The Headless Woman | reviews, news & interviews
The Headless Woman
The Headless Woman
Hitchcock channelled in a briliant and baffling psychothriller from Argentina
Saturday, 20 February 2010
A brittle precision: María Onetto as the headless woman
A merciless anatomy of the inner meltdown that follows a hit-and-run accident, The Headless Woman is as baffling, brilliant, demanding and utterly original a work as you're likely to see all year. Its themes are confusion, amnesia, disavowal. The director, Lucrecia Martel, by contrast is in vice-like control of her material. This film might be a real head-scratcher. But no-one seeing it can come out unconvinced that Martel is a world-class talent.
A merciless anatomy of the inner meltdown that follows a hit-and-run accident, The Headless Woman is as baffling, brilliant, demanding and utterly original a work as you're likely to see all year. Its themes are confusion, amnesia, disavowal. The director, Lucrecia Martel, by contrast is in vice-like control of her material. This film might be a real head-scratcher. But no-one seeing it can come out unconvinced that Martel is a world-class talent.
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Film
Maria review - Pablo Larraín's haunting portrait of an opera legend
Angelina Jolie puts body and soul into her portrayal of Maria Callas
Babygirl review - would-be steamy drama that only flirts with transgression
Nicole Kidman gets hot and bothered about a sexy intern’s power plays
It's Raining Men review - frothy French comedy avoids dating-app reality
Laure Calamy shines as a dentist whose marriage is in trouble
A Real Pain review - Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin take a Holocaust tour of Poland
It's part comedy, part road movie and part psychotherapy session
Blu-ray: The Hop-Pickers
Ground-breaking and colourful Czech musical
Nickel Boys review - a soulful experiment
Pulitzer-winner becomes an immersive elegy to black teenage crime and punishment
Best of 2024: Film
theartsdesk's movie critics pick their favourites from the last 12 months
Best of 2024: Blu-ray
The pick of the year's releases: films spanning decades, continents and genres
Nosferatu review - Lily-Rose Depp stands out in uneven horror remake
Robert Eggers leaves his mark on adaptation of classic, but it’s not always for the best
Blu-ray: Hitchcock - The Beginning
A box set shows how Alfred Hitchcock embraced the sound revolution – pathologies intact
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl review - an old foe returns
Stop-motion animation on an epic scale
Blu-ray: Three Wishes for Cinderella
Witty, engaging Czech fairy tale with an appealingly feisty heroine
Add comment