'Cutting off your foot with a chainsaw': things aren't always what they seem

Dirty (2023) has been the major success of the young actress, playwright, and director Bárbara Mestanza. A project born from a traumatic personal experience that became a play, a documentary, and a book. "Sucia" (Dirty) was the catharsis, the angry yet defiant cry of a woman who was abused by a masseur without knowing how to react. In her new work, "Cortarse un pie con una motosierra" (Cutting a Foot with a Chainsaw), Mestanza returns to the theme of sexual abuse against women, focusing not so much on the female victims, though that is also present, but on the so-called cancel culture that socially and personally ostracizes aggressors, whether they are guilty or victims of a pariah.

This cancellation often begins with the publication of victims' accusations in the media, as we experienced not so long ago. Of course, everything changes when one of the accused, a certain Ramon Roig, is on the brink of death after a suicide attempt. This situation changes even further when it appears that some of what was published isn't entirely accurate. Regarding the text, the author aims to develop the sense of guilt and responsibility of the journalist (Bárbara Mestanza) who wrote the article; the confrontation with her boss (Rosa Boladeras) over the demand for rigor in her work; and the disastrous consequences for the accused and his daughter (Júlia Molins). All of this is done while maintaining a passionate and striking feminist discourse against patriarchal power in a somewhat unclear and needlessly drawn-out dramatic structure.

As for the form, the director makes heavy use of audiovisual tools (streaming, projections, music), even to excess; she employs a curious context of medieval references (including Gothic script and Gregorian chants); and an inexplicable wardrobe that does nothing to enhance either the narrative or the actresses. What remains is the passionate cry of a current reality, one that is increasingly controversial. And I'm not referring to Julio Iglesias, but to the case of a former Junts deputy who was politically and socially ruined by false accusations.