Sieges, Ghosts and Impunity. A Spectral Comparison between Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Lucrecia Martel’s The Headless Woman

Abstract

This article carries out a comparative analysis of the films Vertigo (1958) by Alfred Hitchcock and La mujer sin cabeza (2008) by Lucrecia Martel, from the perspective of spectral studies. Despite their differences in terms of time, cultural context and art genre, both films explore themes related to memory, death and justice, using the figure of the specter as a means to delve into the interiority of the characters and the social dynamics that surround them. Based on an interdisciplinary approach that integrates film criticism and the spectral theory of Jacques Derrida, Mark Fisher and Avery Gordon, the study examines how the ghosts in these films are not literal apparitions, but representations of traumas and injustices that influence the present. Through close reading techniques and the incorporation of relevant theoretical references, a deeper understanding of the way in which the spectral operates in these works is offered, highlighting their relevance for contemporary cultural studies.