TV series: Querer* (2024) A Trial for Gender Violence
Hello, how are you?
It's been a long time since I walked down this boulevard. Lately, I've been watching a lot of movies and I want to talk about that, about the art, the idea, the image, the moral, the sentence, everything and more. I have a premise: try to take care of the text so as not to ruin the surprise factors so preponderant in the seventh art. Let's start!
Querer*...
That's the name of the TV series I want to talk about today. Spanish product, from my perspective, a plus, since many of my favorite TV entertainments are from Spain.
Knowing about this production, was like a serendipity, I was checking my Facebook wall, one Sunday (of the last ones of 2024), and I found the typical publication of film pages that says “Recommend the best series you saw in 2024”... I looked at the comments, there were more than 300, “Querer*” was one of the most repeated recommendations, so I wrote down that name to look for information later.
What can you expect from a series called Querer*?
I didn't find it an attractive name, sure it is the story of someone who walked through the Valley of the shadow of death for loving someone he shouldn't have or it could also be, a sacrifice of love based on a real event, so shocking that it aroused the interest of a telecommunications visionary, and so, many more ideas, above all I feel it is drama in high density,
Well, I did the search, I recognized names. Miguel Bernardeau, the most handsome guy in the first seasons of Élite. Iván Pellicer, I met him in the first season of Sagrada Familia, I particularly don't forget an almost explicit gay sex scene in a discotheque, with the song “What Is Love” by Haddaway in the background. I like it! Could it be that they are a couple in the plot? Fantasy! They're not a couple, they're brothers and they don't get along.
Now, what is “Querer*” about?
Spoiler-free introduction. Miren, an older woman, decides to denounce her husband for rape after 32 years of marriage, she leaves home without warning and the news is quite a surprise for the most intimate family circle, the couple in conflict have two children in common and these take center stage in the story, as they have to set position in a trial for gender violence against his father.
The starting point of the story is denunciation and separation. There are no images of physical violence. The accused is a man who appears serene, noble, at times, temperamental, often affected and offended. The alleged victim is a woman with a history of depression, uses medication, shows insecurity when speaking, all these characteristics are used for and against in the trial.
The viewer is just another juror in the courtroom, he/she has to decide whose side he/she is on with the sworn statements alone. I say no more.
I think that the story, perhaps, tries to raise what are the limits of violence, socially and legally speaking. There are actions that, if analyzed meticulously, can be violence typified as a punishable act? Dilemma! The term “Consent” also becomes relevant. A case for reflection.
Characters and acting work.
Something I like about Spanish cinema is the naturalistic work, which feels real, as if there was a school of directors, whose guideline is to make the viewer feel that the story could happen in any neighborhood.
I also highlight that circumspect suffering, which is something I see a lot in Spanish productions. The education to cope with disaster, emotional intelligence. It can also be an element that underlines the way the average Spaniard is. It reminds me a lot of a popular phrase: “The procession goes inside”.
The couple of main actors I met thanks to this series, surely they are two veterans who were trained in the theater, as they say now: “I have no proof and no doubts”, I can recognize it in the voice, in the case of the actor (Pedro Casablanc), experience, character, forcefulness, in the case of the actress (Nagore Aranburu), the weight in her look, vulnerability, doubt. All this very well achieved, which makes the work touches the masterful plane.
Querer* is drama, tension, depth, sharp oratory, sensitivity, polarity, judgment, argument, power and, in general, a great work. To finish, I will leave this sentence: “Querer, more desire than love”.
You can watch this series on Movistar +.
Translated with DeepL.com
Source of all images here.
