Main Cast: Cecilia Roth, Carlos Alvarez-Novoa, Kuno Becker, Javier Diaz Duenas, Margarita Isabel
Release Year: 2003
Country: MX
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Filmmaker Antonio Serrano, who made a splash with his first film Sexo, Pudor y Lagrimas, returns to the screen with this thriller from Mexico. Lucia (Cecilia Roth) is a woman whose life is thrown into chaos when her husband suddenly disappears without a trace. As Lucia searches for a clue to his whereabouts, she discovers evidence that suggests her husband had a dangerous secret life he never shared with her, and she finds she isn't the only person with an interest in finding him. Lucia, Lucia (originally released under the title La Hija del Canibal) also features Carlos Alvarez-Novoa and Kuno Becker. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
This is a playful movie, which is a mixed blessing. Lucía (Cecilia Roth) is presented as an unreliable narrator who embellishes her story as she tells it, which we see as her hair color and apartment decor changes. This keeps the audience guessing what's real and what's a product of her imagination as they observe some of the film's more fanciful developments. With the help of good performances by Roth and others, well-staged shots, and clever art direction, this is a likably breezy film. But it's also a bit too cutesy, and the light tone doesn't mesh with the more serious elements of the screenplay, which addresses political corruption in Mexico. Also, the narrative sometimes gets lost amidst the various plot twists and turns, and it doesn't really add up to a compelling thriller. The film also devotes a lot of time to Lucía's friendship with Félix (Carlos Alvarez-Novoa) and Adrian (Kuno Becker). Both are engaging, but they seem more like movie conceits than fleshed-out characters and their relationship with Lucía is never completely believable. It's possible this is deliberate (in keeping with the idea that Lucía is an unreliable narrator), but it also helps make the film seem more insubstantial. Overall, this is a reasonably entertaining movie, but it doesn't add up to much at the end. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide
The movie was filmed over a period of eight weeks in and around Mexico City, as well as at the Puebla airport and the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro. In the United States the film was released under the name Lucía, Lucía, since the producers thought the name La hija del caníbal (literally, "The cannibal's daughter") would lead audiences to believe the story was about a cannibal.
This movie was not as successful as Serrano's first film Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas. Its box-office output in Mexico was MNX$10 million (under a million dollars. In Spain it was released on November 21, 2003 in 100 theaters[3]. In the United States it had a box-office output of USD$269,586 in just 50 theatres. The movie currently takes the spot of the 204th highest grossing foreign film in the United States[4].
Lucía (Cecilia Roth) a children's book writer, is travelling to Brazil with her husband on vacation, when her husband disappears after going to the airport bathroom. She later learns that he was kidnapped by a group called the People Workers Party that wants 120 million Pesos from her. Her husband frantically tells her to find the money in his aunt's safety deposit box. With the help of her neighbours, a Spanish Civil War veteran (Carlos Álvarez-Nóvoa), and a young musician (Kuno Becker), Lucía sets out to find his kidnappers. She eventually discovers the truth about his disappearance after learning from the police that her husband is accused of being part of an elaborate embezzlement scam from within the Treasury Department of the government and may have possibly faked his kidnapping.
