Berta (Nerea Barros) wants Alex (Elías González) to pay for what he did to her a few years before. Determined to take action, she will do whatever it takes to make him remember her.
With Berta, Lucía Forner Segarra continues to explore the theme of vengeance for a woman who has suffered abuse, while making the film both entertaining and memorable. Feminism through genre cinema, you don’t see that often.
Thou shalt not abuse…
Berta tells the story of a woman who tries to make a man understand that he has hurt her in the past. Although her methods may seem unorthodox, she’ll make her point.
In the same vein as her previous short film, Dana, the Spanish director continues in the idea of denouncing the aggressions suffered by women, using genre cinema to get the point across more easily. Because the sensitivity of the subject can easily derail the conversation.
Berta (Nerea Barros)
So, by staging a woman who captures a man in order to force him to think about the consequences of his actions, with a lot of violence, the message gets across strangely more easily. Because, if we’re totally honest, men are sick and tired of being called abusers. And clearly, the director has found a good way to get her message across. All in a highly entertaining film.
Touching men using their cinematic codes
We often see the theme of persistent trauma in the drama genre, and sometimes in comedy – when we want to present it in a lighter way. But these two genres are mostly appreciated by a female audience. As a result, few men are reached and thus possibly sensitized.
But here comes Lucía Forner Segarra with films that are much closer to what men like: stories of revenge and violence. Normally, I’d say it’s a shame for a woman to lower herself to creating genre films using violence strictly to make her audience climax, as men do in Hollywood. But in this case, it’s completely justified and effective.
The raw images and psychological and physical violence are striking and perfectly integrated into a story that many women have experienced. This film can certainly be seen as a response to the #MeToo’s of this world. Of course, the revenge of one person starting to mutilate another to make them realize that their unpunished actions were reprehensible is never a very good option. But when you see Berta, you think that sometimes, maybe (just maybe) it might spark a few people’s interest.
Alex (Elías González)
In any case, the strength of Berta‘s sequences is both thought-provoking and fun.
A little more…
Fantasia starts in just over a week. So I thought I’d give you a sneak preview. And if the other short films in the Born of women 2024 section are anything like this one, we’ll have a fine program.
As for the film we’re interested in here, it’s a fine blend of violence, drama, feminism and fun. Enjoy!
Berta is presented at the Fantasia Festival, July 28, 2024.
