All language subtitles for El sueno de la sultana (2023)

Retiro Park, Madrid

It's as if it happened yesterday.

I was eleven.

My father wasn't showing up

and the night was casting
shadows over the park.

In the distance
a man was observing me...

watchful.

I felt his cold calculating stare

and my heart stopped.

It seemed as if the whole world
was becoming dark and dangerous.

It was the first time

I felt afraid because I was a woman.

I. OPEN A BOOK

Look who got stuck up there.

What a disgrace!

As if divorcing her husband
wasn't a big enough scandal.

Now she has to make
a spectacle of herself.

But why you have to be so hard on her?

Domestic issues, marital problems

should be settled
in the privacy of the home,

not on a public square
in front of the entire world.

Which Country?

Spain.

First time in India?

No, I've been here several times.

Ah, look at this,
Saraswati Devi, goddess of Arts

and this is Draupadi
and her five husbands.

By the way,
did you come with your husband?

Not at all, it was too expensive
to buy plane tickets for all five,

so I left them at home.

Oh, I see!

Ok, now look at this.

This is Sultana's Dream,
the terrible vengeance on men.

A terrible revenge?

A terrible revenge against men
condemned to live

in the place where they belong to
locked up at home.

One evening

I was lounging
in an easy chair in my bedroom

and thinking lazily
of the condition of Indian womanhood.

I am not sure whether I dozed off or not

but, as far as I remember,
I was wide awake.

I saw the moonlit sky sparkling
with thousands of diamond-like stars

very distinctly.

All of a sudden, a lady stood before me.

How she came in, I do not know.

I took her for my friend, Sister Sara.

She invited me to visit her garden
and I accepted.

I found to my surprise
that it was a fine morning.

I was feeling very shy as I was walking
in the street in broad daylight.

Acha!

But I realized
there was not a single man around.

They are saying
that you look very mannish.

They mean
that you are shy and timid like men.

In Ladyland you will not see
men on the streets.

We shut our man indoors!
Isn't that sweet?

Now you might be wondering
why we lock away our men.

Imagine a savage, hungry beast
entering a marketplace full of people

or a dangerous lunatic
escaping from the asylum.

Here we do the logical thing:

instead of locking away women
to keep them safe,

we lock up the hungry ravening beasts,
the dangerously insane.

It is the men who pose a danger to women,
not the other way around.

I asked her then how they forced men

to stay indoors
when they are stronger than women.

A lion is stronger than a man

but that doesn't mean
that he can dominate the human race.

Ladyland looked like a real dreamland,

a garden skillfully arranged,
filled with a great sense of peace.

When I asked my friend
how the women could handle it,

all she replied was

that they didn't spend
more than two hours a day on the job

and that I shouldn't believe
what men said in my country

about them being always busy
doing important things.

The reality is

that they waste plenty of time
smoking and talking.

Oh, dear Rokeya,

where you come from

you have neglected the duty
you owe to yourselves

and you have lost your natural rights
by shutting your eyes to your own interest.

Let's go Rokeya.

I am going to show you
the place where we take decisions.

Let me tell you a bit about our history.

Thirty years ago,
when our Queen inherited the throne,

she ordered that all the women
in the country should be educated,

and early marriages were also banned.

We started to study sciences
and made our first discoveries.

Then men would mock us,
they'd say:

"You women are just naïve dreamers".

And according to them
it was all a sentimental nightmare.

Few years passed

and some political refugees from
the country nearby asked for protection.

Their King demanded their return
but our Queen refused.

Then the king, furious, declared war.

And at the sound of the word war,

our men's enthusiasm was uncontainable.

And without thinking twice,

not even once,

they rushed to protect
what they called the frontier.

But what our men didn't suspect

was that the military strength of our enemy
was greater

and in a short time we were invaded.

For the sake of honor and liberty,

the Queen commanded all men
to retire to the Zenanas,

the part of the house
reserved only for women.

They remained locked inside their homes,
without uttering a single word of protest.

And for the first time, we, the women,
stepped into a Parliament.

The enemy King delivered an ultimatum

and we had 24 hours to surrender.

Either we voluntarily gave ourselves up
or they would take us by force.

The Queen said:

"If you cannot save your country
for the lack of physical strength,

try to do it with intelligence."

I must commit suicide
if the land and my honor are lost.

The enemy King
was so confident of his victory

that he foolishly delayed the attack
until his triumphal portrait was finished.

That gave us enough time
to design the ultimate weapon.

An amplifier that generates a frequency

and an unbearable sound.

Ever since, none of our enemies
dared to harass us again.

Thereafter,
our men agreed to live in seclusion,

while we women
run all affairs of state and sciences.

Ámár!

Inés, finally!

It's so great to see you.

Querida, you are looking good,
I must say beautiful as ever!

Come, come, sit here, in this chair.

This is a nice quiet place, isn't it?

It's not too crowded
and the food is delicious,

and there's no tourists.

Hello, hi!

Two Summer Thalis, please.
Summer Thali is ok with you, isn't?

Karim's Thali is the best in Ahmedabad.

But to get started, a bite of candies.

You are very quiet today.

I am not too quiet.

Well, I don't know what to say.

It's better to have loved and lost

than never to have loved at all.

One, two, three.

Trinity of happiness.

Oh, food is here.

Thank you.
- Thank you.

Looks nice! Let's taste it.

It seems obvious,

but with time things will work out

as much as love is impatient,

as the wounds need time
and patience to heal.

I made it for you, do you like it?

Am I the elephant?

You are the air that the monkey
and the elephant breathe.

O Miir so loudly,
if you continue to weep,

how will your neighbor
be able to stay asleep?

Such a lamenter am I who is about to die

from whom each year
clouds will continue to cry.

Fortunate those who can see
colors in their fullness

for them everything shines.

The world appears to them

as an inexhaustible box of surprises
provided by God,

so that they can play
without ever getting bored.

It's not that I am quiet today, Ámár,

but if I told you how I feel

that which we wanted to be light,
would turn heavy.

II. ONE AND A THOUSAND SILENCES

DADDY LOVES YOU

Dear Ámár, I promised
not to write to you anymore,

but as always happens,
my good intentions don't last too long.

These last months I have spent
with my mother have done me well.

She is a wise and sober lady.

I still have no plans
for the next few months.

My days are spent between
reading, taking walks, drawing.

Yesterday and after a long time,
I had a nice chat with my father.

He wanted to know about my last boyfriend
and I tried to explain him

how complicated
relationships are nowadays.

But he just said:

"If people would talk less,
they'd be much happier."

Love, Inés.

Change the world?

And what about simply changing clothes?

How do I look in this outfit?

Forgive me for interfering,
but you have made an interesting remark.

The real revolutions are all aesthetic.

The French Revolution freed us from wigs
and brought us pants.

The Russian introduced us
to the working class style.

In '68, the Beatles...

My boyfriend doesn't understand that I want
to spend the weekend with my cell phone.

Schools should teach that this world
we live in is only one of many.

You are correct, Pilar.

Schools should teach to not fear change

and the importance of fantasy
as a tool for critical thinking.

Without fantasy and humor,
intelligence is sterile.

Hi Inés!

You came with your mother,
what an honor!

What do you think of the exhibition?

That philosophers drink better wine

than the one we drink
at scientists' conventions.

Do you choose the wineries?

Paul, I brought you something.

Thank you very much.

Sultana's Dream,
an Indian dream, naturally.

Naturally.

Nowadays it has become quite rare
to receive a book about dreams.

Dreamers are often
considered useless, fools.

So, if this book is about a dream,
I thank you twice.

Dreams, Inés, are charged
with the power to transform things

that's why they are so feared.

I am also very fond of dreams.

My problem is dreaming,
I try but it doesn't happen.

I must have some neuronal limit,
something chemical.

I can only dream
with other people's dreams.

We all have dreams!

The issue is if you are willing
to share it or not.

A few months ago,
you sent me a postcard from India

with a portrait of a mysterious man

and you didn't write a single word,
which stirred my imagination quite a bit!

When do you plan to go back to India?

I don't have any plans.
I think I'm through with India.

We all live reality
as if it were a dream

in order to make life tolerable
and worth living.

Paul! Can you spare a moment?

Today is a bad day to talk,

but I'd love to talk another day

about the subject
of loving other people's dreams.

Write to me from India please,
your letters do me good.

It's good for me to talk to you too.

Bye madam!

But I'm not going back to India.

You must be more down-to-earth!

Mom, let remind you
that you are an oceanographer.

You have spent your life at sea.

Dreamers like to run away from reality.

For example, your father,

the number one dreamer.

He never wanted to wake up,

because reality was impossible for him.

My father is not so dreamy,
he's making Bollywood movies.

Did he move to India?

No, they shoot Bollywood movies
in Rome now, it's the trend.

Do not idealize him.

Facing reality is much more noble
which your father has never been.

Mom drop it!
Let yourself be carried away a bit.

Dear dad,
thanks for your invitation.

I always loved playing
with changing my identity

and will love acting in your movie.

I forgive you for not coming
to my graduation.

Thank you very much for the gift.

I will use all of it on a trip.
Remember I'll be arrive at two.

Italian cinema was born
in these two bars,

Caffè Rosati and Caffè Canova.

Over here went the communist directors.

Over there, the anti-communists.

That one makes better coffee.

I love this story!

A community of free women
in a lost valley of the Himalayas.

It's like Fellini's "City of Women".

Well, it's not exactly like that...

Marcello, are you coming with us?

Where?

With us! Ciao Marce'!

What would Rome be
without the pine trees?

Do you remember that movie that I made
about the quest for lost Atlantis?

You loved watching it again and again.

We could do something with Lazyland.

Feminism sells.

Ladyland.

How about setting it on the moon?

I already have a movie set ready
that would fit the bill.

Listen, it could go like this:

the men on a lunar base
live in decadence.

Suddenly some aliens
come to conquer the moon.

In the beginning,
the aliens are winning the war

until the women take control
and defeat them.

Women remain in command of everything
and men become their slaves.

Ciao Luca! How's the shooting going?
What a great day!

The sun!

Hey Robbe'! Have you seen
the light today? Very special...

Hey listen, tonight, we're all going
to eat at "Dar Parucca".

Even "er Bove" is joining,
you've gotta come.

Oh and one more thing Robbe',
this is my cousin Fabio.

Could you find him something
to do in the movie?

We'll find something of course.

Luca, this is my daughter Inés,
she just arrived from Spain.

Pleasure.

Luca is a good person.

His mother was friend
with my uncle's cousin,

the same one I told you about,
who ran a mobile cinema in Venezuela

and then married a nun,
who was the daughter

of an animal tamer
from a Russian Circus.

Roberto! Deepika Kumar
is threatening to walk out!

She is quitting, leaving the set

and she is decided no way back.

She is going back to Mumbai.

Even though he has never behaved
as a father is supposed to.

I have always seen in him
a strong vitality and plenty passion.

And his absences

which sometimes lasted years

never felt tragic to me.

One day, when less expected,
he would show up

and the party would resume

with the same joy as the last visit.

I want to start tonight

very near the beginning

of the whole tradition
of western literature

and with its first recorded example

of a man telling a woman to "shut up".

I'm thinking of a particular moment

immortalized
at the start of Homer's Odyssey.

One day, in the family palace,

Penelope comes down
from her private quarters

into the great hall

to find a bard performing

to throngs of her suitors.

And he is singing
about the awful difficulties

the Greek heroes are having

in their attempts to get back home.

Penelope is not amused
and in front of everybody

she asks him
to choose another happy number.

At which point
young Telemachus intervenes:

"Mother", he says,
"go back up to your quarters

and take up your own work,
the loom, and the distaff.

Speech will be the business of men.

All men, and me most of all,

for mine is the power
in this household."

And off she goes, back upstairs.

III. RETRACING MY STEPS

The greatest writer
in the history of Bengal!

A teacher and a scholar,
a role model for all!

The story of Rokeya Hossain.

Rokeya Begum Hossain

was born in Pairabond in 1880.

That was the time of British India.

Rokeya's family

were Muslim landholders.

Son will go to school,

daughter do housework.

Secretly Rokeya learns Bangla,

language of all.

Learns to read and write,

learns English of the world.

It was believed then

with women's education,

hegemony of men

would slowly fade away.

Little girl Rokeya

looks around her world,

asks in her mind
"Why should it be thus?"

When Rokeya became sixteen years old,

she got married to Sakhawat Hossain,

a liberal magistrate from Kolkata.

She got married with much fun and joy.

She left her natal home

taking along her dreams,

went to Bhagalpur with her husband.

When she was twenty-two,

rode away of her dreams,

she wrote Sultana's Dream in English.

In that dreamland of women,

the mind floats like clouds.

Reading Sultana's Dream,

my heart fills with hope.

The second chapter
of Rokeya Hossain's life story!

Come along, don't be late!

In just a few moments

we are about to begin.

Alas, alas, alas,
just a few years passed,

Rokeya became a widow.

Sakhawat died.

He left some savings
to start a girl's school.

Rokeya set up
her first school in Bhagalpur.

But what can I say?

None could comprehend.

Everyone was skeptical,
family and society.

Rokeya's efforts all went in vain,

then she resolved

to start afresh in Kolkata.

Around the neighborhood
knocking on each door,

she went to the parents
and pleaded her case.

Educated daughters
will succeed as wives.

Arguing thus she got their consent.

Parents still had one reservation.

How to save their girls
from the gaze of men?

From home to school how will they go?

How will the girls make it to school?

Rokeya thought hard.

To save themselves from the gaze of men,

they will come to school

covered in black clothes
in a horse carriage.

Long live Rokeya!

In 1916 she set up

a vocational school for Muslim girls,

by learning some craft to earn money.

Long live Rokeya!

Rokeya's name
and fame spread all across,

shining star
of Indian feminist struggle.

A thousand lights
meld into her light...

Bas, bas.

Stop here, please.

Thank you.

Excuse me, sir.

"The social structure of elephants
is matriarchal in nature

with the oldest female
at the top of the hierarchy.

The taming of an elephant must begin

immediately after its capture.

First of all, the mahout
must chain the creature's legs

to immobilize it.

Then the elephant
will struggle with all its might

to get free and thus must be prevented

from hurting itself in the process.

The mahout then beats
and stabs at it repeatedly

talking to it sweetly as he does so.

At the end of this process,

the animal, exhausted,

is broken and accepts its destiny."

What do you think, Amita?

Look at this, Troy!

That's awful! A bad thing.

A woman can't do that!

Of course, she can!

A woman can ride
all the elephants in the world.

They're debating, whether a woman
is capable of riding an elephant.

Shut up and learn from Amita,
hard-headed boy!

Aren't the drawings pretty?

They look great.
Are you their teacher?

Yes, but I'm their English teacher.
It's my last day in school.

So I decided to come here
to visit the elephants.

The little girl, she is Amita

and it was her idea
to take the class here.

And you, what are you doing here?

I am following someone's grave,
maybe you could help me?

The information I've got
is so confusing.

Her name was Begum Rokeya Hossain.

She is actually buried
in the premises of a school close by.

If you wait till the end of the class,
I can accompany you.

I'll be very happy.
By the way my name is Inés.

Sudhanya, pleased to meet you.
- Pleased to meet you.

If you like, you can sit here with us.

Where are you from?
- Spain.

Children, meet Inés, she's from Spain.

And she likes our Begum Rokeya,
say hello!

Hi guys, kaixo.

Why are you looking for Rokeya's grave?

I am fascinated by her

and I am doing
some research on Sultana's Dream,

the places she lived and worked.

I am an animator and I make movies.

I have no head, nor have I feet,

nor any fear of the ferocious wolf.

I have no teeth nor any eyes

and that is why you're afraid of me.

Cruel dragon.

One day I'll take to the sky

and I will like a dove or a falcon fly.

With such great hunger
I'll devour your arms.

I'll devour your heart.

I have no head, I have no feet,

but I will be a dream one day.

They didn't allow her
to be buried in the Muslim cemetery.

I wonder who actually
attended the funeral.

Would it have been better not to come?

Tell me, I don't know.

Yes. Perhaps.

Hey you guys!
Rascals, this is not the place to run.

Come here.

If I'll get you, you'll see!

You hear me?

Naughty! This is no place to play!

I'll get you...

Hello madame.

I come from Paris.

I was searching for freedom
and found it here.

This city is blessed by God.

Your man is powerful.

He has a Djinn's eyes
and the mouth of a shark.

You will always look for him,

but he is free.

If it helps, call me.

LAWYER

Dear Paul, how are you?

I am writing to you from the library
of the Faculty of Philosophy in Kolkata.

The selection of books on gender studies

is as good or even better
to the ones we have in Spain.

I am still carrying
the postcard of Vrindavan.

I found inside Sultana's Dream

that has "I'm waiting for you"
written on the back.

I decided to follow it up.

Sudhanya is coming with me,
a woman I just met,

but it seems
I have known her all my life.

Vrindavan is also called
the City of Widows.

It's the fate of many women who become
poor, when they lose their husbands.

Some they come on their own will,

others are abandoned
by their own families.

But they all dream
about becoming one with Krishna.

Yesterday I met
the mysterious man of the portrait.

I would like to fall in love
on the moon, without gravity.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Love, Inés.

My name is Sudhanyu

and I come from Kolkata.

Does anyone of you also
come from Bengal?

I'm from Kolkata too.

What on earth brings you here?

My friend comes from Spain
and she wants to meet you.

She is interested in talking to you.

What does your friend
want to talk about?

She heard a story that brought her here.

What story?

A story of women
that are in command of the world.

The sky and the earth seem
to touch somewhere in the horizon.

It doesn't help to walk,
to the end of the world to discover

that it is an optical illusion.

Everybody should stay where they belong.

You should not have come here.

Come, come, sit here,
then she'll draw you also.

She's not likely to draw me,
ugly as I am?

No, better she draws me.

I am the prettiest one in this garden.

Of the faded garden you mean.

My friend is an artist.

Could we find a quiet place to talk?

And what benefit will it bring us?
We are not here to celebrate.

If she is so interested in our drawings,
she should pay us.

Of course, of course we'll pay.

I am tired of these people.

If they want something they should pay!

We don't want you here!

Get out of here!

Out of here!

Get out!

Get out!

Hey, here!
Sir, please stop.

How much for the river?
- 150.

What?
- OK, 120 then. Let's go.

Cover yourselves!

Sudhanya!
Are you all, right?

Sudhanya!

Uff!
Acha! Uff!

What a nightmare!

I knew I was dreaming but still...
uff...

I couldn't wake up.
And, and a demon showed up...

A demon?
What kind of demon?

One of those characters

you never know,
what his real intentions are.

You know... I had a cousin.

Her name was Shantu,
she was a bit older than me.

We used to play together.

She was tough, fearless.

One day, she told me

her parents were taking her
to their village.

She knew that they had made
arrangements for her to marry a cousin.

A few days later she disappeared.

She was 16.

No one in the family asked about her.

I knew I couldn't ask either

and so I kept quiet.

I wish there was a place where women

weren't afraid of been hurt, harassed,

but in Europe women are safe, right?

There is no place on earth
where women are safe.

Not for you,

not for me,

not for any other woman.

Tell me if no one has ever tried
to take advantage of you

or even abused you.

It happened to me

and because of shame, or guilt.

I kept quiet,

as I'm sure my mother and grandmother

and many other women who came before us

were also forced to keep quiet.

The story of your cousin
it's really heartbreaking.

I am really sorry.

Dear Inés, your letter made me happy.

You always say
you don't know how to dream,

but your words make me dream.

As for me, everything is going fine.

I'm still working on my new book

and getting involved in an association
for transgender children.

I understand the uneasiness
about which you talk about.

When an unknown voice is calling out
"I'm waiting for you",

it places us at a crossroads

where we have to decide not only
whether or not, to go to the meeting,

but also it forces us to decide
what our emotions are.

You went on a blind date,
invited by a ghost.

It's a romantic decision
and I would not worry

about making any sense out of it.

Sooner or later,
you will reach that joyful land,

where you can build without limits,

according to the laws
of the present and the desire.

I am not surprised
that the mysterious man in your drawing

appeared once again.

That portrait carried the hallmark
of something unfinished, unexplored.

Hugs, Paul.

As the gentle breeze

sways and caresses

each flower as it passes by.

And the birds sing in every bower

And the birds sing in every bower

with their melodies.

I do not know why my heart aches

with a strange longing.

I thought Vrindavan
was some kind of Dantesque Ladyland.

It isn't.

It's a city like any other.

The old widow was right.

You don't need to go
to the other side of the planet

to discover that the world
is already at your doorstep.

IV. A FLOWER IN WINTER

Rajiv of the crooked nose,

I like your masculine mustache.

Did you know that my mother was a slave?

Did you know that I swore as a child,

that I would never be a Krishna devotee.

Majesh,

you are really handsome.

I must confess
I like eating beef and drinking beer.

Nothing you can say
can pull me away from you.

I love you,
and I don't care what people may say.

Last night,

I had my first dream.

INÉS' DREAM

Here I am safe, I thought.

This is my home.

I saw or thought I saw the moon
faintly passing over the clouds.

And as the dream faded,

I felt grateful and relieved.

Although I didn't yet know
which way to go.

I didn't care.

I can dream now.

I am free.

SULTANA'S DREAM

A FILM BY ISABEL HERGUERA

INSPIRED ON THE SHORT STORY
SULTANA'S DREAM BY ROKEYA HOSSAIN