Feature film
Lucía
Humberto Solás · 1968
Synopsis
Three women named Lucía, at three moments in Cuban history. In 1895, under Spanish rule, Raquel Revuelta's Lucía lives a doomed love during the war of independence. Around 1932, Eslinda Núñez's Lucía takes up the fight against Machado. In the sixties, at the time of the literacy campaign, Adela Legrá's Lucía, a peasant woman, becomes aware of her husband's sexism; this last part is treated as a comedy.
Context
Shot in 1967 and released the following year, in black and white, the film runs for one hundred and sixty minutes; the screenplay is by Solás, Julio García Espinosa and Nelson Rodríguez, the cinematography by Jorge Herrera, the music by Leo Brouwer. Each part has its own manner: epic tragedy, diverted Hollywood melodrama, comedy; Richard Porton notes Soviet montage, handheld camera and baroque stylisation. The Cineteca di Bologna restored it with the Cuban film institute, with the support of the Film Foundation and Turner Classic Movies.
Who it is for
A long film, in three parts of very different styles; each can be watched for its own sake.
Prizes and reception
Gold Medal at the Moscow festival in 1969; critics compared it to Visconti and Kurosawa.