Lisístrata

Lisistrata (2002) * 1/2

directed by Francesc Bellmunt with Maribel Verdú, Javier Gurruchaga, Juan Luis Galiardo, Teté Delgado, Jesús Bonilla, Aitor Mazo and Albert Trifol.

OK. Let's suppose you don't know who Ralf König is. This guy is a german gay comic author whose comics have been previously adapted to the big screen ("Maybe, maybe not", "The Killer Condom") with different result. Lisistrata is his adaptation of Aristófanes' play about a woman from Athens that begins a women strike in Athens and Spartha till war between both cities is over. You may wonder: what's the big deal with the strike? That they don't have sex with their partners, so they carry all day gigantic erections that prevent them of making war with a minimum of dignity. That is, till the gay and lesbian community of both Spartha and Athens notice that this is a golden chance. How the situation develops leads to one of the funniest comic-books ever written, a comic that spread all over Europe becoming a cult classic. It is not strange that the adaptation comes from Spain.Thinking about it twice, only spanish and italian film-makers could have done a good job. And Francesc Bellmunt was in the list of possibilities for developing a good comedy. Add to the cocktail "Y tu mamá también"'s Maribel Verdú as Lisistrata and some good spanish actors and I can't understand how this went so wrong. The problem? It's called "over the top, mediterranean style". The movie never leaves the ground and the funny stuff becomes mostly unfunny (with some exceptions: Aitor Mazo and Albert Trifol's relationship gives the best moments of the movie which have some hilarious shots and situations, but develops with a feeling of "am I supposed to laugh?" most of the time. I won't get further in a movie that doesn't need a more extensive review to disqualify it. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it. It's just simply forgettable.

Go, look for the Ralf König comic-book, read it, and only check out this movie if you're really curious about how it got translated to the big screen.

411 BC, Sparta and Athens are in a endless war, but Lisistrata, a beautiful woman has an idea to stop the fight, and convinces all the women to do it: no sex until there is peace. At first things are going well and men are becoming more and more desperate, but when when things are going to collapse, Hepatitos, the leader of the Gay Greek United has an idea: convince men that, if women doesn't want to have sex, let's do it only with men; which will lead to unexpected funny situations. The film is bad, very bad, the plot is quite absurd and actors are simply correct, but, in some way, the film is so absurd and weird that it results funny, i found myself laughing a lot while watching these film (maybe I was in an unexpected good mood, I don't know), it is good if you want to spend a relaxed 90 minutes, relaxed seeing a film. It does not worth at all the time you will spend seeing it, but there are lots of worse films that this one. If you have not anything more to do, possibly you will laugh a little and have a good time.