Educational Media Reviews Online

“Basques are known for their peculiar cultural expressions,” the narrator says, and bertsolaritza is surely one of the most fascinating: impromptu poetry, sung in rhyme. It’s something like battle rap without the hostility, and with stricter form.

We hear from several bertsolari, who describe how they train, and how they gather their thoughts in the ten seconds or so between the announcement of the topic and the beginning of their poem. They also tell of the history of bertsolaritza--how the subject matter changed from farm life to Franco, and how women went from practicing the art only in the privacy of the home to winning the 2009 national championship in front of thousands of spectators.

We also get to see them perform, but only a few times. Even though it’s difficult to listen for rhymes in a language one doesn’t understand while trying to read subtitles, I wish the film had shown more bertsolaritza. Instead it took an artsy turn and made the narrator’s metaphors concrete and visual: bertsolari standing silent at the edge of an abyss, people walking backward, submerging themselves in the ocean, etc. Trying to capture the mystical aspect of competing as a bertsolari was both too difficult and less interesting than simply watching the art performed. A less ambitious film would have been a better one. Nonetheless this film provides a valuable exploration of a delightful subject.

Recommended for collections supporting study in anthropology, literature, and peculiar cultural expressions.