Film: Lucia
Release date: 1st March 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 160 mins
Director: Humberto Solas
Starring: Raquel Revlizita, Eslina Nunez, Adela Legra
Genre: Drama
Studio: Mr Bongo
Format: DVD
Country: Cuba
In 1969, Humberto Solás - one of the greats of Cuban revolutionary cinema – released Lucía. Shot in three parts, and spanning seventy years of Cuban history, it focuses on the changing attitudes of the Cuban people through the political turmoil of Cuba’s fight for independence.
The film is separated into three stories, each about a different female central character called Lucía, and each living in politically relevant times in Cuba. The first is set in 1895, amidst the Cuban war of independence, and sees well-to-do Lucía become embroiled in an infatuation and romance with a stranger who’s hiding a politically scandalous secret.
The second story is set in the 1930s and sees socially isolated society girl Lucía fall for a guerrilla resistance fighter, and she herself becomes mixed up in the political struggle.
In the third and final film set in the 1960s, we see a newly liberated Cuba, the resistance in full swing. Everywhere, societal advances are being made and cultural freedom is flourishing. Except for Lucía that is, who’s seemingly idyllic new marriage quickly turns sour as her husband reveals himself to be an insanely possessive and controlling bully…
To show Cuba’s struggle for independence through the eyes of three different women over a number of years is a brave and visionary idea which has its fair share of hits and misses. No-one can deny Solás’ extraordinary eye as a filmmaker and his unique approach to bringing his vision to the screen. Lucía features some strikingly beautiful imagery, including some hypnotic dream sequences which rival Fellini at his best. Equally, the chaos and brutality of war is filmed with shocking realism and surprising savagery in contrast to the beauty and care he lavishes on his protagonists - and this is a film that’s clearly in love with its three female leads. In many ways, it is a film which deals with the beauty of women and how they are betrayed, captivated and often destroyed by the ignorance and fear of men and their wars.
It’s also a film about the insanity of conflict. The theme of insanity runs strongly throughout Lucía, particularly in the first story ‘1895’. Here, much is made of the mental casualties created by the awful atrocities and inhumanity of war. Its hard going at times, with some of the imagery and unfeeling cruelty proving tough to watch, but it is a subject which Solás handles compassionately and intelligently. Indeed, strangely, some of the characters who appear most delusional prove to have the most rational grasp on the events surrounding them. It’s a clever paradox which illustrates the madness of the circumstances.
Lucía’s greatest achievement is as a film primarily of the heart. Solás breathes incredible life into his characters, and succeeds in wrenching extraordinary performances from his actors, with all three of his Lucía’s veering from moments of ecstatic joy to hysterical anguish and back again. It’s to the actors’ credit that, for the most part, the performances are entirely credible and intensely soulful, with the cast clearly giving their all to realise Solás’s vision.
With so much in its favour, it’s a crying shame that Lucía’s inadequacies often overshadow its virtues. Granted, it’s a film principally about and for the Cuban market, but to anyone who isn’t well versed in South American history they may really struggle when it comes to keeping up with the plot. Solás makes no effort to explain the political events surrounding the stories for an outsiders’ point of view, so, as a result, many of the references are obscure and exclusionary, in turn making the plot almost indecipherable. You might argue that the main themes of Lucía are of the affects of war and political climate change in general, and so the specifics of the conflict are unimportant. However, since the plot often hinges on the protagonists’ political beliefs, and their roles in shaping these events, if you’re not already familiar with the events themselves, you’re going to struggle to stay completely absorbed in the narrative.
Technically the film suffers also from some atrocious editing, which results in scenes and set pieces jumping about randomly unannounced. There are many instances where it appears as if dialogue – particularly expositional dialogue - has been lost on the cutting room floor, and none of this helps the flow of the stories. It’s also lamentable that sometimes Solás slips over the line into self-indulgence, and the film undoes all its own good work, slipping almost into parody. The finale of the first story springs to mind as an example, where, in the midst of a raging battle, a posse of naked black revolutionaries suddenly appear from nowhere riding on horseback, and proceed to join in the fray. It’s an unnecessary detail, and without the relevant explanatory detail – frankly bizarre.
Lucía is an adventurous, brave attempt to represent a nation in change through the suffering of its women. It has many successes, but sadly just as many failures. Worth seeing for the extraordinary visuals and intense performances, but if you haven’t read up on your Cuban history expect to emerge confused. LB
