Libertarias

I was at home attempting to plan a lecture for students. I was attempting to explain the Enlightenment, humanism and anti humanism. I particularly wanted to make an emphasis on how 'progressive' post structural and postmodern thinking has fragmented working class struggle into dozens of small micro struggles. The essence of this framework is that whilst genuine attempts are being made to create a new collective social order and a new common sense some left wing intellectuals impose their 'progressive' credentials to position themselves as the vanguard of change. Whilst the 'progressives' are engaged in a never ending but fragmented debate over the divine right over which fragment of the intelligentsia will lead the struggle the conservatives are able to organize and win the day.

Whilst attempting to put this lecture together Libertarias appeared on my television set. It was in Spanish with English sub-titles. I couldn't believe my luck as it explained. Marxism, Socialism, Anarchy, Feminism, Fascism, Conservative, Progressive, Humanism, Anti-Humanism, Religion, the Monarchy. I have to confess that my lecture eventually comprised of playing the movie Libertarias to students.

The outcome was very impressive. It explained the conflicts and contradictions associated with any social struggle.

Years later I was to visit Spain and as I travel-led through Barcelona. Madrid and Toledo the movie took on a new meaning. Perhaps this is a flawed performance; perhaps it focuses too much on the struggle of women. What it does more than anything else is leave a never-ending impression of the sacrifices we have to make in order to bring about change.

When Maria, the former nun, agrees to go to the front with the anarachist batallion, she does it more out of loyalty to the militiawoman, Pilar, who befriended her. When their camp comes under fire from the Fascists on the other side of the valley, they all dive for the trenches. Maria alone runs out, but she doesn't grab the machine guns left behind -- she carries the pot of stew to feed them. When she goes to the top of the trenches, it is a megaphone she lifts - not a rifle. Her words to the Fascists are "In the name of God, lay down your rifles". (At that point, the intellectual militiaman mumbles, "They'll think it's one of theirs"). At the killing of a bishop by an anarchist execution squad, which she witnesses, she says, "Killing is a sin." She says the same thing when a lamb is about to be slaughtered to feed the group. (This is more symbolism -- a la agnus deo - than vegetarianism.) Her role however, is more than a simple stretcher-bearer or noncombatant at the front. She really does argue against killing. No one else speaks up for this viewpoint - everyone seems resigned to violent conflict as a means of settling what society they will have, fascists, anarchists, communists, democrats and all.

What do others think?

It's the outset of the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. Anarchy and confusion broke in those first days of the conflict that was to change Spain and scar it forever. The divisions between the communist and fascists are at center stage in this tale which is seen from the feminist viewpoint, since it concentrates on a group of women who are prepared to die for their cause.

Vicente Aranda's epic about the Spanish conflict serves to clarify what triggered it. On the one hand were Franco and his followers, and on the other, the revolutionaries who dreamed about a better society and a more equal one in which all its citizens had a role. Alas, it was only short lived, as history tells us. Utopia, after all, is just that, a dream, at best.

Maria, the nun, quickly understands how little the convent life has helped her to face the hard facts she must face alone. Befriended by the revolutionary women force that is trying to make women aware of the new reality in the country, she learns quickly how wrong she has been, and even though she never takes a rifle to defend the women's cause, she is sympathetic to the women's plight. By the way, even the revolutionary leaders didn't particularly appreciate the contribution of the women and wanted them doing other jobs, but not at the front, fighting alongside them.

Ariadna Gil does a good job as Maria. Ana Belen is intense as Pilar. Victoria Abril plays Floren, the medium that channels a man who tried to kill a royal couple earlier in the century, in a hilarious scene. Juan Sancho, Loles Leon, Jorge Sanz, and Miguel Bose are some of the faces in the large cast.

The film shows an aspect of the Spanish Civil War not shown often and it helps to put in perspective the causes of the conflict.

The best docu drama I have ever seen. Everything was spot on. I have studied this period in detail and it does not disappoint. Only saw it with French subtitles but no problem for me. Why isn't there one with English titles? That is absurd as English speakers need educating

This film, an impressive epic about the Spanish Civil War, focuses on the roles of women in the conflict. Thus, the title which translates to "Female Libertarians." This is probably the definitive film on the subject, with all its flaws. Some critics may see the film as "overkill" since it features extreme examples of female suffering, as well as extreme characterizations of the female center and left-wing fighters in the war. The characters include bourgeois women, working class girls, anarchists, and even a nun. The cast is a who's who of female actresses of Spanish Cinema in the 90's. But, considering the horrors and excesses of the war itself, whether the film can be excessive at all, is an open question. Very worth-while watching, and a must for those who follow Spanish Cinema or 20th century History.