A Tribute to Paz Vega

A bit later than planned, but here it is - a little tribute of sorts to the lovely Paz Vega from the films featured here so far. This is my second tribute to the Andalusian goddess, but I thoroughly enjoyed making it all the same. The soundtrack is from my favourite Flamenco album featuring a virtuoso by Johannes Linstead - I hope you guys enjoy this tribute as much as the music.

Download Tribute Video

.

Paz Vega & others in Julio Medem's "Lucía y el Sexo" BR720 [2001 Spain]

I could safely guess that among all of Julio Medem's classics, his 2001 drama, "Lucía y el Sexo" [Eng. Title: Sex and Lucia] is probably the most seen by a non Spanish audience. While some may have been drawn to its liberal sex scenes, many, at least from my neck of the woods, would relate the film to Spain's stereotypical image of sun, sand and sea. Sr. Medem however, had gone the extra mile in ensuring these images are not merely used as props but essential elements to tell his poetic story, rich in symbolism.

Even though this isn't my favourite Medem, it is nevertheless beautiful (and somehow I feel, very feminine) cinema. You have the symbolic mother, the lover, and the whore, intertwined, each playing an important part in connecting the story. And then you have 'the island', in itself is a metaphor, where everything starts and ends (and starts again). This film can be nothing but art, because every time I see it, it is like looking through a kaleidoscope - there's something new to discover, whether intended by the director or not. For this reason, the film occupies prime space in my library, within easy reach - so that it could be seen again, and again. If you haven't seen this film before, it is about time you did. Needless to say, Highly Recommended Viewing.

Here's the gist: Lorenzo, a writer, meets Elena at an island and they have sex - by the sea at night - it also happens to be his birthday. He never hoped to see her again, but fate had other ideas - he had after all just planted the seed for the rest of the story to unfold. He meets Lucía, a woman working in a restaurant opposite - she had already fallen in love with him and his work, and he loves her in return. Life now seems so tranquil that he now has nothing much to write about. But thanks to his friend, he learns he now has a daughter (through Elena), and attempts to bond with her secretly. Her frisky child-minder Belén enters his life, and events take a turn for the worse from then onwards, until the main characters converge on 'the island'.

The scenes below have been re-cut from Blu-ray, specifically for my blog.







Paz Vega: Compilation 1
For many, the film will be remembered for the lovely Paz Vega. She plays Lucía, the girl madly in love with Lorenzo.



Scene guide:
Lucía discloses her love to Lorenzo, and they return to his flat drunk, Lucía explores his house the following morning and they have sex for the first time. Contains some explicit sex scenes which was body-doubled by porn actress Diana Suárez.









Najwa Nimri:
The beautiful Najwa Nimri steals our heart as Elena - a character who's probably the kindest woman in the planet. The first part of the scene is of her with Lorenzo, followed by her discovery that she's pregnant, at which point she breaks up with her partner, through his secretary over the phone. The first scene is probably one of the most romantic underwater love scenes ever filmed. The second half has no nudity, but sexy nevertheless. The compilation as a whole showcases Julio Medem's artistry.











Paz Vega: Compilation 2
Some more scenes of the lovely Paz Vega playing Lucía. The scenes are more or less continuos - depicting Lorenzo and Lucía's developing relationship. The first half is very 'visual' that require little description. The second half of the compilation (unfortunately forgot to include caps for these in the graphic) is of Lucía visiting the island on her own after she presumes Lorenzo is dead after an accident. She stay's at Elena's place, where she's introduced to Carlos (Antonio had taken on another identity), also a tenant there. Elena tells Lucía that Carlos and she have a purely sexual relationship, and the fact that he had the biggest penis she's ever seen, which was enough to make Lucía curious about Carlos. It includes some nude scenes by the beach, and Lucía receiving a sensual mud massage from Carlos. She however stops him from going all the way.











Elena Anaya, Diana Suárez, and Paz Vega:
This compilation is made of several scenes involving Paz Vega (Lucía), a young Elena Anaya (Belén), and Diana Suárez (Belén's mum):



Scene guide:

1. When Belén tells Lorenzo that her mother's a retired pornstar, living with her hunky former colleague, Lorenzo is intrigued and asked if she too fancied her mother's boyfriend. Reluctant at first, she admits to flirting with him, and relates an incident one night, when she was masturbating in the nude to one of her mum's porno movies. She hears Antonio (mum's boyfriend) enter the room. The remainder of this scene is of Lorenzo building up that fantasy for his own writing material - his novel was gradually becoming autobiographical.
2. Lucía who habitually reads what Lorenzo had written, is shocked and tries to comfort him in bed.
3. Belén invites Lorenzo over to the child's house - she's baby sitting that night, and Lorenzo accepts. They are interrupted when the door opens, and tragedy unfolds (not shown here).
4. Another fictional scene where the disturbed Lorenzo builds layers upon the relationship between Belén, her mother, and her mother's lover. He is now ridden with guilt and self-hatred after the tragic event.
5. Elena calls her former chlld-minder Belén, and invites her to the island where she lives, while Belén's mum sunbathes in the nude and takes a shower by the balcony in broad view.
6. Lorenzo pens a terrible end for his mother-daughter characters (Belén and her mum).

.

Paz Vega & Natalia Verbeke in "El Otro Lado de la Cama" [2002 Spain]

Emilio Martínez Lázaro made this comedy-musical, "El Otro Lado de la Cama" [Eng. Title: The Other Side of the Bed] in 2002, and following its success at the box office, he also went on to do a sequel with the same male leads.

Even if this is just an average film, meant for easy viewing, technically and aesthetically it is very well made, and thanks to the two lovely leading ladies, Paz Vega and Natalia Verbeke, eminently watch-able, enough to even justify my DVD purchase. Natalia particularly is so cute, funny and ridiculously sexy in the film, she lights up every scene she's in.

Now for the story. Paula, Pedro's partner of three years breaks up with him by confessing that she's now in love with another man. A shocked Pedro pours his heart out to his best friends, a couple, Javier and Sonia. Sonia visits Pedro one day to comfort him, and they both end up in bed - they however decide to keep their new relationship secret. Thanks to a private investigator, Pedro soon discovers that Paula's new boyfriend is none other than Javier, his best friend. Sonia and Paula eventually move back to their respective partners, but continue having fun with the other guy now and again - the guys also tolerate their partners' (or should I say their own) infidelity. You also have a few song and dance sequences, but for someone who loves musicals, I found them becoming tedious after a while.  Paz Vega plays Sonia, and Natalia Verbeke plays Paula.

I had originally reviewed this films many years ago, but these are new scenes freshly cut from my DVD.




Natalia Verbeke:



First half of the compilation is of Paula having fun with Sonia's partner Javier. In the second half she returns back to her Pedro, and asks if they could give it another go. They agree to take things slowly. Natalia Verbeke is absolutely adorable and sexy in these scenes.






Paz Vega



Ahh, Paz! Utterly lovely Paz! One could keep watching her all day. This is also a compilation of two halves - first is Sonia with her guilt-ridden partner, Javier. The second part is with the recently dumped Pedro.



.

Leonor Watling & Paz Vega in "Hable con Ella" [2002 Spain]

I finally managed to get an Almodovar up here. I had reviewed his 2002 classic "Hable con Ella" [Eng. Title: Talk to Her] years ago, but these scenes are freshly edited and recut from DVD.

For people outside Spanish speaking territories, Pedro Almodóvar would have probably been their first introduction to Spanish language cinema. His early underground films were not only groundbreaking in their subject matter, they were cleverly written and refreshingly executed. He is still the most famous name in Spanish cinema, and rightly so.

While some of his recent films have become less edgy, "Hable con Ella" still retains the raw humanity emanating from his earlier works, and as ever, his women are inherently strong characters. In "Hable con Ella", we see Alicia lying in a state of coma for the best part of the film, but still manages to command our respect, she makes us feel ashamed for looking at her nudity, and Almodóvar skillfully creates this special connection between Alicia and the audience. Similarly we have another strong character in Lydia the matador, who also goes into coma after being gored by a bull in the arena. The story and screenplay is excellently constructed, no wonder it won so many major awards including Oscar, BAFTA, Goya and César. If you haven't yet seen this film, you should. This gem can't be recommended enough!

Compilation 1:
I have combined all the scenes involving Alicia, played by the beautiful and wholesome Leonor Watling. Watching her at the ballet school opposite his flat, male nurse Benigno falls headlong in love, even if he is only too aware he's aiming far too high. He visits her home with an excuse of a session with her Psychologist-father. But after an accident, when Alicia goes into coma in the hospital where he works, Benigno begins a ficticious relationship with her, after her father appoints him exclusively to take care of Alicia. There is only one brief nude scene where she is conscious at all - when she comes out of the shower only to see Benigno had been snooping around her room.







Compilation 2:
The bulk of this compilation belongs to the lovely Paz Vega, who plays Amparo in an amusing silent film within the film. Some of you may remember seeing this unforgettable scene, perhaps in bits and pieces. I left the entire film intact because it is worth watching for its own sake. Alicia used to enjoy watching silent films - so Benigno narrates to her the film that he had recently seen. Earlier in the compilation, we see Lydia, played by Rosario Flores ceremoniously getting dressed for the bull fight. We also see a scene of a very scared and very nude Ángela. played by Elena Anaya, running away after seeing a snake in her tent.





.

Paz Vega in "Carmen" [2003 Spain]

Vicente Aranda is known for his uninhibited treatment of raw emotions like sexual passion, jealousy and hatred. His 2003 adaptation of Prosper Mérimée's novella, "Carmen" showcases these magnificently. The script and his attention to minor details bring these fictional characters and the times that they lived in to life quite vividly.

While the great Carlos Saura treated his 1983 version of Carmen stylistically - juxtaposing characters in a modern day theater producing a Flamenco version of the same opera, Vicente Aranda interprets the original novel more closely, while adding his own embellishments like introducing Mérimée as a character within the film, bearing witness to unfolding events. The lush cinematography, impeccable art direction and costume design transport us to 1830's Seville where this story is set.

What lets it down however, may be the casting. While some of the actors fit the role to a point, the most important character of all - Carmen, doesn't. Which is a shame really - one of the reasons for this post is to focus on, and start the filmography of Paz Vega - possibly the prettiest actress ever to come out of Spain. The Carmen character is that of a ruthless vamp - I wasn't convinced Paz Vega was one - I think Laura del Sol made a better Carmen in Carlos Saura's version, as did Julia Migenes in Francesco Rosi's Italian version. Paz may have the native Andalucian features of Carmen - she hails from Seville herself - but that's as far as the comparison goes.

I had reviewed this film years ago, this is however a reappraisal with freshly cut scenes from DVD. In the coming days I will be updating scenes from my collection of films by Vicente Aranda and others here - much of the material may have already been reviewed by me elsewhere - but these will be rewritten, and the scenes will be newly cut from DVD's or BD's - focusing of course, on quality. I hope these will be among the best one can find today.



Scene 1:
This is a great scene well recreated by Sr. Aranda. A cigar factory in 19th century Spain could only be described as a 'sweat shop'. There's no airconditioning, tempers flay, and what do you get - sweaty factory girls getting all rowdy. Carmen, with the shortest of tempers, shouldn't be messed with. Unaware of this, one woman pokes fun at her for being too slow in picking up José - the young corporal who's ignored Carmen's overtures so far. She throws Carmen a cigar after rubbing it in her vagina, and asks her to give it to José on her behalf - so that he'd know what a real woman smells like. Carmen however has heard enough when she is taunted for her gypsy heritage - strangely, she wasn't offended as much even when she was addressed as a whore!






Scene 2:
José, now stripped of his rank and just released from a prison term for letting Carmen escape while in his custody, finally tracks her down at an officer's party. As a thank you gift, Carmen takes him to a brothel - one she occasionally rents herself when in need of some cash. Later, when José is about to leave to report back to duty, Carmen admonishes him for being a 'slave' to the army and persuades him to stay - until she decides otherwise. Keep an eye out for an unexpected glimpse of the lovely Paz (top right of my graphic) - I can see they tried to restrict its view during post production, but a few frames needed to remain.






Scene 3:
This is a combination of four different scenes. First is when Carmen roundly insults the hapless José while returning another favour he did her. The second is when José asks Carmen to be his alone - he is now a fugitive wanted for killing his liutenent at the brothel, for being Carmen's customer. The third part is Carmen having sex publicly with José in the smuggler's cave. It's only in the final part of the scene does José painfully realise that Carmen is already married to the smuggler chief - she still manages to snuggle into his bed after her husband falls asleep.






Scene 4:
Early in the scene, Carmen's husband draws her close while playing cards with his mates, rubs her vagina in broad view, and praising how her 'twat' always brings him luck. José is only too aware that Carmen would only bring his downfall, and that there is nothing he could do to stop destiny. When José learns that Carmen is now with Lucas, a famous bullfighter, he barges in, blasts the poor man, and drags Carmen to the church of the Holy Virgin. When Carmen steadfastly refuses to change her ways and become his wife, José knows he'd now reached the end of the road. This dramatic last scene is well shot.





.