User Reviews

Sheila Pye is a young, very talented artist who expresses herself through many different mediums. The Red Virgin caught my attention because Ivana Baquero and Maribel Verdu are both wonderful actresses. Their combined performance in "El Laberinto del Fauno" gave me very high expectations. The two are perfect to tell the story of Hildegart Rodríguez Carballeira as Ivana is also from Spain. Pyes short film was very beautiful to watch, however I would have preferred to hear the dialog, especially the two monologues, in Spanish. After all, the two actresses are native Spanish speakers. The dialog overall sounded very forced and mumbled at times. My absolute favorite scene was when Hildegart was undressing in front of the bird cage; it was a very sensual moment. The lighting and costume design were nearly perfect. I would have given this short film an 8 out of 10 if the spoken language was Spanish.

"The Red Virgin" is a Canadian/Spanish co-production, an English-language movie from 4 years ago written and directed by Sheila Pye. Pye has been a prolific short film director in the last 10 years, but this one here is her last work so far. The cast includes Maribel Verdú and Ivana Panquero, two of the best Spanish actresses right now and with that bullfighting scene, I immediately had to think of Verdú in "Blancanieves. All in all, this is a fairly solid movie and a good watch from start t finish that, however, never really reaches greatness. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that this is based on a true story back in the 1930s. The two actresses play their parts well and the writing is done convincingly too. Maybe the story is even interesting enough for a full feature film. I's probably watch it with Verdu and Baquero reprising their roles. Until then, I recommend this short film here. Thumbs up.