The Headless Woman (2008 film)
2008 film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Headless Woman (Spanish: La mujer sin cabeza; also known as La mujer rubia, lit. 'The blond woman') is a 2008 Argentine psychological drama art film[5][6][7] written and directed by Lucrecia Martel and starring María Onetto. The plot revolves around Verónica (Onetto), who hits something while driving on a deserted road near Salta. Not being sure if she has hit a person or an animal, she drives off and becomes increasingly mentally disturbed.
- Agustín Almodóvar
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Tilde Corsi
- Verónica Cura
- Esther García
- Lucrecia Martel
- Cesare Petrillo
- Enrique Piñeyro
- Vieri Razzini
- Marianne Slot
- María Onetto
- Claudia Cantero
- Ines Efron
- César Bordón
- Daniel Genoud
- Guillermo Arengo
- María Vaner
| The Headless Woman | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Lucrecia Martel |
| Written by | Lucrecia Martel |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Bárbara Álvarez |
| Edited by | Miguel Schverdfinger |
| Music by | Roberta Ainstein |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 87 minutes |
| Countries | |
| Language | Spanish |
| Box office | $100,177 (Argentina)[4] |
The film premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2008.[8] It opened nationwide on August 21, 2008, after being screened at the Locarno International Film Festival earlier that month. While The Headless Woman was mostly lauded by critics for its cinematography and social commentary, others were critical towards the film's slow pace and lack of clear narrative.[9][10] In 2016, the film was ranked No. 89th on BBC's list of the 100 greatest films of the 21st century.[11] In 2022, it was selected as the 24th greatest film of Argentine cinema in a poll organized in 2022 by the specialized magazines La vida útil, Taipei and La tierra quema, which was presented at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.[12]
Plot
Verónica ("Vero"), a bourgeois Argentine woman, drives home from recreational swimming in rural Salta. Distracted by her cell phone, she looks down to answer it and hits something. Shocked, she collects herself and drives away; though she does not see it, a dog lies dead on the ground behind her.
Vero drives to the hospital where her brother works for a cut to her head and receives an x-ray. Before she can be further examined, she flees to a nearby hotel, the disturbing nature of her accident settling in. She calls her husband's cousin, Juan Manuel, who consoles her before the two have sex.
The next day, Vero returns home, where she lives with her husband Marcos and their Indigenous maids, still feeling deeply out of place and light-headed. She attempts to go to work at her dentistry office but her staff recommends she go home. Instead, she stops by her cousin Josefina's house, where she socialises with family, who notice the front of her car is severely damaged.
Vero visits a local recreation center, where she sees a boy on the ground, passed out from heat stroke. The image of the boy's lifeless body causes a panic attack, and she is consoled by a staff member, who offers her water and a hug. Later that day, Vero tells Marcos she believes she killed a person in a hit and run. Marcos takes her to the scene of the accident; they see something on the side of the road, which her husband insists is merely a dog. Marcos tells Juan Manuel, who works for the fire brigade, about Vero's concerns, but he claims there have been no claims of note.
Soon after, the body of a servant's child is recovered from a local canal nearby the location of Vero's accident. Josefina's daughter Candita, who has a crush on Vero, claims she wants to know more about "the boy who was murdered," but Vero insists the boy accidentally drowned. At home, Vero works with a new gardener to improve the look of the backyard.
Vero remains unconvinced that she only struck a dog, still disoriented and paranoid. To hopefully jog her memory of the fatal night, she revisits the hospital, but they claim there is no record of her admission let alone x-ray results, both scrubbed by her brother. At home, a young Indigenous boy bikes by and offers to wash her car; Vero gives him a simple chore and offers him food, clothing, and more work.
Vero is invited to a posh party at the hotel where she stayed after the accident. She learns they too have no record of her stay, scrubbed by Juan Manuel. Though still disturbed, she attends the party, smiling weakly and dazedly as people enjoy the evening around her.
Cast
- María Onetto as Verónica
- Claudia Cantero as Josefina
- César Bordón as Marcos
- Daniel Genoud as Juan Manuel
- Guillermo Arengo as Marcelo
- Inés Efron as Candita
- Alicia Muxo as Prima Rosita
- Pía Uribelarrea as Prima Tere
- María Vaner as Tía Lala
Reception
Critical response
The Headless Woman garnered mostly positive reviews from film critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 75% approval rating based on 52 reviews, with a rating average of 6.89 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "Careful and slight, Lucretia Martel's Headless Woman doesn't fit neatly into a clear storyline, but supports itself with ethereal visuals."[13] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 0–100 reviews from film critics, the film has a score of 81 based on 12 reviews, classified as a universally acclaimed film.[14]
Accolades
| Award | Date of ceremony[I] | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACE Awards[15] | 17 April 2010 | Best Director | Lucrecia Martel | Won |
| Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences Awards[16][17] | 15 December 2008 | Best Actress | María Onetto | Nominated |
| Best Art Direction | María Eugenia Sueiro | Nominated | ||
| Best Cinematography | Bárbara Álvarez | Nominated | ||
| Best Costume Design | Julio Suárez | Nominated | ||
| Best Director | Lucrecia Martel | Won | ||
| Best Editing | Miguel Schverdfinger | Nominated | ||
| Best Film | The Headless Woman | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay, Original | Lucrecia Martel | Won | ||
| Best Sound | Guido Berenblum | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | Claudia Cantero María Vaner |
Nominated | ||
| Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards | 10 August 2009 | Best Actress | María Onetto | Won |
| Best Director | Lucrecia Martel | Nominated | ||
| Best Supporting Actress | María Vaner | Nominated | ||
| Cannes Film Festival[18] | 25 May 2008 | Palme d'Or | Lucrecia Martel | Nominated |
| Lima Latin American Film Festival[19] | 15 August 2008 | Critics Award | The Headless Woman | Won |
| Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival | 9 October 2008 | FIPRESCI Award | Lucrecia Martel | Won |
| VFCC Awards | 11 January 2010 | Best Foreign Language Film | The Headless Woman | Won |
^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year.
