Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful twists
Review: There are terrific twists that suprise. Why movies that show a nude man must always be unrated makes no sense to me. A wonderful and romantic movie.
Rating:
Summary: Synchronicity and resolution: keys to this interesting film
Review: I had only read bits and pieces about Sex and Lucia (Lucia y el sexo) when I attended a matinee this past weekend. The buzz on the film was very positive, and the story sounded romantic and interesting. After seeing it I can say without reservation, it is one of the best films to come to American shores in years One item of note I'll get out of the way now:
Sex and Lucia is very sexually explicit, even more so than Y Tu Mama Tambien (which I also recommend: it's appearing on DVD in October of this year.) The sex scenes don't bother me per se: it's just that the first 30 or so minutes are very much centered around the physicality of the relationship between Lucia and her boyfriend, Lorenzo. I really thought the film's tone would be all about sex, so to speak. Not so however... The last 90 minutes delve very, very deeply into the complexities of Lorenzo and Lucia's relationship. Several ancillary but pivotal characters who are involved with Lucia and Lorenzo form the complex connections that make the story so interesting and involving. The movie begins in the present, then flashes back 6 years to the beginnings of Lucia and Lorenzo's torrid "romance." The film does flash back-and-forth so it might take you a while to put it all together while watching, but it's more than worth the effort. The film features a beautiful and fitting soundtrack: you are aware of it throughout the entire movie. I know it's available from Amazon.com France's site, but not stateside yet. If I can't find it here in the next few weeks, I'm going to have to break down and pay international postage and get my hands on a copy! The composer, Alberto Iglesias, is quite talented and evidently has released a few other albums I'll be looking for on Amazon. In the end all the characters' motivations, emotions and desires collide in a very, very chilling climax. I use the word chilling not to convey horror, but rather a sense of shock and disbelief. The ending is a surprise that does make you wonder about the people you surround yourself with, and how your life can change direction in a matter of mere moments. To say Lucia y el Sexo is a profound or thought-provoking film is probably too simplistic. It deserves every single accolade and piece of critical praise it has received. A movie I will be experiencing a second or even third time in the theatres in the weeks to follow. 7 stars out of 5....
Rating:
Summary: An amazing movie
Review: I guess people are molded by holywood standards and talk too much about some naked piece of flesh, but this movie is so much more than that. Relax and watch the movie and you'll enjoy it and if you have time to see the extras on the DVD you'll understand even better why it is so special. The plot, the actors, the camera and the music score are absolutely amazing. It's like drinking coffee at work (in US) for years and than you go somewhere overseas, in Italy or Spain and suddenly realize that coffee is so much more than some dirty brown water. You might not like it, but you'll have to accept that the real thing is great. Somewhere in this world some people think of acting and movies as a form of art, not just a money machine.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated
Review: A little bit overrated base on previous viewer's comments
The story got a little murky sometimes.
If you are looking for sex scenes, this is not the movie for you. It is worst than 9 1/2 weeks.
Rating: 
Summary: WOW
Review: Sex and Lucia - (2001) Review By - Chad Peter Film Rating: **** DVD Rating: **** Directed By - Julio Medem
Written By - Julio Medem Starring - Paz Vega, Tristán Ulloa, Najwa Nimri
----------------------------------------------------------------- Film Review Wow. This is an instance of not knowing exactly what to think about the overarching feel of a film. Sex and Lucia was a refreshing step in many directions all at once, and quite possibly all of them heading in every direction but south. Sexuality is revitalized, alternate universes are intertwined, and cinematography is quite visionary all at once. This is not an American film and this is not a porno. There are on screen handjobs and sexuality that an American audience would never expect to see come out of a Hollywood film, or even an American Independent film for that matter -- and yet here it has been done in an amazingly striking way -- very lucid and artfully erotic. Drawing from the experience of a single viewing, I can say one thing: The story may not be entirely understood in one sitting. Sex and Lucia is something that will need to be seen again, at least once, to fully understand the linear plotline. And yet, we don't particularly need the linear plotline because we understand enough of it to know the bare bones of what is going on -- and more importantly we can easily connect to the train of emotions and follow along that way. Simply trying to disect the film down into a "what happens in what order" line will leave a viewer frustrated, and most definitely this was not how the film was intended to be on a visual level. The images are quite stunning and transcendental at times, leaving a flow to the movie not unlike the film's opening visuals set under the sea -- without these images, the film would be dank and stale, and yet with the images, the film is transformed into something rather awe-inspiring and visually astounding. Sex and Lucia is the story of a writer's story inside a story, or so I think. There are many overlapping discontinuities jumping around through time and space, from alternate universe into reality and so on and so forth. We know that many of these alternate realities could be false in comparison to reality, and yet they are based on reality, so we aren't quite sure what's real and what is false. Fortunately, it isn't the storyline we're emersed in so much as we're emersed in the beauty of what's occuring before our very eyes. The sexuality presented in this serious fashion is something we've never seen on screen (to my knowledge), certainly not at this quality. By watching this, I wasn't sure to believe that somehow as humans we are beginning to reach the next plateau of sexuality, or rather that only a small group is reaching this plateau while the rest of humanity casts them out of the loop. This raises several social questions, especially in our undersexed American population, which teases its audiences but denies them the things that they naturally should be seeing without thinking it as perverse. Perhaps one day we'll all reach that higher plateau of sexuality, but as of now, I foresee nothing more than further supression leading into violence and other unnatural problems. ----------------------------------------------------------------- DVD Review The DVD's video quality is absolutely astounding because there was no transfer involved. Much to my surprise, Sex and Lucia was not shot on film, but rather it was shot on HD 24P (Video). At the beginning there were moments where the characters movements looked like video, and yet at the same time, I was thinking "there's no way this couldn't be film" because of the lushness of the colors and the depth of the images. For all those who claim film is the first and will always be the foremost of visual quality, this should act as a slap in the face, and as a precursor step to the next level of visual photography. The result here is really quite beautiful to watch. Sex and Lucia's soundtrack is wonderfully timed and choreographed throughout the story. The beauty of shooting on video, is that it allows for MORE footage to be shot, equally allowing for more flexibility in the editing room, and ultimately more creativity is allowed when meshing images with music and sound. There is something illuminary about this soundtrack and score, and it is well represented by the disc's dolby 5.1 track. This is the kind of DVD disc that we wish every DVD was like. The only thing missing is a director's commentary track -- but since the director is Spanish and may not even speak english, we'll cut him some slack. Where the special features make up for the loss however, is with the multitude of other included features, including a fairly insightful "Making-Of" documentary, and several cast & crew interviews. Also crammed onto this disc are cast & crew biographies, trailers (for this and other films), a large photo gallery, soundtrack info & excerpts, and web links. Now if only more DVDs were this jam-packed with stuff. -----------------------------------------------------------------
DVD & Film Info Studio Distributor(s) - Canal+ España, Palm Pictures, et al. Theater Release Date - (08/24/2001)
DVD Release Date - (03-25-2003) - Region 1 Release Price - $24.99 US. Film Length - 128 Minutes
Rating - Not Rated. Includes sexual content not usually seen outside of porno films in American.
Initial Country of Release - Spain
Initial Language of Release - Spanish
Alternate Version - "R" Rated Version, runs two minutes shorter than the Unrated version, and probably ruins the film's sexual tone greatly. DVD Features - The Making of Sex and Lucia Featurette, Photo Gallery, Soundtrack Excerpts, Cast Interviews, Cast Biographies, Theatrical Trailers, Palm Pictures Previews, Web Links. Video - Widescreen 1.85:1 Color Audio - SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1, SPANISH: Dolby Digital Stereo Subtitles - English, French Additional Film and/or DVD Notes - Sex and Lucia is a visionary look into a more natural world. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Similar Films -
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Tacones lejanos
La Double vie de Véronique
Rating:
Summary: What's not to like?
Review: Paz Vega is the most gorgeous woman seen on film in ages (imagine a taller, more curvaceous, and even more sexual Penelope Cruz), and this film knows it: her intoxicating face and body fill the screen at every opportunity and in many glorious stages of undress. Now THAT is a true goddess, fit to make all the generic makeup-addicted peroxide-blondes in Hollywood weep with envy and despair!
The plotline is a bit convoluted, like many post-Tarantino films these days the story is not presented in linear fashion but in bits and pieces which the viewer has to put together himself. It's not quite as distracting and confusing as it was in "21 Grams" because the story here is fairly simple. The plot also requires a fair amount of belief suspension: it's a bit much for us to believe that such a stunning juicy tamale like Paz would out of nowhere throw herself upon the nerdy writer-protagonist, but if you've ever been a nerdy writer type yourself I suppose that's a gratifying fantasy, hee hee.
Where "Sex and Lucia" triumphs is in its sheer physical beauty and sensual richness. Few movies provide so much visual pleasure, and not only in the generous sex scenes but just overall, you really FEEL that "yes this is definitely a Spanish movie shot in Spain." You would never mistake this for some cheesy sterile Hollywood set. The whole spirit of the film is one of divine hedonistic abandon, the kind of guilt- and hangup-free vibe that American and British cinema still struggles to come up with, and something that the Spanish and Italians seem to have a monopoly on.
My only wish is that it had been shot on normal film instead of digital, because many of the exterior shots in bright sunlight are overexposed and washed out.
God bless Paz Vega a thousand times, may she live forever! Who needs Viagra with her around? As Tom Waits once put it, "she can make a dead man come."
Rating:
Summary: Hot Spanish
Review: This is a European film, namely part of the new Spanish Moderns for lack of a better way to explain how Spanish Directors and actors are pushing the envelope Europa style. This one reminded me of L'Avventura by director Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960. The desolate islands of the Mediterainian are beautiful, sun bleached, and scary.
Also, this film has its [hot] moments. (...) One wonders what actors and actresses are willing to do on screen and remain legitimate. And what's wrong with that?
This is not a John Wayne movie. There's enough here for a couple to get kind of kinky in the television light. Lucinda's boyfriend has a one-night stand on a romantic island. Never sees her again. She has a child.
Paz Vega of the dark hair and eyes loves boyfriend's novels. They fall in love and do those positions. He eventually finds out about his little daughter and almost has sex with the hot babysitter who has a porn queen mom. Something of an incestuous fantasy or episode drives the boyfriend to suicide. The babysitter either commits suicide or is murdered. We're not sure because at this point the boyfriend is writing a novel about all this and we're not sure what is reality or fantasy. Lucinda thinks her boyfriend has died and she goes to the island to pull herself together. There she meets... oh forget about it. The film's a half hour too long full of long takes on the ocean, but for aficionados or [hot] dudes and gals, this one is for you.
Rating:
Summary: Hang on for a wild erotic ride and a good film too!
Review: Unknowingly I watched the unrated version of SEX AND LUCIA and, as a result, was treated with quite a *memorable* movie experience. Don't get me wrong; I'm not adverse to sexual situations at all, I was just a little caught off guard despite the film's title. That being said, I enjoyed this film. The plot itself is quite interesting and admittedly sometimes confusing; there's a myriad of puzzle pieces scattered about that must be put in their proper sequence before there's any hope of making sense out of what's happening. The story is not told in chronological order and, worse yet, there are several plot lines that are intermingled together resulting in a jumbled mess at first glance. Take the time and effort to sort through the chaos and you may be rewarded at the end as I was. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: All the pieces do not fit together
Review: This film is not bad at all, but also not terribly outstanding. Being someone who enjoys films that deal with inter-weaving plots and a stronger focus on themes and characters, I was surprised that I found this film less than interesting. I really love films like 'La Double Vie de Veronique', and 'Y Tu Mama Tambien', and found this film owed much to their inspiration. But in the end 'Sex and Lucia' played with its audience too much. After watching this film I felt the same way as after watching '21 Grams', and that is that I spent so much of the film trying to fit the pieces together that I did not have time to really care about them. Also the surprises about many of the characters made me distrust the film more than become intrigued by it. Each scene is well done, but in the end I ended up feeling very little for the whole. Not a lousy film, but not difficult to miss.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated
Review: In an attempt to get over losing her novelist boyfriend (Tristan Ulloa), Luc?a (Paz Vega) retreats to a quiet Mediterranean island. It's there, in the sun-soaked refuge, that the erstwhile waitress begins to examine both the passionate beginning and the darker details of their relationship. Fact blends with fiction and time bends in unexpected ways as her memories unfold.
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