Las Edades de Lulú

Girl gone bad.

Hello fellow readers, today we return with an osbcure 1990 film originaly known as "Las Edades de Lulú" AKA "The Ages of Lulu". Spanish Bigas Luna is the writer and director of this movie which is based on the homonymous novel written by Almudena Grandes, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the movie. However, this film may not be everybody's cup of tea as it explores darker territories that will not please all of the sexploitation connoisseurs.

It's a full-blooded, Spanish tale of sex and desire and obsession and from the very opening shots (a baby being covered in talcum powder while the camera stays stubbornly aimed at the naked crotch - an unsubtle portent of what is to come) this provides a lot of discomfort as it explores a journey of exploding sexuality.

Gorgeous Francesca Neri.

Young Lulu gets a date with the older Pablo and is very happy. They fool around but she's reluctant to do as he asks of her (she doesn't want to touch herself and is hesitant to perform oral sex) but Pablo is a persistent guy and charms her and puts her at ease when they get back to a place of privacy. Lulu is so at ease, in fact, that she allows Pablo to shave her pubic region and they then move on to sex. The whole evening becomes a wonderful memory, only ruined later when Lulu finds out that Pablo will be leaving for America. Sometime later, the two are reunited and they have a lot of lost time to make up for. They try as hard as they can. In bed. Together, and with other people present. Life is sexy and good but boundaries keep being pushed and Lulu starts down a path that will take her somewhere very dark indeed.

First time shave, first time shag.

While this could be, and I'm sure it is, easily dismissed by many as nothing more than shocking pornography masquerading as art, I must say that I really felt myself drawn in to this world of passion mixing with love and getting confused amongst the push for more and more thrills. Pablo, in an early scene, tells Lulu never to confuse love and sex and that's another unsubtle pointer to where the movie is headed. Because it looks at just that kind of confusion - people who look to sexual thrills as some replacement for something they feel is missing from their lives.

Married sex, AKA legal sex.

The direction is okay, though the structure of the film is little more than a step from one moment of kinkiness to the next, but the story and the acting really helps to make this a watchable movie for more than just the obvious aesthetic pleasure. Francesca Neri moves fantastically from naive young girl to debased sex addict in the role of Lulu, Oscar Ladoire is just fine as the guiding and dominating Pablo, Maria Barranco does well as Ely, Fernando Guillen Cuervo is okay and there's an early, but prominent, role for Javier Bardem (his first credited film role, from what I can see).

Most awful surprise.

Certainly not one to stick on during family gatherings (even the dialogue is unsavoury at times with Pablo saying on a couple of occasions that he wished he had a daughter like Lulu - there's just no way to hear the character say that without feeling slightly grimy), but The Ages Of Lulu is an impressive erotic drama with one or two nasty moments that should please fans of Jess Franco or even someone like Gaspar Noe. 

Anyways, here is the movie trailer:

And if you want more, here the full fime, courtesy of You Tube: