Visitor's Guide

The Woman Who Wasn’t There presents what some critics claim as a fresh new twist on a September 11th film. Instead of reliving the experience, and looking back in remembrance, director Angelo Guglielmo chooses to focus on one particular woman’s miraculous experience on that day, and the journey following that slowly unraveled her tale. The revealing title, and ironic story line take the audience through the journey of Tania Head’s peers slowing discovering her secret. Through numerous critical sources and evidence from the film itself, Guglielmo discovers what counts as ‘truth’ and to whom. The film portrays Head’s story as honesty as she speaks, but with the evident title, it is clear that she is fabricating the truth. The director acts on this stylistic choice to take an ironic standpoint on the discussion of truth.

Reviews:

September 11th, 2001 is a day that Americans will always remember. It is a day of tragedy yet also a day to show extreme loyalty to the country we call our home. The documentary “The Woman Who Wasn’t There” directed by Angelo Guglielmo and released in 2012, takes a new twist on a true story involving this day. I analyzed reviews about this psychological-thriller documentary found in The Variety, The Village Voice and Los Angeles Times. The reviews take different claims on what the film’s purpose was, yet they all agree upon the fact that the film was used to expose the wrong doings of Alicia Esteve or “Tania Head” and her compulsive lying; with the altered truth and altered portrayal of the truth, it is hard to know what can truly count as ‘truth’ and to whom.

            The first review found in The Variety, “Review: ‘The Woman Who Wasn’t There’” written by Peter Debruge, goes to explain the tale told in the documentary and the director’s portrait choice of the tale to create contrast from the book and TV series on the same story. The article says the film’s purpose was not to question why her colleagues did not question her story but rather what kind of person desires to put this type of tragedy upon themselves by choice. The film switches between emotional recovery of survivors as well as fellow colleagues recovery from the emotional pain bestowed upon them with the discovery that someone they trusted deceived them, and the seriousness of an individual’s megalomania. The reviewer backs up this idea with evidence from the documentary and specific scenes that portray this idea. By referencing the interviews filmed of the additional members in the network and their emotional responses to finding out the truth. After watching the film, I would agree with Debruge that the purpose of the documentary was as stated and the documentary explores many different aspects of how Head lied, caused emotional pain and ultimately her exposure through it all.

            The second review found in The Village Voice, “The Woman Who Wasn’t There” written by Nick Pinkerton, explores the tale that Tania Head told to all as well as the story of her exposure. Her lies involved real life people, such as her fake fiancée who was an actual victim of the attacks as well as “Man in the Red Bandana” Welles Crowther who saved many lives but also fell as a victim that day in the towers. The article asks one question of the purpose of the documentary, with that question being, “Why should we give any more attention to someone whose emotional-manipulation was driven by a thirst for it, especially since Esteve/Head, like most fantasists, is a tremendously boring woman” (Pinkerton, 2012). The article agrees that the exposure of her lies and wrong-doing are necessary steps through the establishment of her initial misrepresentation to the entire country but at the same time questions why the continued exposure of this woman through a book, a TV series and a documentary were entirely necessary when now we are giving her what she wanted once again. I would agree with this article as well, because although the story is so fascinating and portrayed in a tasteful way through the documentary, it is also fueling the woman’s megalomania.

            The third review found in Las Angeles Times, “Documenting a 9/11 Fraud” written by Robert Abele, again discovers the fakery involved in Tania Head’s story of her involvement in the twin towers on September 11th. The article does find the purpose of the film to include the emotional toll the story and exposure took on all involved such as other survivors or anyone emotionally attached to that day for various reasons. Yet the article also claims that the purpose of the documentary was not to focus on what makes a person want to do something like this, or what is her reasoning behind it but more so the portraiture of unanswered questions circling the situation. The author of this review does claim that Guglielmo took a less formal choice with the ending of the documentary saying it was an un-tasteful choice to show where Tania Head is now whereas the remainder of the film is done respectably and intriguing (Abele, 2012). I would agree with this reviewer as well but only to an extent because I feel the director was able to touch on the reasoning behind Head’s lying but in a tasteful manner so that it did not control the film. With the lack of depth into Head’s condition per say, I am unable to say that the analysis of Head’s lies were fully surfaced in the film.

            Overall, the three reviewers all touched on the same idea and purpose of the film discussing the essence of her lies and the emotional strain it put on so many others, as well as the reasoning behind her falsehoods to only briefly expose the presence of a more serious problem and disease. The presence of truth or the misrepresentation of truth was a common theme debated throughout. The portrait angle that the director took was a common theme through out the reviews that seemed to improve on the documentaries sophistication. All three reviewers applauded the film for taking a rare approach on such a serious topic and putting a stimulating twist on the events of that day and the years to follow.

Criticism:

            The Woman Who Wasn’t There, directed by Angelo Guglielmo is a film that has stirred up a lot of talk about the ideas the director was trying to get across as well as his methods of doing so. With articles about the documentary coming at the film with different viewpoints and arguments, I have chosen three with important relevance to the argument at hand. Discovering the truth and whom the truth is credible to can be seen as the claim made by all three articles that are being analyzed based off this idea.

            The first article, written by Peter Debruge, is written as a film review with further analysis. While the article first discusses the fortune Guglielmo had with working one on one with Tania Head to create a film about her and the World Trade Center Survivor’s Network when her secret came out; it turns around to applaud his creative choice to focus on the personality of Head and what kind of person it takes to come up with such an extensive lie rather than talk about his experience in this rare situation. The irony found in the film is addressed shortly afterwards in reference to the deliberateness of the title and the telling of Tania Head’s story to start the film. As an audience, it is obvious that her story is a lie but deciphering the fabrications from the truth is what carries the story along. With the article claiming overall that the film artfully chose to focus on what type of person it takes to construct such a tragic fate for herself. In my opinion this article is crafting the argument that the director wanted to get at the central irony associated with the whole situation and what counts as truth and to whom. With this being said, the article praises the choice to give away the film’s twist in the title and uses this irony to its advantage in crafting the structure of the film. In search of what the truth is, the documentary winds through the claims made by all members involved and takes account for all of their experiences. With the article touching on the choice to focus on the type of person Tania is, the irony is run even further with her search of fake self-discovery in the film as well as the audience’s search for her true self at the same time.

            The second article, written by Dorothy Rabinowitz, comes from a completely different angle. Right from the start this article makes it known that the film is not seen as “artful” and is overall a dark film. These claims are seen as radical compared to the previous article that was rewarding the director for his creative choices. Despite these accusations, the article does touch back to the irony found in the film. Again with the deliberate title, the twist found in the film is not unknown which is done so to shed light on what Tania Head is saying in her interviews that are meant to reveal honest but reveal deceit instead. This article discusses the irony found in the uncovering of the true aspects of the survivor’s network and the ultimate strive for power within as well as the deceit it takes to get there. Again the film is in search of what the truth is, whether it’s in the words people say or the actions supporting them, and to whom this truth is credible. The irony of the film in the various aspects is used to its advantage in crafting the structure of the film even if the documentary is not seen as “artful.”

            The final article, written by Ryan Claringbole, speaks of the book under the same title and written by the director of the film. With the storyline consistent throughout the novel and the film, the claims made in this article relate to the actions in the documentary. This article yet again touches on the obvious title that gives away the twist to the plot line and the irony associated with this choice. Giving away the ending allows for the audience to focus on the details and unravel the story for themselves, lie by lie. This article touches on the intimacy involved with the story because Guglielmo was working with Head at the time her story was unveiled as false. This coincidence gives the film more substance and truth to what was claimed as the truth. The irony of the film is traced in this article as well although from another new angle. The irony being with Tania giving hope, courage and help to those involved in the network who needed her help while at the same time her unknown past could bring all of that down in seconds. The search for what the truth is would again be relevant in the sense that those who were receiving help from Head are not forced to decide if the help was truthful or was her whole existence a lie.

            When comparing the three articles, the similarities between the three are all prevalent as well as the comparisons on different views of the irony within the articles. After reading the articles, the claims made thus far are solid and prove that the film has deeper meanings than simply outing an individual, but to discover the truth behind why a person would ever want to do such a thing as well as taking the journey to discover what the truth actually is. The film clearly uses irony as a theme throughout in many different ways, which the articles claimed, but what needs to be discovered is what the irony is trying to prove. Honesty is seen as a sacred thing and an honorable attribute, yet the film plays with this idea. How can you really know what the truth is if you do not know if the person giving the claims is honest? Who are the claims seen as truths by? These questions both being the focus of the film and the deeper meaning found in the articles are what the director wanted from the audience to discover. The claims made in these articles cannot be contrasted in the sense that they could all be scene as truths depending on the viewpoint, which serves as the ultimate claim that truths cannot always be discovered because of the perspective that is taken and the journey to discover the truth is the real challenge.

 

 

Analysis:

From watching the film, The Woman Who Wasn’t There, directed by Angelo Guglielmo, I chose the clips I did based off importance. The first episode I chose is when Tania Head is first telling her story for the sake of the documentary. She is explaining the details of everything that happened to her that day and her husband, Dave. The next episode I chose to analyze is when the other members in her support group and some of her closest friends start piecing together the lies that she has told them and begin to discover the truth of the matter. I chose these scenes because in the course of the narrative, these are the two most crucial points in the documentary and they are linked together by the story line within them. The first scene is putting the story together and the second is taking apart each lie from that very same story. The underlining theme present within these arguments remains as to what can be determined as the truth and to whom. The mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound choices of these particular clips put together the narrative ironically in relation to each other.

            The first clip of Tania Head telling her tragic story on September 11th from the second tower is such a moving scene. The director’s choices pull at the viewer’s emotions and make it a memorable scene. In terms of mise-en-scene, the director made an overall choice to include both actual video ranging from interviews to actual scenes from events and reenactments of scenes from the day of September 11th or events talked about from the past through motion paintings acting out the events. The cinematography choices the director made in this particular clip include the use of straight on close ups in the interviews which portrays honesty and gives the viewers the true emotion of the person. This is an ironic choice since Tania is feeding the camera lies, but this choice is used to show that with the information given and the ways it was portrayed, it is easy to believe lies such as hers. In the reenactments from this clip, the camera “pans” through the scenes as well as use “tracking shots” to show the full setting of the scene. This choice helps with the narrative feel of the film and serving as a starting point and a base for the rest of the film. In terms of editing choices, through out the reenactments it is continuous editing or appears to be to again give the narrative feel. The clip begins with an establishing shot of the twin towers and then zooms in to Tania standing in the towers looking out the window, so this is a setting the scene shot. The 180-degree rule is put into place multiple times during the reenactments to make the documentary seem like a regular film. The clip cross-cuts between interviews and the reenactment. The non-diegetic sounds help carry the story along where as the diegetic sound choices of dialogue that turns into the “voice of God” at parts and the sound effects associated with the reenactments help carry the story along as well as explain explicitly what is going on. I think the director is trying to do this ironically because it is clear from the title of the documentary and therefore before watching it that what she is saying is not true but the way it is portrayed comes off as truth. Guglielmo’s argument then becomes what counts as ‘truth’ and to whom, and he questions this through the irony. In terms of narrative, the stylistic choice of the combination of the interviews and the reenactments creates a story for the viewer to follow.

            In comparison, the second clip is when Tania’s story starts to unravel for the first time. The mise-en-scence present is with the combination of video of real events that were presented earlier in the film, interviews and reenactment paintings. In terms of cinematography, the film uses straight on close ups to portray honesty which is exactly what you are getting from Janice, a close friend of Tania who is discovering the truth in this scene. She is explaining the emotion she was feeling at the time and you can see her honesty from the camera angle and distance. For editing, this episode uses continuous shots and follows the 180-degree rule through the reenactments to give a narrative feel and give the viewer a story to follow. Cross cutting is used to switch between the interviews, reenactments and actual video footage. The reenactment stills and small clips of actual video footage are put into montages to portray the thoughts and memories going through Janice’s head as she starts connecting the dots of the lies. This is used in combination with diegetic sounds of the dialogue which explicitly explain what is going on in the scene as well as non-diegetic sounds that carry the story along and give the emotion associated with the situation; such as, when the tension started to rise, the music speed up. The combination of these choices suggests the argument that contradicts the rest of the film and the truthfulness associated with it. The argument brings questions of honesty and morality to the viewers that never get answered, which I feel is a creative choice the director made to let the viewer come up with the answers on their own. I also feel the director made these choices in order to provoke symmetry to the rest of the film in stylistic choices, when the story line is heading in a completely different direction from the rest of the film. These choices create a sense of narrative for the viewer to follow and get attached to.

            When comparing these two episodes, the similarities are even more noticeable than the differences. The director created symmetry between these two scenes in irony since the subject of the scenes is contradicting, and therefore the surprisingly similar technical aspects are obvious. With the mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound techniques following the same pattern between the two scenes, the viewer automatically thinks back to the first clip when watching the second clip. With their contradicting subject matters, our discovery process when viewing is put into full effect because we are forced to find the connections between the two even when the second clip is unraveling everything said in the first clip. The filmmaker is attempting to cultivate irony because of the similarities between opposing episodes. This is getting so much attention because the techniques the director chose are mirrored in the scenes. The mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound create a narrative feel of the film in an ironic way because the narrative that is being created is just a combination of lie after lie until they are finally revealed to be false. With the scenes I chose being polar opposites in concepts, but shockingly similar in technical built, the irony is even stronger. This leaves a strong impact on the viewer and allows the film to portray the underlining theme of morality or lack thereof and in remembrance of such an important day in our country’s history.

            The film taking the new twist on a typical September 11th documentary, questions the sheer presence of truth. If a single individual is able to portray a story as the truth and have an entire country convinced, what counts as ‘truth?’ With lies being told and not yet uncovered, the truth can be temporarily altered because of the lack of proof. With the debate then extending further than what can be claimed as ‘truth,’ but to whom? The truth is not as clean cut as society wants it to be or makes it appear to be. ‘Truth’ varies from individual to individual, and the film tries to uncover this very statement with the help of irony. The obvious title choice, and the telling of Tania’s story to the eventual unveiling of the true story, suggest that ‘truth’ can be altered by view points but in the end, the honest truth will come out. 

Visitor's Guide
Visitor's Guide