Sex and Lucia (Blu-Ray)
“Sex and Lucía” is just one of those titles that pops out when you’re single and watching movies on a regular basis. And yet, I never got around to watching it. I first heard the title when Paz Vega was cast in James L. Brooks’s “Spanglish,” and I was curious about what else she’d been in, but like many other films in my Netflix Queue, it languished for years. Now, Music Box Films is releasing it on Blu-Ray, and the time feels right to finally watch it.
The film begins with Lucía (Vega) talking on the phone to her boyfriend, Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa), while she’s at work. He’s been in a deep depression and they have just had an argument which she walked out on. She goes home to an empty apartment, and a suicide note. The police call, but before they can finish, she hangs up. She then goes to a remote island to get away, where she meets a scuba diver. We then go back and forth in time, seeing how they met six years ago, and what their lives were like before that phone call, and what Lucía’s is like now.
There are times in the story writer-director Julio Medem weaves when we lose sight of whether we’re watching real-life unfold, or a story that Lorenzo, who’s a writer, is typing out. When he first meets Lucía, Lorenzo is stuck, and while his agent is able to get him an advance on his next book, he still has to encourage him. Lucía is a muse for him, and their meet-cute helps establish what type of woman she is. She asks for him to sit with her, and proceeds to tell him that she’s been watching him, and feels like she knows him. He’s hooked, and their relationship begins. While this feels like a very male-centric idea of a woman, Lucía is someone who has agency. She’s able to decide what she wants and doesn’t want, and also someone who doesn’t feel like she needs to stay in a situation she is uncomfortable with. Vega is beautiful, to be sure, but also, her Lucía she is someone who wants to experience life. When Lorenzo turns, the lack of communication with Lucía pulls them both away from one another. The event that has left him depressed is a cruel twist of fate from his pre-Lucía life, and it’s understandable why it breaks him, and also why he doesn’t feel like he can tell her. The ending of the film, for me, throws the film’s perspective off- the way it’s resolved, it feels like wish fulfillment for Lorenzo than a satisfying end to Lucía’s journey through the film, and it’s because of something that goes unsaid, and if said, would blow up the ending Medem wants us to accept.
There is certainly truth to the title here- sex is fundamental to the film, almost equal to Lucía herself. Sex is responsible for a lot of the key plot elements here, and I think it’s a case where it is well-utilized, even if- early on- it feels as though Lucía is every guy’s fantasy of a sex object. The responsibility that comes with sex comes into play in this film, as well, and I think it works for the most part; again, the ending is problematic because of what it implies, and what doesn’t seem to be addressed. But after almost 20 years, seeing “Sex and Lucía” made for an interesting experience, even if it doesn’t always land with me.
Blu-Ray Presentation
Music Box Film’s Blu-Ray presentation is great from an audio/visual aspect. The sound mix is fairly standard for a drama- there’s nothing that pops out as egregious or great about it. Meanwhile, the cinematography by Kiko de la Rica is lush, and I love the way the film contrasts between the brightness on the island, and during moments of happiness, versus the moments where the narrative feels darker. In terms of the bonus features, there is over an hour of archival materials- about 28 minutes of cast and crew interviews, and a 27-minute behind-the-scenes featurette from the time about the making of the film- along with a photo gallery and a 13-minute video essay by Alexandra Heller Nicholas that is insightful and compelling. It makes the film worth checking out on this Blu-Ray all the more.
Film Grade: A-
Audio & Video: A
Bonus Features: A
