The Headless Woman

Awesome original amazing film. Very intriguing.

This is a classic example of why I love (the majority of) TO reviews. I'd read the review several times before watching the film and, when I got to the end, I was as mystified as many of the one star user reviews on here. Read the TO review again and suddenly understood what he meant by 'bitter' last scene. Then, I realised I'd forgotten to 'swiftly decode each shot'. So, obviously I have to watch it again. The review is helping me see what I may have missed. That's mainly what I ask of a review. Because this is not a normal film and, having not quite grasped it, I'm glad someone was there to give me the tools to have another crack.

All you harsh critics didn't get this film and that's okay, not everyone has to enjoy the same things. But there are some of us out there, David Jenkins included, who appreciated what the film was trying to do: show the inner life of a woman in shock over having possibly committed a crime, and also to create the realistic environment in which she lives. This was interesting to me for two reasons. One, because of the brilliant performance of the lead actress, I was endlessly curious about what had happened to her and how she would react to social interactions. And second, because I've never been to Argentina, I was intrigued as I got an education about the stratification of that society and how it is similar and different to the one in which I live. Although this film won't top my best film list, it was memorable and provocative, and that's saying a lot.

Phew! I completely agree with the one star reviews of this film. I just couldn't understand why anyone would seriously rate this. At least I'm not going mad. How this can be described as a work of "frenzied genius" is a mystery - particularly "frenzied" ( although it's certainly not genius either - how can such a slow moving, dull and rather empty film merit such an adjective. I really think I can help people by telling them that unless you have a lot of time to spare, you are best not watching this film. Basically, it's really dull and nothing happens. Yes I know life is like that, but that's rarely what your average viewer wants from a film. The central character is deliberately uninteresting, and someone for whom no sympathy is intended, but you have to work that out for yourself when you get to the end and wonder what on earth the point was. She leads a slightly pampered lifestyle, seemingly has no thoughts of her own, and no initiatives. She accidentally runs someone one over - perhaps - though this is never really clarified. She doesn't stop, and then the film is largely focussed on her rather dull though privileged ( in relative terms ) suburban existence. There are better films out there and I feel I could have used my limited time more profitably by watching one of them!

I'm surprised that this film is running again. I saw it last autumn and totally agree with the majority of audience reviews - this is a seriously boring and overhyped film, worthy of one or two stars. Read the audience reviews first (below) before even considering this one - much better to try "Le Refuge" or "London River" - both very good.

Was the crash a red herring? ( It certainly looked like an animal that she had run over.) From other clues in the story was she suffering from the early onset of Alzheimers?

I think this is the most boring film I have ever seen; The trailer looked really good. Everyone left the cinema with looks of puzzlement on their faces. I'm quite happy to watch films where nothing much happens; I was transfixed the night that i first saw Eraserhead for example. I only stayed to the end because I thought something would actually happen. I feel that I have wasted 90 minutes of my life.

I have to agree with most of the comments here. I think you and Peter Bradshaw have been fooled into expecting a great film. It's really, really not. Technically it's excellent (perhaps a little too excellent, in the way that 'Climates' was pretty but boring), and the performances are great. However, as an evocation of a woman's mental breakdown it has nothing on 'A woman under the influence' or 'The piano teacher'- it offered pretty much nothing into her mindset. As a study of middle class guilt it is weak and undeveloped, and pales in comparison to 'Hidden'. A big mistake.

Desperately disappointing. To compare this film with Hidden is a massive insult to Haneke. No emotional drama, no dread, no tension, a sprawling, half-baked narrative, a series of cardboard cut-out characters whose role seemed pointless... I went to see it with my cinema buddy; we are both keen film buffs. Five minutes after the film finished, we were chatting about other things, the movie completely forgotten.

An interesting but disappointing film. The opening sequence seemed to set up a situation that would lead to a gripping developement. Instead characters were hardly developed to the extent that I didn't care about them. The film was so enigmatic that I found it impossible to be involved. I did wonder if Argentinean audiences would make more of it. The business of all her records including her stay at the hotel totally vanishing might well strike a resonance with an audience aware that so many Argentineans "disappeared" during the military dictatorship. Still I did stick it out to the end but I can well understand why many didn't.