La Mujer sin Cabeza (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)

[John Cope]

Trailer.

There was talk at one time that Martel's new picture was to be her "zombie film". This may not be that but it certainly looks unnerving enough.

The image at :50 is an especially strong one.

[Anhedionisiac]

¿Unnerving? ¿Zombie? Are we even talking about the same trailer or filmmaker here? Can't imagine Martel being even remotely interested in a zombie film, not even in a Claire Denis sort of way.
Funnily enough, the Nuri Bilge Ceylan is the one that looks like it taps in the horror genre, to say the least.

Anyroads. Trailer's great! Very envious of those who'll get to watch it at Cannes

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

¿Unnerving? ¿Zombie? Are we even talking about the same trailer or filmmaker here? Can't imagine Martel being even remotely interested in a zombie film, not even in a Claire Denis sort of way.

Man, you're not gonna like the sound of Martel's next film.

[Barmy]

All her films are zombie films.

[KeystoneCop]

¿Unnerving?

How could you not consider that trailer unnerving?

[Anhedionisiac]

Man, you're not gonna like the sound of Martel's next film.

Hnh. The alien-invader headline had my heart sunk in for a couple seconds, yes, and that would be the end of it except I realized it's an adaptation of "El Eternauta". I have read "El Eternauta". It's good stuff.
It deals with themes that are akin to, say, McCarthy's The Road or Haneke's Time of the Wolf.
But, considering it's Martel at the helm and that it won't have the narration which shapes most of the graphic novel (granted, jettisoning the narration is a complete assumption on my part), it'll probably be even bleaker than all that. And I'm okay with that, you know, very much so.

Keystonecop, considering the reaction others have shown towards it, clearly mine's the odd one out. I don't know what to say except that I probably have a very low pulse or something. Even if I can't make out the dialogue, I just don't think it's unnerving in the sense that something is going bump into the night, you know what I mean? Nothing otherworldy about it. Whatever dread there is, it'll have to do with the night of the soul. Which can be a very dark thing, sure, but here seems to be rather tranquil.

[Barmy]

Saw Mujer tonight. It is definitely a zombie film. Her style of filmmaking has, sadly, become trendy over the past 10 years or so. But no one does it as well as Lucretia. She takes an event that may or may not have happened and, in exquisitely framed shots, shows a character reacting or not reacting to same. It's basically Antonioni taken to an extreme. I will say that I am tired of people praising films by saying it's hard to figure out who the characters are. There are WAY too many films that seem to take that as a sign of "art". Antonioni realized that, on the contrary, it is of supreme importance to establish character relationships. I've seen Antonioni, and Lucretia is no Antonioni. That said, the film is brilliant.

I know I say this about every film, but this film requires a big screen screening. It will lose everything on DVD. Despite a middle 30 minutes that was a bit dull, this is definitely top 10 if not top 5 for 2008.

[yoshimori]

Imagining this as a zombie movie can only help. It was the worst reviewed competition film at Cannes. [My brief comments on the page prior to the linked one.]

[Barmy]

I'm surprised it bombed at Cannes, but maybe not, as they generally have terrible taste. Having seen The Class and Gamorra, both mediocre, ugly films that will be forgotten very soon, I'm more likely to trust Armond and his ilk's taste.

I generally hate plotless films where people (played by actors who seem to be nonprofessionals even if they aren't) mope around for 2 hours and you can't tell who anyone is. I despise the Dardennes, for example. But Mujer features an awesome perf by the lead actress and a very appropriate 90 minute running time, together with exquisite framing. The NYFF audience seemed to "get it".

[John Cope]

The NYFF audience seemed to "get it".

Certainly Michael Anderson did.

[Barmy]

Thanks. That review articulates my feelings precisely. I saw this a second time and for obvious reasons my reservations in my prior post evaporated. There are so many ugly films making the festival rounds that it is very refreshing to see a film make ordinary surroundings seem both artistically beautiful and deeply mysterious. Also it was quite clear from the Q&A that Martel is an incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful filmmaker--not some smirky dumbass like the Dardennes.

[John Cope]

An excellent interview with Martel, in which she addresses the subject of "horror" and ends with a shout out to two cinematic heroes.

Edit: Another great critique and interview. Oh, and once and for all:

DAVID PHELPS: Is your film a horror movie?

LUCRECIA MARTEL: Actually, it’s interesting because I was writing The Headless Woman at the same time I was also writing another script that I was working on before this project, and that was a classical horror movie, with monsters and everything. The title was “Gente”—which translates as “People”—and maybe it wasn’t classical in the strictest sense, but it definitely was a horror movie. So I was thinking about both projects at the same time, and I thought I would finish “People” before this film, but then I realized it would be a much bigger project so I decided to finish off The Headless Woman.

Now what has happened is that I was offered to film a film based on a comic strip called “El Eternauta,” which turns out to be more of a terror film than anything else. It is based on an alien invasion of the Earth. But it is true—I have the very same feeling with The Headless Woman; it’s very near a horror film.

[thirtyframesasecond]

The film has its UK premiere at Tate Modern tonight, with Martel introducing. I have my ticket!

[foggy eyes]

The film has its UK premiere at Tate Modern tonight, with Martel introducing. I have my ticket!

Oh, bugger it. I'm in London at the moment, but somehow this passed me by (I usually check what's on at the Tate Modern, but forgot this time). Couldn't you have posted a few days earlier?!

[thirtyframesasecond]

The film has its UK premiere at Tate Modern tonight, with Martel introducing. I have my ticket!

Oh, bugger it. I'm in London at the moment, but somehow this passed me by (I usually check what's on at the Tate Modern, but forgot this time). Couldn't you have posted a few days earlier?!

Sorry, didn't realise until Wednesday evening. It had sold out by the following morning. I'll post about the film and interview soon.

[foggy eyes]

Sorry, didn't realise until Wednesday evening. It had sold out by the following morning. I'll post about the film and interview soon.

No worries - I was just temporarily annoyed at myself for not spotting it earlier (one of the drawbacks of not actually living in the city)...

[thirtyframesasecond]

The Q&A was really informative; Martel went into great detail about how she works, which really increased one's insight into the film.

My review.

[dadaistnun]

[franco]

This is more or less the same movie as La Ciénaga, except that this time there's an major event that propels the narrative all the way to the end. Also, instead of having bewildered audiences, we have a discombobulated protagonist. Martel has indeed mastered her shallow-focus style of filmmaking. It is simply exquisite, and the film is easily a masterpiece. I do not understand how the Cannes audiences managed to boo this gem - although it appears that (apparently) they never had a chance to boo La Ciénaga first.

[foggy eyes]

I'm getting bored of waiting to see this, so have caved and bought the Argentinian DVD. It's not cheap, but promises English subs and will probably be identical to the (presumably) forthcoming Strand R1 release.

[Barmy]

It is getting a run at Film Forum in August so it will certainly get a R1 DVD release.

[Matt]

I'm getting bored of waiting to see this, so have caved and bought the Argentinian DVD. It's not cheap, but promises English subs and will probably be identical to the (presumably) forthcoming Strand R1 release.

It does have English subs and is all-region NTSC. It looks great, too.

[Matt]

Has anyone had a chance to look at the Strand R1 DVD? Just wondering if it's a straight port of the Argentinian DVD or if it's in facr better or worse.

[Dadapass]

Here is DVDBeaver on the R1, but no comparison. I'm glad they went with the poster art from above.

[James]

Here is DVDBeaver on the R1, but no comparison. I'm glad they went with the poster art from above.

I'll just say this: looking at those screencaps, the DVD looks darker than when I saw it in the theater.