The Headless Woman
Posted on: January 6, 2010
The Headless Woman, 2008. Directed by Lucretia Martel.
“La Mujer Sin Cabeza” is a brilliant film, with subtle social commentary that never hits one over the head. Like the mystery in the film itself, it’s something the audience must pieces together. The director, Lucretia Martel, presents the evidence, but no editorials. Class and race are paramount, but they remain as unspoken, perhaps even ghostly components of the film. Amnesia, real and feigned, are a part of the mix as well.
Maria Onetto plays Verónica, a bourgeoisie dentist, living in comfort in Northwestern Argentina. Surrounded by a close-knit extended family, in a house where many Indigenista servants appear and disappear, her life takes a sudden turn when she runs over something on the highway. She hits her head and becomes disoriented, but goes on, not looking back…
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