After Lucia

After Lucia
Film poster
Directed by Michel Franco
Produced by Michel Franco
Marco Polo Constandse
Elías Menassé
Fernando Rovzar
Alexis Fridman.
Starring Tessa Ía González Norvind
Cinematography Chuy Chávez
Release date
  • 21 May 2012 (2012-05-21) (Cannes)
  • 19 October 2012 (2012-10-19) (México)
Running time
 102 minutes
Country Mexico
Language Spanish

After Lucia (Spanish: Después de Lucía) is a 2012 Mexican drama film directed by Michel Franco.[1] The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival[2][3] where it won the top prize.[4] The film was also selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.[5] The style of the film has been described as being influenced by Austrian director Michael Haneke.[6][7]

Plot

Roberto (Hernán Mendoza) is depressed after his wife Lucía dies in a road accident. He decides to leave Puerto Vallarta and live in Mexico City with his 17-year-old daughter, Alejandra (Tessa Ía González Norvind). Settling into her new school, Alejandra goes to a party one night with her classmates. At the party, she has sex with José, who films the encounter on his phone. The next day the footage has been circulated around the school, with Alejandra getting text messages calling her a slut. This incident provides a reason for the students in the school to bully and sexually harass Alejandra. She does not speak of these incidents of bullying or sexual harassment to anyone.

The school organises a trip to Veracruz which all the students must attend. At the resort, each room has to be shared in groups of four. Alejandra is bullied again into going into the shower by her female roommates. They then block the door of the bathroom from outside, thus locking her in. At night, the rest of the students enjoy a party in the main room. The boys in the room take turns and rape her. Alejandra is helpless in the locked bathroom with the bullies in the room drinking while she is being raped.

The students then all go to the beach to continue the party. When the party ends, Alejandra is asleep on the beach as one of the male students urinates on her. One of the female students suggests she should go into the sea to wash herself. The rest of them join her and they have fun in the water. Alejandra disappears from the group and the rest of them become anxious about what repercussions now might happen. The next morning, the teachers discover that Alejandra is missing and alert her father. He discovers what has been going on with the bullying and is frustrated when the police cannot help him, as the crimes have been committed by minors.

Unbeknown to everyone, Alejandra is in fact safe and enters a building to sleep. Meanwhile, her father follows a car driven by José's father and he kidnaps José after his father has parked his car. He ties his hands behind his back and gags him. He drives to the coast where he hires a boat and takes José out to sea where he throws him overboard, before starting the engine again and continuing to ride in the sea.

Cast

  • Tessa Ía González Norvind as Alejandra
  • Hernán Mendoza as Roberto
  • Gonzalo Vega Sisto as José
  • Tamara Yazbek Bernal as Tamara
  • Paloma Cervantes as Irene
  • Juan Carlos Barranco as Manuel
  • Francisco Rueda as Javier
  • Diego Canales

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipient(s)Result
Cannes Film Festival Prize of Un Certain Regard Won
Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo Special Jury Prize Won
Young Artist Award[8] Best Performance in an International Feature Film - Young Actress Tessa la González Nominated
Havana Film Festival Best Director Won
San Sebastián International Film Festival Horizons Award - Special Mention Won

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Después de Lucía". semanarioguia. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "2012 Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Screenrush Guide to the 2012 Festival de Cannes". Screenrush. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  4. ↑ Cannes (27 May 2012). "Awards 2012". festival-cannes.fr. Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Young, James (20 September 2012). "'Mexico picks 'Lucia' for Oscar". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "After Lucia review". Miami.com. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "After Lucia review". Leeds Film Festival. Archived from the original on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "34th Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
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