Historical female characters in Spanish digital cinema: The case of Hypatia of Alexandria in Ágora by Alejandro Amenábar

This article aims to describe how historical characters are represented in cinema through the case of Hypatia of Alexandria in the film Ágora by Alejandro Amenábar (2009). After delving into the debates about the verisimilitude and authenticity of the words-and-sandals films, the film is analysed considering its production context and its aesthetic line to determine how the vindication of women is articulated in history and popular culture. Moreover, the case study is presented as a paradigm of the uses of historical cinema as it is linked to the present. Finally, it concludes with the understanding of the filmmakers’ creative licences in commercial movies in order to obtain historical films more appealing for the audiences.