MovieChat Forums > La mujer sin cabeza (2008) Discussion > What is this about?

What is this about?

posted 16 years ago by insidejohnsmind
13 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen La Cineaga, but if La Nina Santas is a good template for her films I'm sure this is worth a shot.

I've really a good feeling when Lucrecia Martel is doing a film. "La Ciénaga" is one of the best films I saw in my life. Of course as I am argentine I can not tell you if it has sense for foreign people but if you enjoy "La Niña Santa" I am sure you will appreciate it. About the new one, we have to wait until it is presented.

[–] joose-keppila 16 years ago

La Mujer sin cabeza seems to have received a poor reaction in Cannes. Probably due to stupidity, since Martel is one of the most innovative directors around.

[–] insidejohnsmind 16 years ago

Do you know anything about the movie itself though, joose?

[–] boudu_sauve_des_eaux 16 years ago

IMO, this is an horror movie. Unfortunately, not a very good one. Martel risked and failed, better luck next time.

I've seen her three movies, and this is the lesser of the trio. Still, I found it watchable, but no more than that. You have to pay attention to all the details to know what's really going on, and still you're not gonna be sure.

Empty what is full. Fill what is empty. Scratch what itches.

[–] Oskiros-Arg 14 years ago

Best film in your life...!!!!.. are you sure...??

For me Lucrecia Martel is completelly overrated director, begining for the Cannes Award.

I like LA CIENAGA, but only like a good movie, in fact I always though LA CIENAGA, like the begining of a movie that never was.

But then, I din´t like LA NIÑA SANTA, awful movie, and LA MUJER SIN CABEZA was another deseption.

Oscar
Hablo mejor español :)

[–] tardesdete 16 years ago

its a great horror movie, maybe a little dull to see but it grows and grows in one's memory as a traumatic nightmare. 8 stars.

[–] mediterrae 16 years ago

Horror movie???? i quess you meant Suspense.....
i mean, a thriller movie in martel`s own way....i think the movie was great.the actings too,and that cinemascope screen,always divided in two...i loved it.Lucrecia is one of the (few) great ditectors of argentine movies.

[–] amudad 16 years ago

I just watched this and liked it a lot (and i HATED La Niña Santa). I don't think it is Horror or Suspense, it is very, very subtle psychological drama and you gotta really pay attention cos there's much that it is not explained.

(This could or could be not Spoilers, but it might tell something you don't need to know before watching the movie)

It is about feeling guilty but then not being aloud to feel guily and having people around you knowing about it without your consent, getting out of your control. And also having a pretty wtf family.

[–] xionga 15 years ago

The little review and bits of an interview in Salon gives some good clues:

"Maybe she killed a dog on the road, but maybe something much worse happened. In subtly detailing how Verónica, her husband and the rest of the town confront guilt, grief and uncertainty, Martel constructs a complex and devastating parable about social class in contemporary Argentina."

Note that the director's comment that it's not important to know who all these people are. Or how they're related to Vero. I think the movie is also an exercise in style: We're inside this woman's head most of the time (not a very comfortable place to be), so we don't know when something is significant. When the movie stops, you still don't (for example, what's with the flower pots?).

The class thing: watch how she depicts these cleaners and gardeners and servants. How often do you see a face? Do any of them have names?

[–] chibilute 15 years ago

all of the flower pots...

when she went to the "store" the first time, the guy said he put all of the pots up high, and he couldn't get them by himself because of his back. he says the boy (forget his name, but he is the brother of the boy who died) will get them and deliver them next week

she says no, probably because she doesn't want to confront him, but then the boy comes and delivers them, and then she offers him a ton of things, you remember he gets the shirts from her

then, when her husband and daughter come to visit, the truck comes back, this time with a TON of stuff - most likely she felt very guilty and ordered a ton of stuff because of that, and maybe getting them more work gets them more money.. like she'd tip them or something.

i'm sure the flower pots symbolize something else, but everything i just mentioned relates directly to the story. haven't figured out any deeper meanings.

[–] patopeters 15 years ago

Come on! Horror movie? No way, far from that. And for sure this is one of the worst argentinian movies I have seen in years (I was kind of a fan of Martel, but this new movie really sucks!)

[–] chibilute 15 years ago

When you give precise reasoning and use words like "sucks", it makes me not only respect your opinion more, but truly understand it.

[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 14 years ago

Originally this was supposed to be about a follower of Mother Teresa who gave spread shots to passing beaners.

"What is the sound an imploding pimp makes?"
Alonso Semple McFlondheim