Reviews

I watched this film because it got one vote for Sight and Sound's once-a-decade list of the best films ever made, probably the only mainstream Bollywood movie ever to have achieved that distinction (though Satyajit Ray's works receive a number of votes). I wouldn't put it on my top 10 list of all time, as that one critic did, but I do think the film is wonderful.

It's not sophisticated. I'm pretty new to Bollywood films, having only watched a few highly-regarded ones so far, but my impression of them is that they are primarily about basic emotions (family, love) deeply felt. Broadly drawn emotions, no subtlety here. But these films seem to get to me, and this one did more than any of the others I've watched.

The sound effects are bad, and there's a small amount of broad humor that I think detracts from the film. The musical parts are pretty good. I think the lead was wonderfully cast, and the women are beautiful, as they invariably are in Indian films.

I watched this because I liked another Julio Medem film, Lovers of the Arctic Circle, so much. I still prefer "Lovers," but Sex and Lucia is a good film. I will watch future Medem films. "Sex" has similarities to "Lovers:" I would describe them both as love stories with rather convoluted and improbable circumstances advancing the plots. Still, Medem puts some feeling in these stories.

I watched the unrated version (there's also a R-rated version). It is the most sexually explicit mainstream film I've ever seen. If it were any more explicit it would be hardcore pornography.

This is one of the most undisciplined, pointless messes I've ever seen. It exemplifies everything that is bad about "art" films. Unless you know you like Godard, I would not recommend you watch this film.

Some of the problems: Unexplained changes in lighting from shot to shot in a scene. Music cutting in and out inexplicably. There simply isn't enough detail in the script to follow the plot. Subtitles are poor (e.g. no translation of French writings). I could go on and on.

This is the first mainstream Bollywood film I've ever seen and I loved it! And I don't even like musicals! The part that got to me was the romance. I've always been a dreamer and I'm a sucker for the stuff in this film.

I also liked much of the dancing. It was more modern and Western than I expected. I'm anything but a dance connoisseur, but I preferred the stuff in this film to Alvin Ailey by a longshot. I'm looking forward to watching more Bollywood films now, though the selection of them with English subtitles is less than I would like.