Lucia
It is very
likely “Lucia” is a good movie. It is also possible it is a terrible movie. I frankly
have only a vague idea whether it might be either. In fact there is very little
I can tell about the movie. Instead I can tell a lot about my efforts to
actually watch it.
The Cuban movie
“Lucia” is very difficult to obtain. Amazon has it for sale for 46£, which is
outside my budget. Bongo, who printed the only version available on DVD, does
not have it in stock. I might be able to find an American version I cannot
watch on my player. The link on the 1001 movies hard-to-find list has expired.
The only way I could watch this was on YouTube. Here only the second and third
part of its three segments are available and these two episodes are not
subtitled. Except you can make YouTube auto translate. Let me give you an
example of the wonderful dialogue:
Man and
woman talk to each other:
“That opens
Because you
can invent things you can
Invent
things from my dad things from me
When I’m
more at home I
Tranca says
she spends her life
Talking about
boyfriends and stuff
And my dad
spoke mistakes and you didn’t”
The short
of it is that I got zip out of the dialogue and was left with what I could see
on the pictures.
The first
segment I have not seen.
The second
segment in the thirties is about a woman and a man. The man is apparently a
revolutionary and ends up dead. She is very sad
The third
segment take place in the sixties and is about a storming relationship between
a woman and a man. They fight a lot and scream at each other. They have these voices
you listen to and know they have been screaming a lot.
The music
is nice, which is not surprising, Cuban music is very good. There is a very
nice version of “Guantanamera” in the third segment.
This is a
very hard way to watch a movie and it is only because I am a completionist that
I endure this. Towards the end the lack of understanding meant that even the
pictures lost interest and I just could not wait for it to finish.
If I manage
to obtain a proper version, I will watch it again. Until then I will just cross
it off my list and move on.
I think I actually still have a copy of this one; I saved it on an external drive in case any future questers would need it, because it had been a considerable pain to locate. If you're really curious and/or serious enough to want to watch the whole thing, I can probably get it to you, depending on what method would work best for you.
ReplyDeleteThat would be wonderful! If you could upload it somewhere for me that I could actually see the entire movie and understand what is happening. Much appreciated!
DeleteI doubt I could figure out how to upload it to a video site like YouTube or Vimeo, because the subtitle file I have with it is a separate file; I could pack the movie and the subtitle file and upload that to a file sharing site where you could download it for yourself. Would that work? Also if I do, should I post the link to it here or would you want me to email it to you instead?
DeleteNo Worries, I will send you an email you can reply to with your link.
DeleteI found the whole movie on a site called Zoowoman. But it's a Spanish language site so they don't always have an English language option. However, my Spanish is passable as long as I don't personally have to say anything more complicated than ordering a beer. So I was able to watch it and got the gist of it pretty well. The first segment is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteSee, that is my problem. I am a language moron and my Spanish is non-existent. This is why I felt so helpless watching the YouTube version.
DeleteI have heard good things about the first segment, so I am very unhappy to have missed that part.
I hear you. I don't see how you've been able to view these in order so efficiently. Still looking for an English translation of Keeper of Promises!
ReplyDeleteI think I have one at home. I will check when I return home on Friday.
DeleteWell, I do quite a bit of planning so I always have the next five or six movies ready. It has sometimes been tight but never this bad.
I do indeed have it. If you have a place I can upload it to I can send it to you.
Delete