Julio Medem's Sex and Lucia or Lucia y el Sexo (2001) is an original, erotic and somewhat confusing story revolving around pleasure of the flesh, love and deception.
The story starts when Lorenzo (Tristan Ulloa) visited the Balearic Islands and made love to a girl named Elena (Najwa Nimri). Unbeknown to Lorenzo, he impregnated Elena and she proceeded to find him. Lorenzo wrote a novel about his experiences in the Islands and one day, met and fell in love with Lucia (Paz Vega), a Madrid waitress and a fan of his novels. After six years, Lorenzo found out from his friend, Pepe that Elena and their daughter Luna (Silvia Llanos) has been found. Wanting to reconnect with his daughter, he befriends Belen (Elena Anaya), Luna's baby sitter and had a passionate affair with her. Their affair resulted to Luna's death. Lorenzo then fell into depression which puzzled Lucia, who knew nothing about the tragedy. As the movie progressed , Lucia starts to believe that Lorenzo's latest novel really took place.
It was really very difficult to comprehend the movie for it has a very complicated plot sequence. I was caught unaware that what I was actually watching was no more than a flashback. After every scene, a question would pop into my mind. At times, it was quite frustrating not to be able to understand the movie but being confused is a healthy way to maintain interest in the film.
A lot of symbols were shown in the movie and as I thought about those, I was actually impressed by the depth of their meaning. Two of the very distinct symbols were the sun and the moon. The moon was associated with Lorenzo, Elena and Luna while the sun was a symbol of Lucia's personality. She loved being under the sun because under it, deception was unveiled. It's just like her-true, frank and without pretensions. She always means what she says. Meanwhile, Lorenzo was full of secrets waiting to be discovered. He was always hiding things. The Islands symbolize a place of escape for many-for Elena, Carlos, Lucia and even Lorenzo. The hole, which was always being shown in the movie, symbolizes second chances because when you go inside the hole, you'll find yourself in the beginning of everything and in your hands, is another opportunity to change things. Un Rayo de Sol, the song always sang by Lucia, was a motif of the movie for it was sung countless times.
I noticed the director's style was to distract the audiences' attention from other minor characters by not showing their faces. I noticed that the minor characters were either facing at the back or their faces were to fit the screen.
The movie is one of the most, if not the most erotic films I have ever seen. Although some may consider it soft porn, I believe there's more to it. There were a lot of sex scenes and genital exposures but I managed to compose myself. There are a lot of reactions I got from the movie. One of these, as I have said earlier, is the importance of second chances. Sure we cannot change everything that had happened but the power to undo our mistakes is a great opportunity to make amends to the people we have wronged. It is overwhelming but it is a part of a great responsibility.
Overall, Sex and Lucia is one of the most intriguing and interesting movies I have ever seen. I recommend that the editor emphasize the flashbacks so as not to confuse the viewers. If you're planning to watch this movie, I must say that you should prepare yourself for the sex scenes and genital exposures. It's going to be one heck of a movie!
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