La virgen roja (2024)
Genre: Drama, Historical
Director: Paula Ortiz
Writers: Eduard Sola, Clara Roquet
Stars: Najwa Nimri, Alba Planas, Aixa Villagrán
Synopsis: Set in 1930s Spain, the film tells the story of Hildegart Rodríguez, a prodigious and prolific young writer raised by her domineering mother to embody the ideal of the “future woman.” As her talents and independence grow, so do the tensions with her mother, leading to dramatic and tragic consequences.
* * *
If women realized the utmost significance of being a mother, they would carry out the task with their eyes set on the stars.
BASED ON REAL EVENTS
She was destined to be someone important.
She was supposed to be the first among all of us.
She came into this world to change it, but she didn’t have the time.
There were three shots.
One to the face, one to the chest, and a last one to the sex.
THE RED VIRGIN
But Hildegart’s story begins long before that.
When I was still young and the first treatises on eugenics arrived in Galicia.
My name is Aurora Rodríguez Carballeira. I am Hildegart’s mother.
Thanks to my intellectual avidity and my father’s fortune, I had no boundaries growing up.
F. NIETZSCHE THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA
Thus, I learned about the findings on genetic improvement and the fight for women’s rights.
That’s how I understood that it was us women who had to shape the future of humanity.
But ideas are powerless if they aren’t put into action.
That is why I decided to conceive a child myself that would be solely and exclusively my own.
As a physiological contributor, I looked for someone who could never claim it as his.
From my womb, a girl was born.
A eugenic girl, the first free woman.
I would like to point out that Hildegart did not come to life by chance, nor by the simple animal desire of her parents to conceive her, but as part of a perfectly-designed plan.
She had to be a pure being who would fight for a decent society.
She had to be the woman of the future.
She started talking at eight months old.
By the time she was two, she could read.
At three, she could write.
At four, she was a certified typist.
Seven o’clock. Get up.
She was raised according to strict eugenic parameters.
She’d always wake up at the same time.
Get up.
Every minute of her life was organized according to a plan.
Her nutrition and hygiene observed strict rules.
She would always have fruit and milk for breakfast.
Her dinners were light.
In order to improve her competitiveness and endurance, she would practice sports.
At eight years old, she could speak six languages.
She was fluent in French, English, and Latin.
And she could translate from German, Portuguese, and Italian.
What is eugenics?
Eugenics is the application of the biological laws of heredity, that is to say, genetics, in order to perfect the human species and society.
At 14, she began studying medicine, law and philosophy at the university.
At 17, with honors, she became Spain’s youngest lawyer.
Hegel believed that, as much as the capacity for freedom is a potential characteristic in every member of the human species, the state of being free is an achievement of a different sort.
Seven o’clock. Get up.
How do we differentiate… the male from the female?
Careful, don’t push the pen too hard because, you see?
She would study for five hours in the morning, read for three hours in the afternoon, and we would debate the arts before bath time.
Stop. That’s enough.
What’s the center of Nietzschean thought?
It’s not coming off. That God is dead.
And that we’re the ultimate makers of society.
Focus.
So?
Was Nietzsche pre-existentialist?
No.
Nietzsche said one has to have chaos in oneself to give birth to a shooting star.
My mother married me off My mother married me off I was young and beautiful
Again.
And sit at the table.
I raised and educated her through the years.
I knew perfectly well how far she had to go.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.
Mom, where is my father?
You don’t have a father, child.
That’s why we are free.
“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.
“Men were deceivers ever.
“One foot in sea, and one on shore, to one thing constant never.
“Then sigh not so, but let them go.
“And be you blithe and bonny.
“Converting all your sounds of woe into hey nonny, nonny.”
Excuse me.
Excuse me. Mr. Guzmán can’t see you right now.
We’ve been waiting.
The monarchy has just fallen.
Today is not an easy day, Mrs…
Rodríguez.
This is my daughter, Hildegart Rodríguez.
I can give you an appointment for two weeks from now.
Come back then.
The exit is that way, thank you.
Madam.
Madam!
You can’t go upstairs without permission!
Madam, are you listening to me?
Madam, you can’t go in there.
Madam!
Please don’t let them in. Don’t let them in!
Madam! Open this door immediately.
THE MONARCHY
May I know why you don’t want my daughter’s essays?
It is much better than what you usually publish.
Who are you?
I am Aurora Rodríguez, mother of Hildegart Rodríguez,
the author of the text The Sexual Problem Addressed by a Spanish Woman.
Madam!
The Republic has just been proclaimed.
I have other priorities.
Our letter predates the king’s abdication.
Dolores!
Madam!
I am not asking you to publish it now.
The timing is up to you,
but when a regime falls, a new one must be built.
I would gladly publish the article.
But I cannot do so with your daughter’s name on it.
Why not?
I usually publish the legitimate author’s name.
What makes you think it is not hers?
How old are you, child?
Sixteen.
No 16-year-old woman can write this.
Hildegart can, and she is 16 years old.
I know you wrote it, Mrs. Rodríguez.
You could sign the article and settle the matter.
I don’t like it when people try to fool me.
Dolores, please!
Guzmán, they locked it from the inside!
Ask her anything you want. Regarding the article or the topic.
You want me to talk about sexuality with your daughter?
Ask her whatever you need to know
to confirm that she is the author of the article you refuse to publish.
Very well.
What is sexual reform, miss?
In an abstract scope, it is no more than a proposal for the modernization
of the sexual and love life of human beings.
However, if you are asking me about the League
spearheaded by Mr. Havelock Ellis,
I can quote some of the bullet points of his program for you.
Go ahead.
Equal rights for men and women,
liberation of marital relationships from the Church,
responsible procreation,
conscious access to birth control for the proletariat,
protection of unmarried mothers,
understanding of intersex variants.
Should I keep going?
You could have memorized all of that.
Would you question it if she were a man?
Or would you be delighted
to publish and discover the child prodigy of your time?
Is prodigy somehow exclusive to the male gender?
In the sexual reform I talk about in my article,
I reflect, among other topics, on this.
Excuse my boldness, miss,
but what could you possibly know about female sexuality?
You are a child.
I would dare to say I know more than you do, Mr. Guzmán.
Despite my lack of experience.
Long live the Republic!
Long live!
Long live the Republic!
Long live!
Long live the Spanish Republic!
Long live Spain!
Down with the monarchy!
Long live the Spanish Republic!
Long live the Republic!
Son of a bitch!
Hildegart, stay close.
Long live the king!
Hildegart!
Workers to power! Workers to power!
Look at the camera!
Spain is not Catholic anymore!
Why didn’t you let Guzmán answer the question about the prodigy child?
Hildegart! Hildegart!
We are above provocations, never forget that.
You got carried away with Guzmán, and we can’t get carried away.
Long live the Republic!
Long live the Republic!
Long live!
Freedom! Freedom!
Long live the Republic!
The people will never be defeated!
The people will never be defeated!
What’s the problem?
Where did you come from, you scoundrel?
The parable you establish
between the sexual emancipation of women and love is precarious.
The reader needs simple parables to understand complex concepts.
Simplicity may be a virtue, but intellectual scarcity is a mistake.
Okay.
Strawberries!
Madam. You’ll ruin your dress.
Do you want some, Mother?
Don’t call me “madam.”
Now that you’re famous, I have to.
At the bakery they say you’re very important.
They said that?
Well, they don’t really read, you know.
But everyone wants to know
about the young female lawyer who writes about sex.
Go check.
Get back to work.
Madam!
Alpha.
Alpha, come.
I saw you.
Illiterate cowards.
A well-read woman is more powerful than a witch.
GET A MAN FUCKING WITCHES
I don’t like this one bit, Aurora.
I don’t mean to insist, but you know that, if you want,
I can get you something to defend yourself with.
Something like what?
A gun?
You know how I feel about guns.
They won’t intimidate us with paint.
Come on.
Look.
A mix of aggressiveness and strategy.
They should be ashamed.
Look how they’re dressed.
In black.
Yes, that’s her.
You’re missing the match.
Why can’t we dress like everyone else?
A woman is free only when she frees herself
of all external opinions and judgements.
But I want to look pretty.
Would you risk your looks overriding your intellect?
Would you accept to being seen as just that?
No.
Thank you.
Excuse me, sir.
Thank you.
Excuse me, Miss.
Do you know him?
Excuse me, sir, do you mind?
Good morning.
Hildegart Rodríguez, right?
It is an honor.
And you must be her mother, Mrs. Rodríguez Carballeira.
A pleasure to meet you, madam. Abel Velilla.
Abel Velilla, nice to meet you.
I tried to find you through the newspaper, but Guzmán wouldn’t give me your address.
He has orders not to.
I understand.
I recognized you from the picture in the articles.
I’m with the Socialist Youth. I represent my colleagues.
We’d like to invite you to some of the party meetings.
We’ve read all of your articles
and we’re convinced that we can work together.
We appreciate the offer.
Mr…
Velilla.
Velilla.
But Hildegart is a scholar.
And you are a politician.
I’m only asking her to come to one meeting.
Just one.
Point, set, and game for Lilí Álvarez.
Shall we?
Think about it.
I’m running out of ink.
Mother, could you bring me a new ribbon?
Mother.
PEPE AND AURORA 1908
What are you doing here?
If your mother catches you going through her stuff, she’ll kill you.
First you, and then me.
Who is this?
Pepe, and it’s none of your business. Go back to the kitchen.
You’re going to get us both in trouble.
This is the labia minora.
And up here is the clitoris.
I think we should accept Abel Velilla’s offer.
This is the key element to female sexual excitement.
Do you see?
We don’t need anyone.
It’s not an offer.
If it was an offer, both parties would benefit.
They want to take advantage of us.
THE FREEDOM TO LOVE OFFERS
Aurora.
How much does that gun cost?
Fifteen reales.
But I think I can get it cheaper.
Not a word of this to Hildegart.
Don’t bother cleaning it.
WITCHES END UP AT THE STAKE
How do you know?
That they want to take advantage of us.
How do you know?
Because that’s what politics does to thinking.
But ideas are useless if they’re not applied to people’s lives.
Isn’t that what we want?
To change things?
That’s not what we want.
That’s what we’re going to do.
But they don’t know that yet.
They’re men. And politicians.
All the more reason to go to that meeting.
We need to be the ones defending our ideas.
Without middlemen.
Hello!
Macarena.
I’m here.
I’ll tell her to prepare dinner.
Mother!
The monarchy has just fallen.
It’s now or never.
All in due time.
Do you have it?
It’s right there.
Was it Antonio?
He wouldn’t give it to me, but I took it anyway.
You need it more.
You can stay the night.
I’m sorry, Macarena, I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.
You don’t understand, Aurora.
Antonio is a good man, but anarchism got to his head.
The problem is not the ideas, it’s them.
That’s why we need to get involved.
We already do, with our writing.
Many women can’t read.
Go get the alcohol.
Get the alcohol.
Right, just like our comrade said.
Of course these elections are an opportunity to regenerate Spain.
To give it back to the working class,
those who plow the land, those who fill the factories.
The Socialist Party must win these elections, comrades.
And the Socialist Party is obligated to lead a change.
A change into a society based on the principles of revolution.
Comrade Ocaña said the other day, “We must defend our homeland.”
And I say, to defend our homeland, we need a healthy proletariat.
Because real patriotism
starts by developing a national industry and economy…
Good afternoon. Welcome.
I’m glad you came.
Hildegart can talk as soon as comrade Miguel is done.
Hildegart is not here to talk, she is here to listen.
Long live the Socialist Party!
Long live!
Long live the Republic!
Long live!
I’d really like to talk.
They don’t know that we’re nothing like them.
We have proven that if they maintain their purposes,
they will stumble upon a fence,
offered by…
Miguel!
Yes… Gentlemen, comrades,
we have a very special guest.
Comrade Hildegart, we’d like to hear from you.
We are honored to have you here.
Be impeccable with your words.
May I?
Thank you.
Gentlemen, the young prodigy, Hildegart Rodríguez.
Good afternoon.
Thank you for giving me the floor.
Your comrade Abel Velilla invited my mother and me
to take part in this meeting.
After discussing it, we decided to attend.
It seemed like a good opportunity
to contribute our point of view in the debates of a party
that, despite boasting of seeking equality among all members of this society,
has systematically and shamelessly ignored
half of the population of this country:
women.
Long live the Socialist Party!
Long live!
We know that the class struggle is the main driving force.
That is why today I will talk about something
you’ve decided to ignore in this fight.
ANOTHER WOMAN IS ASSAULTED AND RAPED IN CHAMBERÍ
This is news from today’s paper.
Eight victims so far this month.
They break into their houses to rob them and, while they’re at it, they rape them.
Thousands of women are raped.
Thousands of women die during labor.
Thousands of women are beaten up daily.
We all live on high alert.
Nonetheless, when I read the records of your meetings,
there is no trace at all of this happening.
Not a single reflection.
Why?
Is it because we are invisible?
Or because you don’t care about us?
Look at this room.
Look at it.
There are over 70 men and only 2 women.
But it is a pleasure to have me here today.
Why?
Why am I the only woman worthy of your respect?
Has anyone ever wondered why the Spanish woman
is 20 centuries behind the times?
If Spanish women had sufficient insight
into the universal panorama,
they would feel a deep-seated shame
that they do not deserve.
If you want a freer and fairer Spain,
start by making this space a freer and fairer place.
Revolutions are made when the people are free and prepared,
not when hunger, pain and rage…
have led them to a state of irresponsibility.
Good?
Next time don’t get caught up in newspaper stories.
Hildegart!
Will you come to the next meeting?
There aren’t enough women.
What if I can get more to come…
Thank you.
But there is still a lot of work to be done.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Shall we?
Thank you for coming.
I insist, don’t get caught up.
Go straight to inequality.
“Not many women are able to conceive true mutual
“and unrestricted freedom for both sex…”
Do you really have to do that now?
Do you want to have dinner or not?
Don’t get distracted. What else does it say?
“But even less men are able to accept it,
“whether they are reactionary or advanced.”
Macarena.
Who’s Pepe?
Why does my mother have a hidden photo of him?
Please.
She’s asleep.
Pepe is the only man your mother has ever truly loved.
And where is he?
He’s her sister’s son,
but your mother raised him.
And your mother, you know her, made a piano prodigy out of the child.
At only four years old, he played piano at the Court.
But your aunt, who’s very astute,
found out that she could make money off of him
and took him away.
And your mother never saw him again.
Come on, read something easier for me.
Easier?
Aren’t you interested in women’s freedom?
I’m interested in freedom, but you’re making me feel dumb.
Look.
TOGETHER ETERNALLY
A romantic novel.
A co-worker from the factory gave it to me.
I’m trying, but I’m having a hard time. Will you read it for me?
“He stared at her and whispered,
“‘In my solitudes I feel hunger and thirst.
“‘The hunger of having you by my side…'”
If you’re going to laugh at me, forget it.
Although you might like a little bit of romance, wouldn’t you?
Give me that.
“‘…of your kisses, your gaze…'”
I don’t know if this is the kind of book that will liberate women.
Well, I love it.
What’s wrong?
How about that.
Are you ready?
Yes, I’m almost ready.
Can’t you do it faster?
I’m doing the best I can.
If my mother finds out, she won’t let me go.
Hurry up.
Just finishing up the last notes.
I won’t take long.
Macarena!
Why would you want to attend the meeting on your period?
Women from the countryside do it.
Women from the countryside bleed in the countryside, not at meetings.
Politics are like wheat, Macarena, it can’t wait.
What if the cloth gets soaked?
I’ll throw it out and change it.
How can you throw the cloth out like it’s any old thing?
Hurry up. I don’t want them to say women aren’t punctual.
Thank you.
Right, but he asked that we be denied the vote.
They like to see women fight each other.
Shouldn’t we vote?
He didn’t ask to deny it, but to postpone it.
But I agree with Campoamor…
You did it. Everyone looks at her as if she were a miracle out of nowhere.
But I recognize you in her.
Hildegart goes far beyond me.
Thank you, comrades.
I’m going to the restroom.
Where are you going? This is the men’s restroom.
Excuse me, sir, but it’s really urgent.
Are you a man?
I can’t find the women’s restroom.
There isn’t one.
You’ll have to go home.
Ramón.
What is it?
Fucking kid.
Hildegart.
I never would’ve thought I’d see you here.
Have you noticed that more and more women are coming?
We’ll have to build a restroom for them.
Here.
Thank you.
I have to go, my mother is waiting for me.
You could write an essay on the subject.
What subject?
The restroom.
There’s no women’s restroom, that could work as a metaphor.
My first essay is already at the printing press.
What’s the title?
Sex and Love.
I’ll have to read it.
Well…
Hey, your name, where does it come from?
Hildegart.
My mother says it means “garden of knowledge.”
“Garden of knowledge.”
But it doesn’t.
In Old German, “hil” means “battle” and “gart” means “garden.”
It would be “battle garden.”
But let’s not tell her that.
We won’t.
I really have to go.
Hey, will you come to the next meeting?
Yes.
SEX AND LOVE HILDEGART
Give me your hand. Come on.
Spin!
Faster, faster!
Okay, okay…
Alpha!
We did it! Are you happy?
What are you reading?
Macarena, dance!
Miss, come on.
Dance, Macarena.
I’ll get dizzy.
“She went silent in an instant,
“and that’s when he kissed her softly.”
It certainly can’t be for the quality of its prose.
It’s a melodramatic novel.
I’m interested in seeing how love is depicted in mass-consumed fiction.
These melodramatic novels aren’t indicative of anything.
They don’t reflect real life.
Only unfulfilled desires.
Desire is interesting, Mother.
Haven’t you ever desired anyone?
I fell in love once.
With a captain.
Long before you were born.
We almost got married.
And what happened?
I wanted to be free, and he…
He wouldn’t have allowed it.
He would’ve wanted to be your father.
Did you ever regret it?
Regret what?
Love and revolution are incompatible.
Macarena says that the only man you’ve ever loved was a child.
Pepe.
It seems to me that Macarena talks too much.
Why haven’t you told me about him?
Forget these melodramatic novels.
All fiction is, by definition, conservative.
Why do we have a gun in the house?
Mr. Guzmán.
Do you always greet visitors like that?
We don’t usually have visitors.
I think you are the first man to set foot in this house.
All right, a toast to Hildegart.
We don’t drink champagne.
I just wanted to give you the good news in person.
Everyone wants a copy of Sex and Love.
They’re running out.
And the second edition is already underway.
I am here to make a first payment for this edition.
With that money you could have the hall painted.
We like it just the way it is.
What is the amount?
793 pesetas.
Whom should I write it out to?
To me.
Aurora Rodríguez Carballeira.
I need a man’s name.
You won’t be able to cash this check yourself.
Perhaps we could use the name of Hildegart’s father.
Hildegart doesn’t have a father.
In that case, I can give you the money myself.
Very well. I will have Macarena go and collect it.
I can come myself and hand it to you.
That won’t be necessary.
Thank you.
All right, well…
When it is ready, I will let you know.
Very well.
I also wanted to tell you that I’ve been contacted
to have Sex and Love translated and published in England.
By whom?
Havelock Ellis.
Dr. Havelock Ellis?
Yes.
He hasn’t made an offer yet, but he wants to meet the author as soon as possible.
And H.G. Wells wants to write the prologue.
Did you hear that, Mother?
We will consider it when they make an offer.
But, Mother, Havelock is the world’s pioneer in sexology.
His support would…
Mr. Havelock Ellis and Mr. H.G. Wells are English imperialists
who only want to take advantage of our ideas.
I don’t think Mr. Wells intends to…
When they make an offer, we’ll talk.
Anything else?
Yes.
I would like to publish your next essay, miss.
Have a nice day.
Thank you.
Hello.
Hi.
Hello.
Hey! Good.
How are you?
Thank you.
I want it signed, too.
You’ll have to wait, they were here first.
Okay.
Welcome.
Thank you.
See anything interesting?
Yes.
But I can’t afford them.
Sign it for me?
THE SEXUAL REBELLION OF YOUTH
The important thing about a book is that its ideas reach people,
not who signs it.
Right.
But I would like to have it signed by you.
Do you have a pen?
Sure.
Excuse me. Am I too late?
I just crossed all of Madrid to get the books signed.
Did Hildegart leave already?
People only want your signature
so they can resell the book at a higher price.
Great.
That way it’ll be a bit harder for you then.
“This book belongs and will always belong to Abel Velilla.
“I do not authorize it to be sold.”
It’s all in the books.
Well, I’m not sure it’s all in the books, to tell you the truth.
There is more out there.
You should go out and see it.
With you?
Why did you get into politics, Mr. Velilla?
To be the voice of the people?
Or to lead them?
I don’t think they are mutually exclusive.
Are you sure about that?
I got into politics to transform society, Mrs. Rodríguez.
Leaders are the voice of the people, the people choose them freely.
And when both leader and people coincide
on the same revolutionary base and in time, success is guaranteed.
Hildegart is the example.
She guides the people because they put her there when they needed her.
That is the great power of masses.
You are wrong.
Hildegart is where she is because I put her there.
Let’s go.
How did it go?
I’ll help her with her nightgown.
What’s wrong?
Nothing.
Hilde…
I’m just tired, that’s all.
Who is he?
Who is who?
I’ve never seen you tired after a presentation.
Who is he?
There is no “he.”
Come on!
What is he, a writer? Or a politician?
Did he do anything to you?
No, he didn’t do anything to me.
So there is a “he”!
What happened?
What happened?
My mother will never allow anything to happen. That’s what happened.
Your mother is not like that.
What’s his name?
What’s his name?
Abel.
Abel.
Is he handsome?
Macarena,
can you help me?
With what, honey?
I need to see him alone.
Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.
Don’t be sad. We’ll find a way.
You can’t be any prettier.
Stop! Stop!
Stop! Don’t tickle me!
She’s going to hear us.
Your mother is probably sleeping by now.
I love you so much, Macarena.
Who’s the most beautiful thing in the world?
Gentlemen.
Welcome.
Good morning.
Good morning. How are you?
Abel.
How are you doing?
Mr. Velilla.
Mrs. Rodríguez, what a coincidence.
Let me introduce you.
Julián Besteiro, president of the Socialist Party.
It is a true pleasure.
Andrés Saborit.
Nice to meet you.
And Wenceslao Carrillo.
Madam, your daughter is truly a political prodigy.
Sincere congratulations.
You must choose.
Either you stay away from Hildegart,
or she won’t attend any more party meetings.
One thing or the other.
Abel, what is she talking about?
Let’s see if your individual interest is contingent on the collective one.
Gentlemen, good day.
Good day.
Good day, madam.
Abel, what just happened here?
Those attacks have nothing to do with us.
Yes, they do.
Or do we not constitute as this party as well?
It is our responsibility
to condemn those attacks and pressure the police.
They complain that they’re being robbed,
but they’d previously plundered the people.
You know what? Steal from a thief, earn a hundred years of forgiveness.
What about raping a woman?
We’re not talking about robberies, robberies aren’t the problem.
The problem is what they’re doing to women.
It’s an anarchist gang. The left must remain united.
I can’t believe this.
That’s not anarchism.
Anarchism is the fight for freedom, remember?
It’s the war against authority, not against women.
If you were the ones being raped, you wouldn’t look the other way.
Here, Ms. Rodríguez.
FEDERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY
You don’t think that the time has come
for us to actively take part in the party’s choices either?
Yes, comrade. We’ll take that into account.
This is our time.
This is our time.
That’s right, this is our time!
Enough. The meeting is adjourned.
Comrades, men and women, long live the workers’ struggle!
Long live!
Long live the Socialist Party!
Long live!
Long live the Republic!
Long live!
Contraception and the control of progeny is a good topic for you to lead.
I don’t think that talking about deviant anarchist groups is the right thing.
Your soup, dear.
Let her be, Macarena, she has a speech tomorrow.
But she needs to eat.
Let her be.
Have you heard about the anarchist group that robs homes?
They won’t come here. They only rob bourgeois homes.
This doesn’t look like one to you?
There is a good jewelry box, a maid, and two women alone.
You two are too well-known for them to risk a scandal.
Excuse me.
And behind her, a crowd will march,
in which not only men will be present anymore,
but women as well.
We, who have learned to see, not merely to look.
By temperament first,
and by the necessity to contribute to the reformist impetus later,
we have also decided to fight.
Not against men, but alongside them.
In everything that aims to make us all more free and more capable
of creating a just society.
Long live the Socialist Party!
Long live!
Long live the workers’ struggle!
Long live!
Arise, pariahs of the Earth
Stand up, famished legion
Let’s all rise as one
This is the end of oppression
The past must be shattered…
Congratulations. Thank you so much.
Congratulations on your speech.
Sincere congratulations on your speech.
We are with you.
Congratulations, comrade.
Sincere congratulations.
Congratulations.
Congratulations.
Keep it up!
Thank you so much!
Thank you for your words.
We love you.
We love you!
The human race
Is the international…
FEDERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY
“This brochure belongs and will always belong to Hildegart Rodríguez.
“I do not authorize it to be forgotten. Abel.”
Hildegart.
Do you want to dance a waltz before going to sleep?
Okay.
Havelock made an offer to Guzmán to translate my essays.
Become aware!
Can we men renounce acquired privileges?
He wants me to go to London so he can meet me.
Have you ever been there?
I’ve never crossed the sea.
THE LIMITATION OF PROGENY SEXUAL EDUCATION
Let me read your new essay.
It’s a mistake to describe sexual organs as private.
They’re not any more private than the rest of our anatomy.
Shouldn’t sexuality be a State matter?
Rilke says, “How shall I hold my soul that it doesn’t touch yours?
“How shall I raise it to other things above you?”
PEPE ARRIOLA IN CONCERT
I was just thinking about a song my mother would always tell me about.
“I love you because I love you.
“No one is in charge of my loving.
“I love you because I feel it from the depths of my soul.”
After counting the votes,
the Spanish Socialist Workers Party wins the election.
Bravo!
THE VICTORY OF THE PEOPLE
We can’t fill the earth with mouths we can’t provide for.
Let’s fight for a regulated abortion system.
No, we can’t do that.
We can, in the long run.
For now, we can make what today is a reality non-punishable.
When conception is the result of a violent act.
When there’s a risk of death for the mother.
When she can’t take care of the child.
We are not a charity.
Abortion, in these cases, is not a crime.
Here…
“To make non-punishable…”
Is something wrong, Mother?
“Necessary abortion, performed to remove the woman
“from life-threatening danger.
“Sentimental abortion, when conception is the result of a violent act.
“It must be established that abortion, in these cases, is not a crime.”
…is not a crime.
Mother!
Mother, please!
No.
No!
What’s yours is mine.
All of it.
You won’t go to the meetings anymore.
You’ll write in the mornings.
You’ll read in the afternoons.
I will sleep with you at night.
We will eat together.
And I’ll go with you to the restroom.
I completely forbid you from leaving this house.
To get carried away by what you’re feeling is to give in to the animal drive.
And that is our prime enemy.
We’ve been through a lot in order to get here.
I won’t let one weakness jeopardize the project.
Love is a weakness.
You were conceived to change the world.
Personal sacrifice is necessary for the greater good.
We can’t fail now.
I raised you better than this.
Guzmán is expecting the final texts in three weeks.
Don’t get distracted.
LA TIERRA
SAME OLD SAME OLD THE AMBITION OF THE “SOCIAL-NEPOTISTS”
Dear Mr. Havelock Ellis, comma,
I sincerely thank you for your words
and your interest in my essays, period.
I regret to inform you that Mr. Guzmán and myself
have other plans and commitments for its international edition, period.
Please convey my apologies to Mr. Wells.
Period.
As for the trip to London, it would be a pleasure to be able to go,
but much to my regret,
my obligations in Madrid prevent me from going.
Period.
I’ll dress it.
There’s no need to.
I’ll reply to the readers’ letters now.
Macarena.
How many letters arrived today?
Quite a few. I’ll go get them.
You can make concessions to the public,
as long as that doesn’t interfere with your work.
There are 16 from fans,
one from the lyceum, and this one without sender’s information.
Who is it from?
Don’t spend more than an hour on the letters.
I’m going out.
I’ll be back soon.
Go to bed after dinner.
Hilde, I made you this.
Macarena…
You can’t go on a date wearing black.
Thank you!
Water?
What are you having?
A vermouth.
Would you like one?
Can we dance?
What will you have?
A vermouth.
Two. Thanks.
What?
I’m surprised your mother let you come alone.
She’s not as bad as you think.
Six reales.
Thanks.
No, I got it.
No, I can pay.
I’m buying today.
You think I can’t pay?
Here you go. Thank you.
Thank you.
Just for today.
Just this time.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Your first vermouth. The gap between theory and practice.
Like the socialists.
They win the election with one program and then carry out a different one.
We are not the same, people say
That your life and mine are going to waste
That I’m a scoundrel…
This is ideology too.
And you’re decent
That two different beings
Cannot love each other
But I already loved you
And I can’t forget you
And dying in your arms is my dream
I don’t understand those things about social classes
I just know that I love you
And that you love me too
Let us go
Where no one will judge us
Where no one will tell us
What we’re doing wrong
Let us go
Far away from the world
Where there is no justice
Nor laws, nor anything
Nothing but our love
Let us go
Where no one will judge us
Where no one will tell us
What we’re doing wrong
Let us go
Far away from the world
Where there is no justice Nor laws, nor anything
Nothing but our love
We are not the same
People say
I don’t know. I don’t like it.
Aurora.
How long has it been?
Eighteen years.
Eighteen years.
Would you like a drink?
I don’t drink.
Please, have a seat.
How’s your daughter?
Well, Hildegart is everything one could’ve hoped for.
Yes. She’s a prodigy.
Another one.
Pepe…
Pepe…
What you did today…
I taught you better than that.
It’s not befitting your education, Pepe.
Why are you here?
To humiliate me?
No.
You know what they call me in Paris?
I’m finished, Aurora.
I’m a fraud.
You’re not a fraud.
No…
If I had stayed with you, I would be safe right now.
No.
Why did you invite me?
Why did you invite me?
I didn’t invite you.
I didn’t want you to see me like this.
Very well.
How are things going with Havelock Ellis?
I turned down his offer.
I don’t want to go alone.
What about your mother?
I could go with you.
I don’t speak English, but…
Havelock is paying for the tickets.
Are you seriously proposing this to me?
Would you come with me?
I’d go anywhere in the world with you.
I have to go.
Madam, you scared me.
Are you all right?
Did he hit you again?
I’ll go make breakfast.
Antonio?
What is it?
Can we come in?
Mother?
Macarena?
Mother.
Where were you?
I thought something had happened to you.
Why didn’t you wake me?
You looked so peaceful…
I decided to let you sleep.
I’ve been thinking.
Life in this house is going to change.
And in this country.
So I’ve invited Abel Velilla over for dinner next week.
I cut you off from the world to make a leader out of you.
Because the world needs strong leaders, remember.
Freud in your sex.
Nietzsche in your chest.
Marx in your head.
Good evening.
Are you Abel?
And you are?
Macarena.
Nice to meet you.
I brought this. My aunt makes them.
That’s very kind of you. Come in.
Thank you.
Go ahead, make yourself at home.
Thank you, you’re very kind.
It’s interesting how you left the graffiti in the hall.
A sign of coherence.
Speaking of coherence. Tell me…
how is the Socialist Party going to change?
As Hildegart denounces, favoritism within the party
is a scourge that could be its downfall.
I doubt that the Socialist Party can change.
Unless they throw out…
I’d like to hear his opinion.
Could you pour me some water?
Could you please pour me some water?
I completely agree with Hildegart.
The Socialist Party has betrayed the principles of the labor movement
and the revolutionary fight, the fight in the streets,
in the factories, in the countryside.
All they cared about was the election strategy.
As is always the case with politicians.
I’m considering joining the Federal Party.
So am I.
That’s great. With the anarchists.
They’re not anarchists, they’re federalists.
This country’s working class owes a lot to…
The door.
Excuse me, Mrs…
If they’re not anarchists, what then?
We need to…
We need to admit how much this country’s working class
owes the anarcho-syndicalist movement and its defense of freedom.
I’ll be damned!
So you think that if we break all the structures,
we’ll feel much freer.
Plunged into chaos.
The door!
Mrs. Rodríguez, anarchy isn’t chaos, it’s order and workers’ organization.
No God, no master, no sovereign.
That is a utopia.
Good evening.
Are you Mr. Abel Velilla?
Who are you?
That’s me, what’s going on?
Mr. Velilla, you are under arrest for multiple robberies and rapes.
This must be a mistake.
Sit down, madam.
Miss, please, he’s dangerous.
He didn’t do anything.
No!
He’s responsible for the anarchist group assaults.
That’s not true.
I will ignore where the accused was at the time of his arrest
so as to not tarnish your reputation, Miss Rodríguez,
but do not take me for a liar.
Let go of my daughter.
Let me go!
No one here is taking you for a liar.
Don’t move.
You two may be very intelligent, but this kid was fooling you.
I didn’t do anything.
Abel, what happened?
Take him away.
I didn’t do anything.
I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything!
“Sigh no more, ladies,
“sigh no more.
“Men were deceivers ever.
“One foot in sea,
“and one on shore,
“to one thing constant never.
“Then sigh not so, but let them go.
“And be you blithe and bonny.
“Converting all your sounds of woe
“into hey nonny, nonny.
“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.
“Men were deceivers ever.
“One foot in sea, and one on shore,
“to one thing constant never.”
It’s precisely at this point
that begins the restlessness
of leaving forms of sounds
in order to enjoy their reproduction.
In the year 1877
General Electric emerges,
succeeding in leaving registered sounds…
ABEL VELILLA SENTENCED TO PRISON
The new maid will be here in an hour.
Her name is Rosa.
She’s old, but I think she works well.
What happened to Macarena?
Did she quit or did you fire her?
That’s not important.
But I do hope this one is more serious.
Start working on the new texts.
We’re playing badminton in one hour.
I’ll get it.
Maybe it’s Macarena.
Hildegart.
Abel came to see me before he was arrested.
No, no. Please.
He asked me to…
Mr. Guzmán.
Macarena didn’t come to collect the money
I owed you from the last edition.
Macarena no longer works in this house.
How come?
I’ll need you to sign a receipt.
This arrived for you from London.
Do you think he did it?
I don’t know.
Here it is.
Thank you.
Anything else?
No, that is all.
I just hope to get to read the new essay soon.
It’ll be ready shortly. Good day.
A waltz?
Let’s go.
SECOND CLASS PASSENGER TICKET LONDON
This is our house.
I’m sorry. This is the last thing I wanted to happen.
I hope you can forgive me.
Here’s the living room.
Come this way, please.
Here’s the…
What are you doing here?
I needed to eat before I kept going.
I’m sorry, this is my daughter, Hildegart.
Nice to meet you.
Pleased to meet you.
People talk a lot about your books.
Have you read any?
No, I can’t read.
Shall we continue?
This way.
I was young and beautiful
I was young and beautiful
With a young boy With a young boy
I didn’t love
I didn’t love
My mother married me off My mother married me off
I was young and beautiful
What do you want?
Are you Antonio?
Macarena isn’t here.
I want to talk to her.
She’s not here, I can’t help you.
I need to talk to her. It’s important.
Girl, I don’t want to hurt you.
I’m not leaving until I talk to her.
Let me talk to her.
She won’t bring you any trouble.
That better be true.
You shouldn’t be here.
This is no place for a girl from a good family.
Macarena, I’m not a little girl anymore.
Why did you leave?
I need to know why you left me without saying anything.
And I needed to know what I should forgive you for…
until I saw Antonio and his friends.
Was it my mother’s idea?
Or was it you?
Like the gun.
How can you think that about me?
I don’t know what to think anymore.
About you or about anyone.
It was your mother.
She found out that Antonio was responsible for the assaults.
She offered to give him money and not report him
in exchange for selling Abel out.
How could you?
I swear on my life I tried to prevent it. I swear to God.
There’s an innocent man in jail paying for your lack of character.
Is that really what you think?
You, being so smart and well-read?
Do you really think that’s the way life works?
That it’s that easy?
Do you think I like living like this?
Not all of us have been as lucky as you, honey.
Your speeches are great, but life doesn’t work like that.
Without money, you’re not free.
Us women aren’t free.
I’ll give you one day to report Antonio to the police
and explain to them that you had nothing to do with it.
If you don’t, I’ll go myself and make sure you’re charged as an accomplice.
I’m really sorry.
You’re late.
Macarena is on her way to report her husband.
I guess if you meet with him and pay him enough money,
he won’t say you were involved.
When Abel is released, I will go to London with him.
Havelock sent me the tickets.
No, you won’t.
How could you?
How could you?
It’s my life’s work.
I did what I had to do.
At what cost?
At the cost of my happiness and the life of an innocent man.
No project succeeds without sacrifice.
Careful, Mother.
You’re starting to sound like a fascist.
After everything I’ve done for you.
Everything you’ve ever done was for your own sake.
What have I done for my own sake?
Tell me.
What have I done for my own sake?
I gave up my life for the sake of the world.
The world doesn’t know you exist.
The world you and I desire, Mother,
if it is indeed the same one,
is not built like this.
You are the enemy of your own ideas.
What would you know about the world?
I am your whole world.
All your ideas are mine.
You love me.
There was a time when you loved me.
You don’t know what love is.
I know more about love than you do.
You only have one driving force
and a rudimentary psyche.
Animals have a more exquisite soul than yours.
No one has ever loved as much as I love you.
No one.
And I won’t let a man take you away from…
Enough!
Men aren’t our enemies, Mother.
You deny humanity.
You deny women.
You hate them.
You hate the fact that we can feel.
And there is no possible revolution without love.
That’s the kind of love that enslaves us.
That’s a lie.
That’s true.
That’s a lie!
You’re not on the side of women.
You keep behaving like a man.
You want to own me just like men own women.
For your own interest.
And nobody owns us, Mother.
Nobody owns us.
Nobody owns me.
I own you.
Nobody owns me.
From now on I will make my own decisions.
From now on I am free.
Good night, Hildegart.
Good night, Mom.
WITCHES WHORES WHORES YOU ARE GOING TO HELL
Is something the matter, madam?
Take the dog for a walk, please.
Right now?
Go on, get dressed.
Take him for a long walk.
As you wish, madam.
My mother married me off My mother married me off
I was young and beautiful
I was young and beautiful
I have loved and hated to extremes.
My middle ground is the automatic mechanical human.
What happened seems so logical to me.
So precise.
I’m a bit more celestial than the usual.
There is eccentricity in what I did, I know.
But you… you cannot simply analyze the case of the mother of the human statue.
The day I had my daughter, I stopped thinking about myself.
The only thing I cared about was the creation of that human being.
Invigorating, drop by drop, my belief in her.
But you men, distracted, failed to see that I was a planet with a light of my own.
You failed to understand that the work wasn’t meant for a place.
You failed to see the extent of a sculptor’s connection with his work.
Who, after noticing the slightest imperfection, destroys it.
That’s what I did to Hildegart.
The human homo statue.
My work.
The Hildegart project had failed.
There was no point in keeping it going.
SHOT TO DEATH BY HER MOTHER IN GALILEO STREET, WHERE SHE LIVED
HILDEGART SHOT DEAD IN HER HOME
HILDEGART THE SEXUAL REBELLION OF YOUTH
THE RED VIRGIN IS DEAD
Hildegart Rodríguez Carballeira died on June 9th, 1933, at the age of 18.
She wrote 16 essay books and over 150 articles in the last three years of her life.
Her work and that of her peers was forgotten after the Spanish Civil War.
It lingered on in the spectral plane.
“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.
“Men were deceivers ever.
“One foot in sea, and one on shore, to one thing constant never.
“Let them go and be you blithe and bonny.
“Converting all your sounds of woe into hey nonny, nonny.
“Then sigh not so, but let them go.
“And be you blithe and bonny.
“Converting all your sounds of woe into hey nonny, nonny.
“Sigh no more.
“Men were deceivers ever.
“One foot in sea, and one on shore, to one thing constant never.
“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more.”
