I was introduced to the joys of Latino films less than a year ago. While "Lucia, Lucia" didn't amaze me, it certainly reaffirmed my belief that the average quality of Spanish language films, at least those released in the US, is generally higher than Hollywood films, and on par with American independent cinema. The plot definitely isn't spoon-fed to you in Lucia, Lucia. The filmmakers wisely let us know right away that the narrator isn't fully reliable. This is important, because without viewing the film as a story a person is telling you that may or may not be true, there would be temptation to poke holes in the plot. I appreciate films with somewhat subtle social commentary. This isn't a film about corruption, but it does point out existing corruption in the Mexican government. I was shocked when my girlfriend told me how old Cecilia Roth is. While the nudity and sex scenes were a tad unnecessary, she certainly has a body worth showing off. Her acting definitely carries the movie. I don't think I understood the portions with Lucia's parents, aside from illustrating that Lucia doesn't have much of a loving family to fall back on. I liked the change in hair-styles and how her apartment changes appearance to suit the narrator's mood. Its something I'll watch more closely when I see the film again. Overall this is a fine movie. It ranks below "Amores Perros" and "Y tu mama, Tambien", but is still a worthwhile movie. It saddens me though that if art reflects life, the Latin American world seems to be losing the sense of community it held onto longer than the US did. It stands to reason that as globalization spreads, people become less connected with their neighbors and community. It seems that Mexico might be undergoing a process of social alienation not unlike what happened in this country in the 80s and 90s.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Velvet Goldmine
(1998)
I almost fell asleep
19 March 2004
Visually I liked this movie. They did a lot of interesting things with color. The sound really got to me. The songs were boring. Basically it was like a hack composer trying to imitate the sound of Bowie or Iggy Pop. I appriciated the film as being a somewhat mainstream movie featuring a male "love" story. But I didn't really like any of the characters except the reporter. The stuff with the pin was supposed to be symbolic, but it came across as meaningless. I have a pretty high tolerance for movies. Most either are entertaining, or are so bad they're entertaining. This movie failed to do either, really. Wouldn't recommend this not into glam rock. To Wong Fu... is a better movie with crossdressing. (For what that's worth)
Battle Royale
(2000)
Funny, Bizarre, Stupid
18 March 2004
This movie is a 15 year-old's dream. For those of us who are fully clear of puberty, its a strange film. The violence is graphic, but ridiculous. The characters are paper thin. The only good thing is at least I can keep the cliched characters straight. I was amused by the nerd, and cheered for the wicked trashy girl. And it was fun seeing Go-Go from Kill Bill, even if she died pretty early on. I really hated the two random students who were added - Mr. evil crazy hair and Mr. goody goody. Basically they did all the killing, they looked about 25 years old. The stat lines at the bottom are absolutely hilarious. The Teacher was just ridiculous. Not to mention that the government was paying 20some soldiers for 3 days just to kill a few middle schoolers. I don't feel like I wasted my time seeing this. But I wouldn't recommend it to a friend. Japanese movies are weird...
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