Sex and Lucía (2002)

Absolutely Fantastic

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

One thing that can never be said about "Sex and Lucia" is that it's not interesting. It has a unique look and feel, more than almost any Spanish film I've seen, and also some very memorable and enticing scenes. The first thirty minutes work quite well as a slightly surreal relationship-based drama. The more it goes on, though, the more the plot twists and turns, and as much as I wanted to believe that it was all leading up to something, or that there was a substantial layer of subtext, I found myself not caring too much, and I got a strong feeling that Medem was deliberately making it more obscure and incoherent than it has to be for the sake of creating an artistic visage to cover for the fact that he didn't really have anything much to say.Some films bend and break genre conventions to create truly fascinating art; some films decide to ignore plot and coherency in favor of atmosphere and symbolism. "Sex and Lucia", unfortunately, doesn't do any of that. It does have quite intense atmosphere, and probably some layers of symbolism I couldn't be bothered to look for, but it just failed to capture me in any meaningful way. I was impressed with all the elements - gorgeous shots, good dialog and excellent acting - but it doesn't come together to create a real film, and it's too long and too heavy-handed to be enjoyed merely as a collection of individual scenes. Worst of all, it's not even about Lucia, nor is it about sex. It's about unlikable Lorenzo and figuring out what on earth Lucia sees in him. That's almost as big a mystery as what the film is actually about.

I got this film as a couples movie for my wife who is away for when she got back. It was worth the chance as from Spain rather than Orange Valley CA. Having just watched it to see if it was OK I was really captivated and will need to watch it again to get all the nuances. The acting was top notch as well. You don't need a wife when the film is this good. Only kidding Gaynor! Sort of reminds me of Betty Blue, another good example why European cinema can hit the target always when it comes to this sort of thing.Excellent work.Andy

I see the usual range of comments that a good art film gets - ranging from people more used to Hollywood dross who don't get it, to those looking too hard & seeing too much.'Too much sex' - sex is the driving force behind the character interactions so how can you leave it out. I suppose if we learn to make war & gangster films without any violence in? The only real titillating scene has no more than a pair of buttocks showing and is done to draw the watcher in to a horrible event. This scene left me with the same sense of shock as the two characters involved would be feeling and did it to a level that would not have been achieved otherwise.'Meta-stories' - I just saw a writer weaving his own experiences & imagination into his story & using it to deal with an experience that was too horrible to speak of to anyone, including his partner.This is a film that carries an air of surreal fantasy which is as blunt and intimate as life while being as subtle as the world we live in. It is truly beautiful.I only drop a point because the acting seemed flat but maybe this is only because my lack of Spanish forced me to follow the dialogue from the subtitles. The only actor that didn't seem slightly flat was Elena Anaya, something which tends to reinforce this possibility as her part relied more on action rather than dialogue.

Sure, this is the film where Paz Vega bares all and gives us many skintastic moments, but it is much more than that. It is also Elena Anaya's hottest picture. OK, now that we got the fact that two incredibly beautiful women give us the performances of their lives out of the way, let's focus on why this is a really good film, and not just a peep show.It's a surreal, non linear story of a writer who commits suicide, or does he?; of a sexual encounter that results in a child; of an enter-twining of a new love with the old life; of a story with real life. It is beautiful, romantic, and haunting with Oscar-nominee Alberto Iglesias' (The Kite Runner, The Constant Gardener) score.Paz Vega (Spanglish), Tristán Ulloa, Najwa Nimri (Before Night Falls), and Elena Anaya (appears in the elusive Alatriste) give super performances in this film.It is the best performance I have seen from Paz Vega.