Sex and Lucia (Lucía y el sexo) (2001)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Randy T

  
  "The first advantage is at the end of the story. It doesn't finish, it falls in a hole. And the story starts again halfway. The other advantage, and the biggest, is that you can change course along the way... If you let me. If you give me time."

• Greg S

  
  A waitress falls in love with a novelist who has a secret in his past; parts of the movie describe their real love story, and parts are dramatizations of a novel the male lead is writing, with it largely left to the audience to decide which is which. Ambitious, multi-layered story… More
  A waitress falls in love with a novelist who has a secret in his past; parts of the movie describe their real love story, and parts are dramatizations of a novel the male lead is writing, with it largely left to the audience to decide which is which. Ambitious, multi-layered story with great performances and cinematography; the brief explicit sex scenes are a gimmick.

• Cassandra M

  
  The earlier film by Julio Médem (Lovers of the Arctic Circle) is a prelude to the kind of cinematography that this Spanish film director/writer presents here. I have read most of the other comments, but they don't do justice to it, mainly because of the lack of understanding the… More
  The earlier film by Julio Médem (Lovers of the Arctic Circle) is a prelude to the kind of cinematography that this Spanish film director/writer presents here. I have read most of the other comments, but they don't do justice to it, mainly because of the lack of understanding the original tongue of this film. The screenplay is excellent, full of metaphors and a rich use of very carefully chosen words. People who consider this film just an excuse for depicting sex scenes as the highlight of the movie are pretty much clueless. It is more than that, it is the complex storytelling that tangles the characters in this movie and the way that is told. Compelling and breath-taking. A must see.

• Lady D

  
  One of the strangest storylines ever, which confuses the viewer throughout, that I think, is the beauty of this piece. There is something quite addictive about the story. This is a film that definitely benefits from multiple viewing As I?m sure you will guess from its title… More
  One of the strangest storylines ever, which confuses the viewer throughout, that I think, is the beauty of this piece. There is something quite addictive about the story. This is a film that definitely benefits from multiple viewing As I?m sure you will guess from its title though, this film is pretty graphic sexually, so if scenes of this nature are likely to cause offence, cross this one off your list. However, for a film as sexually graphic as this one, there is most definitely a great storyline to accompany it.

• Red L

  
  I have watched part of this movie twice. I will need to watch it all the way through to understand it. I can't figure out what are Lorenzo's dreams and what is supposedly reality.

• Dean M

  
  A beautiful, fragmented story of love, lust and intrigue, writer-director Julio Medem's erotic Spanish tale is a sumptuous mix of playful sex and stunning Mediterranean scenery. Spanish actress Paz Vega is gorgeous and mesmerising, delivering a daring and unself-conscious… More
  A beautiful, fragmented story of love, lust and intrigue, writer-director Julio Medem's erotic Spanish tale is a sumptuous mix of playful sex and stunning Mediterranean scenery. Spanish actress Paz Vega is gorgeous and mesmerising, delivering a daring and unself-conscious performance which gives Medem's piece its essential raw honestly.

• Megan S

  
  I really enjoyed this one. I loved the disconnected way that the story was told and how the holes were filled in along the way. I loved the colors that were used in the filming as well. Everytime I watch I realize something else about the story.

• Nate Z

  
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]"Put lots of sex in it. That?s always good," says a character in 'Sex and Lucia', the steamy Spanish import now playing. And 'Sex and Lucia' is true to its very title. There are many scenes with Lucia, our heroine, and there?s… More
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]"Put lots of sex in it. That?s always good," says a character in 'Sex and Lucia', the steamy Spanish import now playing. And 'Sex and Lucia' is true to its very title. There are many scenes with Lucia, our heroine, and there?s also oodles of sex. This is the type of movie where if people can walk around without a stitch on, they will. This is the type of movie where a babysitter will masturbate to her mother?s porno -- the ones where mom stars. This is the type of movie where showerheads are not used for their intended purpose. No wonder this movie went unrated.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]'Sex and Lucia' is genuinely erotic movie. And when it comes to eroticism in cinema, the Europeans make us look like sickly amateurs. After exploring whatever late night stimuli is offered on Showtime or Cinemax you?ll get an idea of how poor American eroticism is. Usually they involve an adventurous couple, or a sex therapist, or a Jacuzzi/swimming pool, or a lonely stewardess/waitress/secretary and usually Shannon Tweed stars. What disarray the state of our erotic union is in.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]But for all its shocking and stimulating moments, 'Sex and Lucia' is an intriguing tale of loss, love and sexuality, of course, even if it?s told rather obtusely.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Lucia (Paz Vega, a Spanish version of Juliet Lewis with a cleft chin) is a waitress in Madrid. She enters into a fiery relationship with a writer named Lorenzo (Tristian Ulloa). Their passion seems to burn as fast as the many cigarettes in the film. Their relationship is full of joyous sex, impromptu strip teases and blindfolded foreplay.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]But Lorenzo has a secret he hides from Lucia. Six years ago he fathered a daughter he has never seen when he had a tryst on the beach of a Mediterranean isle. The mother has sent their daughter, Luna (named after the full moon on her conception), into the care of a former porn-star and Belen, her randy teenage daughter, in Madrid. It?s here that Lorenzo first meets his daughter and then Belen starts coming onto him.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]After learning some disconcerning news about her boyfriend, Lucia leaves to take some refuge on the same sunny Mediterranean island where Luna?s mother lives. Lucia actually takes refuge with her and looks back upon her stormy relationship with Lorenzo. The island has many deceiving holes that fall into caverns all along its beach, directly echoing the rabbit hole for Alice.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]This, believe it or not, is the most easily understandable part of the movie. I?ve told you what took place but after seeing it even I don?t know what happened. The story has several moments, even entire subplots that could be the truth, fantasy, sections of Lorenzo?s story, an exaggerated dream, or maybe all of them combined. Your guess is as good as mine.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Writer/director Julio Medem utilizes about every narrative trick in the book to create an alluring puzzle. He washes out the colors of the film (also seen in 'Three Kings', 'Minority Report') and seems to correspond to the surreal quality of many story lines. The cinematography is a gorgeous delight.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Vega is a shining star that deserves all the attention that Penelope Cruz is garnering without substantiated merit. Vega, a strikingly beautiful woman, has the smolder that Cruz lacks and can act circles around her Spanish competition. She gives a brave performance, partially for being as nude as often as she is, and also for displaying the fragile emotions of Lucia so well.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]'Sex and Lucia' is indeed quite sexy but it?s more than just art house porn. The film?s story is an intimate tangle that just might stimulate the largest organ: the brain. And if that doesn't work out, there's always the sex.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B [/color][/font]

• Dimitris S

  
  Which is which?The primary insight is Paz Vega.A wild,carnivorous cheetah,providing a passionate,frivolous dash in a jolly film with hints of melodramatic strings about love's torments.How does fate sound in Spanish?

• Bill C

  
  I liked this movie because it made you think a little bit. There are a lot of apparently disjoint plot paths in the beginning and as it move towards the end they all merge into a single story. The story is partially told in real time but most of its told through Lucia?s Imagination as… More
  I liked this movie because it made you think a little bit. There are a lot of apparently disjoint plot paths in the beginning and as it move towards the end they all merge into a single story. The story is partially told in real time but most of its told through Lucia?s Imagination as she reads his story. The story opens on the Home Island of Malta. It is Lorenzo 27th Birthday and he meets a woman Elena and makes love in the Ocean. It?s a one night stand and they do not know each others names just 3 clues apiece of who the other person is. Lorenzo uses his experience to write a successful steamy novel. Unbeknownst to Lorenzo Elena has a daughter and raises her with the well hung soccer playing boyfriend and her earnings as a porn-star. The steamy novel draws Lucia to be a stalker of Lorenzo. She confronts him in the bar and professes her love for him and they move in together. Lot-o steamy sex and titillation. 4 years later Lorenzo?s agent tells him he is a father and the women he met on the beach is his cousin. He also explains that he can arrange for him to meet his daughter. He meets his daughter at a playground with her goth babysitter. The baby sitter develops the hots for him and its not really clear if he likes her or is just using her interest to keep close with his daughter. Something really horrible happens when she invites him over for the night and the playful romp gets really depressing from there. The single me would have rated much higher, but I?m so far away from that place I?ll stick with a strong 4 stars. A movie much better suited for the single crowd. Yes it is a strong R Rated movie fairly tastefully done. US standards probably would throw it into X for 2 second shot of the soccer players half turgid dong.

• FanGirl B

  
  A seriously sexy movie; but in a classy way.

• Ina S

  
  Captivating film about fiction and reality, relationships and sex. Certainly not an easy film, the many layers of the narrative do require some analysis.

Read all 12 featured audience ratings