Sex and Lucia (2001)
"Lucía y el sexo" (original title)

Various lives converge on an isolated island, all connected by an author whose novel has become inextricably entwined with his own life.

Director:

Julio Medem

Writer:

Julio Medem

Stars:

Paz Vega, Tristán Ulloa, Najwa Nimri

9 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paz Vega	...	Lucía
Tristán Ulloa	...	Lorenzo
Najwa Nimri	...	Elena
Daniel Freire	...	Carlos / Antonio
Elena Anaya	...	Belén
Silvia Llanos	...	Luna
Diana Suárez	...	Madre de Belén
Javier Cámara	...	Pepe
Juan Fernández	...	Jefe
Charo Zapardiel	...	Comadrona
María Álvarez	...	Enfermera (as María Alvarez)
Javier Coromina	...	Camarero Chiringuito (as Javier Corominas)
Arsenio León	...	Futbolista
Alesandra Alvarez	...	Luna 1 año
David Bulnes	...	Actor porno

Storyline

Lucía is a young waitress in a restaurant in the centre of Madrid. After the loss of her long-time boyfriend, a writer, she seeks refuge on a quiet, secluded Mediterranean island. There, bathed in an atmosphere of fresh air and dazzling sun, Lucía begins to discover the dark corners of her past relationship, as if they were forbidden passages of a novel which the author now, from afar, allows her to read.

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Plot Keywords:

island | love | novel | writer | waitress | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [es] trailer, clips, info, music (Spanish) Palm Pictures [us]

Country:

Spain France

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

24 August 2001 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Sex and Lucia

Filming Locations:

Formentera, Balearic Islands, Spain

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$47,591 (USA) (12 July 2002)

Gross:

$1,490,177 (USA) (25 October 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alicia Produce, Canal+ España, Sociedad General de Cine (SOGECINE) S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie is divided in two chapters: "Lucía" and "El Sexo" which gives its title to the movie.

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Quotes

Carlos: This really isn't an island.
Lucía: It isn't?
Carlos: It's a giant lid. A floating piece of earth. Like a raft.
Lucía: But it isn't moving.
Carlos: People get dizzy here during high tide. And no one knows why.
Lucía: Except you.
Carlos: I've dived underneath the whole island. It's totally hollow. Thousands of caves, but nothing else. Not a single rock connects it to the sea floor.

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Crazy Credits

Credits scroll in the opposite direction.

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Connections

References Tom Jones (1963)

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Soundtracks

"Mr. Hyde Visita el Tunel del Amor"
Performed by Fangoria
(Battaglio / Jiménez / Olvido Gara (as Gara) / Nacho Canut (as Canut))
(c) Heaven S.L.
Por cortesía de Fangoria, S.L.

User Reviews

Only The Ending Is "Real"

This movie works much better for me if I believe that everything occurring up to the closing scene, in which the writer rises from his keyboard and walks over to the woman at the window, occurs inside that unnamed, unidentified writer's head. In other words, everything we see up to that point, what we think is the movie, is actually the novel that writer is working on. "Lorenzo," "Lucía," "Elena," "Luna," "Belén," and even the editor "Pepe" are merely characters in that novel. The novel our "Lorenzo" is working on, the one "Lucia" sneak-reads, is a novel-within-a-novel. The back-and-forth time shifts are the larger novel's structure and only the movie's structure by default. The novel closes with "Lorenzo's" fantastical plot device of characters falling through a hole, coming back half-way into the story, and changing course: "Elena" and "Luna" reunited and playing in the piazza outside "Lorenzo's" flat. If this was Julio Medem's vision, then it was brilliant. If not, it's still an excellent movie. I think the naysaying commentators I've read need to watch the movie again.