Sexo por compasión

Much like "Lolita", the main character of the film, "Sexo por compasión", the film, revitalizes the desire to live in all who experience her. The beginnings of the film are decidedly gloomy and grey, but it grows colourful and cheerful. During its progress, it touches on sensitive themes of love and sex with a profound understanding. Despite its adult themes, the movie is as far removed from porn and "erotica" as possible. It is intended indeed for mature viewers, who do not need nudity or sweaty sex scenes to understand the themes.

This is a strong movie on all accounts. Deliberate directing, charming characters and an optimistic view of life bring it well through. What's noteworthy about the characters is that they aren't cast into restrictive roles, instead they work together to create a living village. Humorous, warm-hearted and imaginative, everybody should see Sexo por compasión.

'Sexo por compasión' (COMPASSIONATE SEX) is a rare little film created in 2000 by Spanish director and writer Laura Mañá that dares to address controversial issues of marital fidelity, the 'oldest profession in the world', the impotence of a Catholic priest in holding his community together, and the irresistible importance of physical discourse in mending misconceptions and misunderstandings. Quite a challenge taking on all of these topics, but Laura Mañá has the skills to pull it off with the use of 'magical realism' and alluring cinematic knowledge and techniques. The final product is a joy! The setting is a small village (either in Spain or Mexico, we are not told exactly) on the verge of dying due to the bland boredom and blanket sadness of the town folk, the lack of children being born and in general due to a languorous malaise. The film is shot not in black and white but varying shades of gray. Dolores (Elisabeth Margoni) is an overweight childless woman obsessed with doing good deeds for others, a fact that drives her husband Manolo (José Sancho) berserk, threatening that if Dolores is unable to come up with an act that demands his forgiveness he will abandon her. Dolores seeks advice from the village priest (Juan Carlos Colombo) in confessional, but the haughty padre is angered by the fact that Dolores daily visits the confessional with nothing to confess. He tells her to go out and sin and then he will be able to hear her confession! Manolo leaves and the devastated Dolores is encouraged to move into the tavern owned by Floren (Mariola Fuentes) and with the loving advice of her friends she hears that the town is dying because the married couples are depressed. The sensitive Dolores hears from both the men and the women and under the pseudonym of Lolita, she invites the husbands to her new bed for free advice, consensual sex and enrichment. Lolita has discovered the source of the town's sadness and soon has slept with every man and keeps her free nurturing going while the women of the village marvel at how their husbands have changed for the better. At this point the town becomes alive, lovely, flowers grow, etc and the film is now in color.

Seeing the changes that have occurred drives the priest to build a cross and perform a ritual crucifixion! The women find Manolo and tell him how the town has changed and why - and the fact that all of the villagers consider Dolores/Lolita a saint. Manolo returns, is enraged, gathers the men together to convince them his wife is a prostitute and the town's life and joy return to the gray of black and white film. The women of the village are convinced that Manolo must be informed as to the sacrifice Lolita has been making and in order to do so they visit Manolo's humble house and line up for a toss in the hay with Manolo: after only several of the many women exit the house with smiles and gleams of physical satisfaction, Manolo weakly emerges admitting that such a process is indeed a sacrifice! How the village manages this mutual acceptance of Dolores and Manolo and incorporates the newfound 'therapy' into their lives constitutes the warmly humorous ending.

The large cast of unknown actors is splendid. There are many cameos (Leocadia played by Leticia Huijara is a zany old lady who insists on photographing herself and the events of the village on a daily basis!, etc) and Laura Mañá handles the direction of this potentially difficult story with amazing finesse. We can only hope she continues to create other films as unique and satisfying as SEXO POR COMPASION! Grady Harp

In a small village in Spain, the middle-aged Dolores (Elisabeth Margooni) is a very good catholic woman, considered almost a saint by the villagers. However, her beloved husband Manolo (José Sancho) leaves her with the argument that she was too perfect, without any sin in her life. Dolores tries to find how she could commit a sin, and in the local bar she hears that the worst thing a woman could do to a man was to cheat him with another man. Dolores adopts the pseudonym of Lolita and has sex for compassion with all the men of the village. The local priest becomes jealous with the situation, since people compare Dolores with a saint and she raises money to rebuild the church. The small town becomes colorful and brightness with her attitude. Things change when Manolo returns to the village. This surreal movie uses the idea of the 1998 `Pleasantville', regarding to the use of black & white and colors to express the feeling of the villagers. The direction of Laura Mañá and the performance of the unknown cast are marvelous. The simple story hooks-up the attention of the viewer along the 109 minutes without being boring in any moment. The soundtrack is another magnificent attraction of this wonderful film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): ` Sexo Por Compaixão' (` Sex For Compassion')

This is the story of a drab and gray Mexican village, where life is boring. The main character is a wife, who mourns the unexpected leave of her husband. She learns that he left her because maybe she is a person without sins. So she wants to do terrible sins in the hope that her husband may return. Adultery proves to be one of the most terrible sins. Thus, she decides to sleep with other men. But miraculously, she helps the sad men who visit her. After sleeping with her, they find new energy in life and the dreary village comes to life again. At this point in the movie, the colour returns to the movie too. In the beginning the movie was shot in gray-colors, but now it turns to glorious colors. The movie is done as a comedy with plenty of laughs and funny situations, but there's a serious undertone of breaking through the macho-culture of Mexico. I found the movie very enjoyable and lighthearted. Recommended.

I wanted to see this film, because I have read very good reviews. They said it was a hilarious comedy filled with sarcasm. I saw the movie and didn't laugh once. It was a sad movie, talking about people stuck with a reality they don't like and they try to change it. Or that is what I thought the movie was about. It confused me and I think the film doesn't have a message that is clear. Maybe the director and the writer didn't exactly know what they wanted to say in the first place. Anyway it is a good movie, with very good performances...I liked it.