DVD Review: A Monster With A Thousand Heads

A Monster With A Thousand Heads is a captivating and compelling look at what one woman does in her efforts to get the medication to help her ailing husband. The film opens in a dark room. We hear groans. When the light is turned on, we see Sonia Bonet (Jana Raluy) asking her husband what is wrong. She calls out for her son and her sister-in-law, who enter while she is on the phone with the emergency personnel. What is interesting is that this is done in a wide static shot, and that in the shot we never actually see Memo, Sonia’s husband. And in fact, we don’t see much of him at all in this movie, though he is at the center of the action and is the reason for the action.

The film goes to a close-up of Sonia as a man off screen asks her questions about Memo. He tells her his condition will get worse, but Sonia is optimistic, saying he’ll improve when they get approval for the new medication. She calls the doctor and leaves a message for him. When he doesn’t return the call, she goes to his office and waits to speak with him. After waiting for a long time, she learns from a secretary that her doctor has left. Then, interestingly, we hear that secretary in voice over testifying about Sonia, while on screen we see that Sonia’s doctor has returned. So early on we’re given a clear indication that things are going to get out of hand.

Nearly all of the shots in this film are static, which has an unsettling effect, while also drawing you in because you end up paying more attention. The camera isn’t going to let you know which specific details are important, but rather presents the world for you, almost like letting you spy into Sonia’s life. There is a great shot from the backseat of Dr. Villalba’s colleague’s car, as he backs out of his spot in the parking garage. Through the windshield we see Sonia approach Dr. Villalba, but over the music playing on the car stereo we can’t hear anything she’s saying. And the camera doesn’t get closer to her; it doesn’t move in for coverage. It’s not until the colleague turns off his stereo and rolls down his window that we’re able to hear any of the dialogue; at that point, Sonia is asking the doctor to please read her husband’s file, to look over the results of some tests.

Another interesting and somewhat similarly effective shot is when Sonia and her son have followed Dr. Villalba home (by the way, the shot in the taxi is one of the only shots with some camera movement), and Sonia rings the doorbell. The doctor’s wife picks up a phone to answer the door, and on the video monitor we see Sonia and her son talking, but we don’t hear any of what they say because Villalba’s wife has the receiver to her ear. But whatever Sonia says must be convincing, for she buzzes her in.

At this point, Sonia believes that the doctor will do the right thing, that he just needs the information. But when the doctor threatens to call the police, Sonia pulls out a gun. You can understand and feel her desperation, and while her action might seem rash, she still comes across as a completely sane and good person who has been put into a situation by the health care system. This is due in large part to Jana Raluy’s excellent performance as Sonia. As things start to go more wrong for Sonia, we hear more from the trial, which works as both a way to provide information and also to maintain a strangely balanced view of the action. For what she is doing is criminal, no matter how right she might be in wanting to do it.

Special Features

The DVD includes several deleted scenes, all of which would have come toward the end of the film (so I’m not going to mention any of the specifics). The trailer is also included.

A Monster With A Thousand Heads was directed by Rodrigo Plá, and is presented in its original Spanish, with optional English subtitles. The DVD is scheduled to be released on August 9, 2016 through Music Box Films.