Lucia (1968)

The film Lucia is a Cuban film that was produced in support of Communism.  The film is divided into three distinct segments, each having a different female lead character with the same name - Lucia.  The first segment takes place in the era of independence for Cuba (1895-1898).  The second is set during the early 1930's during the era of Machado and the failed revolution.  The last segment takes place during the Communist Construction era from 1966-1970.  In this post, I will be discussing the first and last segments of Lucia.

The story of the first Lucia is a very melodramatic portrayal of an aristocratic Cuban lady and her ill-fated romance.  Lucia is a wealthy Cuban who catches the eye of a new-comer in town, Rafael  The two instantly fall in love and begin spending much time together.  While at Lucia's family dinner, Rafael reveals that he is half Spanish and half Cuban but claims he is impartial to either side in the war, rather he sympathetic for both sides.  At this same dinner, Rafael learns that Lucia's family owns a coffee plantation.  He inquires to the plantation's whereabouts, however, Lucia says that no one knows how to get there.  Later, we are informed that Lucia's brother Felipe is part of the Cuban war of independence, fighting on behalf of the Cubans.  Lucia keeps this piece of information a secret. 

In the guise of wanting to run away with Lucia, Rafael convinces Lucia to disclose the location of the coffee plantation.  While, Lucia is sneaking through the city streets in the wee hours to meet Rafael, she is confronted by a homeless lunatic.  Supposedly, this lady was a former nun who was raped on the battlefield while performing last rites for what she thought were dead soldiers.  She tries to warn Lucia not to meet Rafael, but Lucia does not heed this warning.  As she and Rafael arrive at the plantation, they are met by an army of Spanish troops.  Lucia realizes that the whole love affair was a trick.  A battle ensues and Lucia's brother is one of the Cuban casualties.  After this devastation, Lucia later sees Rafael in the street and stabs him to death.

The last Lucia tells a story of two Cuban newlyweds living in the Communist Construction era.  This segment incorporates elements of slapstick comedy.  Lucia and Tomas are a young couple who have recently been married.  At the beginning, their relationship is full of love, playfulness, and sex.  However, Tomas soon becomes possessive and abusive towards Lucia.  He is jealous and in order to keep her away from the attention of other men, he makes Lucia quit her job and does not allow her to leave the house.  Lucia soon tires of this and longs to return to her job.  Tomas attends a town meeting that promotes Communist ideas, one of these being literacy.  As Lucia cannot read, a government official is sent to their home in order to teach her.  Tomas becomes insanely jealous of this man.  More fighting between the couple erupts.  Finally, Lucia leaves Tomas and returns to working in the fields.  At the end, Tomas finds Lucia and wants her back.  The film ends with the couple fighting each other on the beach while a little girl onlooker laughs, indicating hope for the future.

The main goal of this film really is to promote Communism and illustrate the relationship between class and nation, at the same time presenting all of this information in an artistic manner.  It presents the progression of Cuba from a capitalist nation to a socialist society. And this was done through the progression of social classes.  With the first Lucia we see the aristocratic society fighting for their independence.  The people in Lucia's realm are dressed in imported Victorian clothing and their features reveal them to be of European descent.  By the third Lucia, we see a total transformation of Cuba.  The characters in this segment come from a mixture of racial backgrounds.  The main character herself is a mulata.  The emphasis seen here in this section is of working and being productive.  It also tries to teach people that the old ways are gone and that Cuba is changing. Flavio and Angelina try to explain this to Tomas who is old-fashioned.  They tell him he needs to let his woman work.  An important aspect of Cuba's Communist Revolution was the valuing of the working classes and the demonization of the aristocracy.  The director of this film used media to promote these Communist ideas.