical meaning, as the main character Vero (María Onetto) feels as if she has lost her sense of self and moral compass after a car accident. Vero, a seemingly ordinary woman from an affluent family, is driving home from a family gathering when she hits something on the road. She quickly swerves away, not wanting to deal with the hassle of an accident. However, she can't shake off the feeling that she might have hit something more than just an animal. Her concern grows as she starts to recall a group of boys playing in a culvert near where she struck the unknown object.
Vero's anxiety intensifies when she notices a newspaper article about a missing boy, whose description matches the boys she saw playing in the culvert. She becomes convinced that she has hit and killed the boy, and her guilt and paranoia spiral out of control. As Vero grapples with her guilt, she also faces the pressure of her family and social circle, who are more concerned with maintaining their appearances than with addressing the potential consequences of her actions. She becomes increasingly isolated, her mind filled with disturbing images and a constant sense of dread. Vero's privileged social status and the consequences of the accident raise questions about accountability, guilt and social norms, and in this way La Mujer Sin Cabeza is an ideal companion piece to Michael Haneke's Caché (2005). The film deliberately blurs the line between reality and Vero's subjective experience, creating a sense of ambiguity and psychological tension.
Lucrecia Martel employs a unique narrative style, using subtle details, sound design and cinematography to convey the protagonist's internal conflict and disorientation. The film's sparse and unsettling score, composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, is an integral part of the atmosphere, and uses repetitive motifs and dissonant harmonies to reflect Vero's internal turmoil. Martel's direction in La Mujer Sin Cabeza is also characterised by its slow and deliberate pace, long takes and sparse dialogue. She creates a sense of unease and discomfort through the use of natural light, off-kilter camera angles and unsettling soundscapes. The film's narrative is fragmented and elliptical, reflecting Vero's fragmented state of mind, and leaving the audience to piece together the events of the story. The film was shot in only 18 days, with a small crew of around 15 people. Martel wanted to create a sense of immediacy and claustrophobia, and the minimalist production style helped to achieve this.
La Mujer Sin Cabeza received acclaim at international film festivals for its innovative storytelling and Martel's direction, competing for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2008 and winning the Silver Condor Award for Best Director from the Argentine Academy Awards. The film was praised for its originality, its exploration of complex themes and its nuanced portrayal of a woman grappling with guilt and trauma, and it is now considered a masterpiece of Argentine cinema. María Onetto's performance was also widely praised, including the award for Best Actress at the Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards. Martel often explores social issues and class dynamics in her films, and La Mujer Sin Cabeza is no exception, providing a critical examination of privilege and guilt. Martel's fourth feature film, Zama (2017), an adaptation of Antonio di Benedetto's 1956 novel of the same name about a Spanish colonial functionary stationed in Paraguay, was also showered with critical acclaim. Like La Mujer Sin Cabeza, Zama was made with the production backing of Pedro Almodóvar, as well as Gael García Bernal and Danny Glover.
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