Lucía y el sexo
Encyclopedia
Sex and Lucia is an award winning 2001
Spanish
drama film
, written
and directed
by Julio Médem
, and starring Paz Vega
and Tristán Ulloa
. As suggested by the title, there is a great deal of passionate sexual content surrounding the love story of Lucia and Lorenzo as the plot dissolves into a very lyrical eroticism. The movie features a highly non-linear story line with repeated surreal references to the ocean and beach. The plot depicts the tragic stories that connect all of the film's characters. The film was shot on two separate locations along the Mediterranean coast in Spain and France.
) at work as a waitress, talking on the phone with her depressed
boyfriend Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa
). Worried, she goes home to console him. Finding an empty apartment, Lucía frantically looks for him. She finally receives a phone call from the police and finds a suicide
note, but she is so afraid of the bad news that she hangs up, assuming the worst has happened to Lorenzo. Looking for a new beginning, Lucía decides to travel to the mysterious Balearic Islands
that Lorenzo had always talked about.
The plot breaks to six years earlier. Lorenzo is having casual sex in the ocean with a woman named Elena (Najwa Nimri
). They part ways, expecting to never see each other again. She becomes pregnant with his baby, so she ventures off to find him.
Lorenzo talks with his literary agent at a restaurant, discussing his writer's block. Lucía catches his attention as he gets up from his table. She tells him that ever since she read his latest book, she has been following him and has fallen passionately in love with him. A smitten Lorenzo immediately engages the sexy, passionate Lucia and they move in together at Lorenzo's apartment.
The film then continues interweaving past and present, people in real life and the characters in Lorenzo's novel.
As the past plays out, we see Lorenzo repeatedly stalling for time on his new book with his editor while his relationship with Lucia deepens. Lorenzo learns that he has a daughter as a result of his encounter with Elena and begins to visit the child at her school while meeting her babysitter Belén (Elena Anaya
). Lorenzo uses his new encounters as content for his book. Belén flirts with Lorenzo and invites him over to Elena's house while she babysits the daughter, Luna (Silvia Llanos). Lorenzo tells Luna a bedtime story, and after she falls asleep, he and Belén begin to make love. They are interrupted as Luna knocks at the bedroom door, and they watch in horror as the family dog kills her. Lorenzo runs away and falls into a deep depression
. All the while, he writes about his new experiences with Belén. Lucía reads it, thinking it is fiction.
In the present, Lucía meets a scuba diver on the island, Carlos (Daniel Freire
), and through him, Elena, who runs an inn on the island to cope
with her grief
. Lucía rents a room at the inn. As the past is revealed, the characters cope with its significance in the present and understand the entanglements of their interwoven relationships.
for Best Female Newcomer. The cinematography is by Kiko de la Rica, and the score
by Alberto Iglesias, who also won a Goya Award for his work.
gives the film a score of 71% based on 69 reviews.
Spanish films of 2001
-2001:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
Spanish
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the nation of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema.In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition as a result of its creative and technical excellence...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
, written
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Julio Médem
Julio Medem
Julio Médem is a Spanish writer and film director.Medem was born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain and showed an interest in movies since childhood, when he would take his father's Super 8 camera and shoot at night, while nobody was paying attention...
, and starring Paz Vega
Paz Vega
Paz Campos Trigo , better known as Paz Vega, is a Spanish actress.- Early life :Vega was born in Seville, Andalusia, Spain to a homemaker mother and a retired bullfighter father. Vega's younger sister has performed as a flamenco dancer. Vega has described her family as "traditional" and Catholic....
and Tristán Ulloa
Tristán Ulloa
Tristán Ulloa is a Spanish actor, writer, and director.He was born in Orléans to a Spanish mother and father exiled in France...
. As suggested by the title, there is a great deal of passionate sexual content surrounding the love story of Lucia and Lorenzo as the plot dissolves into a very lyrical eroticism. The movie features a highly non-linear story line with repeated surreal references to the ocean and beach. The plot depicts the tragic stories that connect all of the film's characters. The film was shot on two separate locations along the Mediterranean coast in Spain and France.
Plot
The film begins with Lucía (Paz VegaPaz Vega
Paz Campos Trigo , better known as Paz Vega, is a Spanish actress.- Early life :Vega was born in Seville, Andalusia, Spain to a homemaker mother and a retired bullfighter father. Vega's younger sister has performed as a flamenco dancer. Vega has described her family as "traditional" and Catholic....
) at work as a waitress, talking on the phone with her depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
boyfriend Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa
Tristán Ulloa
Tristán Ulloa is a Spanish actor, writer, and director.He was born in Orléans to a Spanish mother and father exiled in France...
). Worried, she goes home to console him. Finding an empty apartment, Lucía frantically looks for him. She finally receives a phone call from the police and finds a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
note, but she is so afraid of the bad news that she hangs up, assuming the worst has happened to Lorenzo. Looking for a new beginning, Lucía decides to travel to the mysterious Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
that Lorenzo had always talked about.
The plot breaks to six years earlier. Lorenzo is having casual sex in the ocean with a woman named Elena (Najwa Nimri
Najwa Nimri
Najwa Nimri Urrutikoetxea is a Spanish actress and singer of Jordanian descent.-Early life:...
). They part ways, expecting to never see each other again. She becomes pregnant with his baby, so she ventures off to find him.
Lorenzo talks with his literary agent at a restaurant, discussing his writer's block. Lucía catches his attention as he gets up from his table. She tells him that ever since she read his latest book, she has been following him and has fallen passionately in love with him. A smitten Lorenzo immediately engages the sexy, passionate Lucia and they move in together at Lorenzo's apartment.
The film then continues interweaving past and present, people in real life and the characters in Lorenzo's novel.
As the past plays out, we see Lorenzo repeatedly stalling for time on his new book with his editor while his relationship with Lucia deepens. Lorenzo learns that he has a daughter as a result of his encounter with Elena and begins to visit the child at her school while meeting her babysitter Belén (Elena Anaya
Elena Anaya
Elena Anaya is a Spanish actress whose career dates back to 1995.Anaya is the youngest of 5 children. She first received international attention in 2001 for her role in the sexually explicit drama Lucía y el sexo and also appeared in Pedro Almodóvar's Hable con ella .Her best-known Hollywood film...
). Lorenzo uses his new encounters as content for his book. Belén flirts with Lorenzo and invites him over to Elena's house while she babysits the daughter, Luna (Silvia Llanos). Lorenzo tells Luna a bedtime story, and after she falls asleep, he and Belén begin to make love. They are interrupted as Luna knocks at the bedroom door, and they watch in horror as the family dog kills her. Lorenzo runs away and falls into a deep depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
. All the while, he writes about his new experiences with Belén. Lucía reads it, thinking it is fiction.
In the present, Lucía meets a scuba diver on the island, Carlos (Daniel Freire
Daniel Freire
Daniel Freire is an Argentine film actor.He entered film in 1993 in Un Muro de silencio and has appeared in over 15 films including Las Aventuras de Dios 2000 in which he portrayed Jesus Christ and Arizona Sur in 2004.However in 2005 he appeared in 27 episodes of the Argentine TV series Motivos...
), and through him, Elena, who runs an inn on the island to cope
Coping (psychology)
Coping has been defined in psychological terms by Susan Folkman and Richard Lazarus as "constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing" or "exceeding the resources of the person".Coping is thus expending...
with her grief
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
. Lucía rents a room at the inn. As the past is revealed, the characters cope with its significance in the present and understand the entanglements of their interwoven relationships.
Reception
The film soon became an international success, winning Vega a Goya AwardGoya Awards
The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
for Best Female Newcomer. The cinematography is by Kiko de la Rica, and the score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
by Alberto Iglesias, who also won a Goya Award for his work.
Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 71% based on 69 reviews.