Lucia (1968) User Reviews (7)

Love, War, and Revolution

[Maniac_In_Black · 8/10 · 22 February 2023]

The super dramatic high contrast of the black and white cinematography during the final scene of the first story, capturing the dramatic moment of Lucia stabbing the man who betrayed her for the sake of war, seem to balance each other out in one of the many breathtakingly beautiful shot scenes in this under seen film. The first story is shot best I think, but the entire picture is almost all visually stunning for the most part.

During the third story, Tomas is at a rally listening to a woman speak about how wives should not be jealous when a comrades sister or "some hussy" flirts with their husband. Its "the wrong attitude" for the revolution. Tomas applauds in agreement, despite his entire story revolving around his toxic jealously and controlling behavior.

I referred to it as under seen because as of today, it only has 1,059 votes and the last review is from 11 years ago.

Its better to watch and experience this for yourself rather than reading too much about it, so I'll stop there as I believe the movie speaks for itself.

An epic, for Cuban standards.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 4 February 2012]

Even though this by no means is a bad movie to watch, it still is one, that I'm sure, works out better if you are Cuban yourself or at least know something about its history, or are interested in its culture.

For outsiders it's not always that great or interesting of a movie to watch. It chronicles the life and in particular the love life of 3 different women named Lucía, during 3 historically important Cuban time periods. This is normally the sort of stuff you expect to see in a big, overblown epic movie and this movie also definitely tries to be that way. But no, it's Cuban, so that means they had less money and less experience to come up with a sweeping epic movie. It still succeeds in parts and I can definitely appreciate the effort but overall the movie is a bit too lacking with its stories and characters to make a real big impression.

Basically it is the story of the first Lucía that still remains the best and most interesting one to watch. It's set during the Cuban war of independence, in 1895, in which the Cubans fought against the Spanish. This is really where most of the movie its excitement comes from and therefore it also really is the most interesting story to follow. It even has some pretty impressive battle sequences in it, toward its end.

The second story had all the potential of becoming a good and politically interesting one but the movie never really goes deep enough with its story. It's certainly lacking a bit of bite and the main character besides never really comes across as an interesting or likable enough one.

And the third story...well, I don't even really know what the whole point of it was. At least the previous 2 stories still had a strong message and morale in it, while the third movie only slightly seems to attempt this, without succeeding much really. It's definitely the most redundant story of the 3 but luckily it's also the shortest one, I believe.

The movie is a bit awkwardly put together, with its directing approach, acting and overall storytelling. Or perhaps this maybe is not fair to say and you should instead say that they attempted to do this movie in their own way, by Cubans, for Cubans.

And really, it's still a quite maintaining movie, especially if you are Cuban yourself or are really into Cuba and its history and culture. And even while I'm not, I could still definitely appreciate this movie for what it achieved and for what it attempted to be and do.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Lucía

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 14 July 2012]

This Cuban film was in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and even though it does not appear rated and reviewed by many critics, if it appears in the book that is the recommendation I can pay attention. Basically the film sees three women in three time periods, all with the same name of Lucia, and we see them all go through their lives through the events and dilemmas in their times of Cuban history. Lucia I (Raquel Revuelta), in 1895, is the ambitious woman who lives through the time of the Spanish imperialism, including the war battle, and struggles to cope with a doomed love affair. Lucia II (Eslinda Núñez), in 1930, is trying to keep up a relationship with the man she loves, but society throws problems in her way, it creates isolation within her, and she struggles to cope with lots of things. Lucia III (Adela Legrá), in the 1960s, is the modern (at the time of the film) lady who lives through the time of the literacy campaign, it is post-revolution period when sexism is being tackled, and her good nature is not always acknowledged. Also starring Eduardo Moure as Rafael, Ramón Brito as Aldo and Adolfo Llauradó as Tomas. I will be completely honest that I didn't know everything that was going on with each woman, but it was easy to follow the different changes in time, and there were some interesting moments during the certain situations, particularly all the revolution material, so it is I suppose a worthwhile drama. Good!

History and Acting together

[Godfathe · 9/10 · 10 August 1999]

Lucia is one of the best Cuban movies ever done. The psychological portray of these three women in three different historical scenarios is fantastic.Revuelta's acting is unforgettable.Costumes and scenography are impeccable.The third story is the weakest due to political tint along with official ideology.

very good

[Bardotsalvador · 10/10 · 20 November 2010]

This movie is a very good one here is the story of three different woman in three different time but all have a connection to each others the better segment is the one with Raquel Revuelta a great actress with a powerful performance by this time she was still very beautiful even she was in her 40s her real life mother the legendary actress Silvia Planas play her mother in the movie too, her segment is at the end of the colonial time in Cuba back in 1898 in this segment miss Revuelta all dress in white look impeccable she is perfect for the part i don't think she was ever better well maybe as Dona Barbara back in the mid seventies, the others segments are good but not as perfect as this one Eslinda Nunez play the lead in the second part no a great actress but was beautiful the last part was weak and very political

A Caribbean Tropical Fairytale..

[Zeech · 21 April 2003]

NOT!! I watched this, black and white movie from the only Caribbean Island that has consistently produced content for and by it's people .... Cuba. Three segments make up the movie, so you can break this up for a class or workshop very easily. The last flow is a post revolution Caribbean and brutally honest about a 'Guy Thing' that Michele Wallace and Cornell West have pointed out for decades but still many men don't take notice (I know I was just the same back in the day).

The moment, is what happens after our revolution brothers? Be we in Cuba, Eritrea, Algeria etc. When we have called upon women to help produce change. The truth is we have a habit of replacing White Patriarchal power structure with a black/brown one and say to sisters, wives, mothers, grandmothers. "Listen na, massa day done! now is we time, why you don't just leave this serious business to we men, you women go and busy yourself with anyting but this serious business of power."

Z' (still evolving I hope)

Long, heavy-handed and sometimes embarrassing

[Austen-2 · 2/10 · 19 April 2001]

I only watched the first episode and most of the second. The acting in the first (Revuelta particularly) was so over the top that the audience (at the University of Chicago) laughed. The politics are cartoonish and the characters tiresome. There are some nice genre scenes for the two eras, but even this is overdone and very one-dimensional as well as sometimes offensive (silly upper class women, naked black revolutionary warriors riding bareback, extended scenes of rape and violence). It is the worst Cuban film I have ever seen