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Clip description
After the funeral, relatives and friends gather at Lola’s house for a dinner cooked by Manola, Lola’s sister (Lourdes Bartolomé). Lucia is unaware that her pet goat Elvis has provided the main course. Lucia (Alice Ansara) takes her mother’s sleeping pills. When she wakes, the two sisters are in a huge argument about when they were children. Lucia collapses in the moonlight.
Curator’s notes
There is very little room for sentimentality in Lucia’s childhood, but the fight between the sisters makes clear this goes back a long way. Lucia’s mother disapproves of the affection between her sister and her daughter, and she’s willing to let the goat die in order to wound her sister and destroy the friendship. Lola and Lucia may be having their own permanent war, but Lola’s not prepared to let her sister steal Lucia away. The plot is pretty ruthless, even given Lola’s angry state. The film uses the idea of being asleep, then waking to a nightmare, as a recurring device. It gives the film a mythical dimension, as in a state of grief. Both Lola and Lucia use pills to escape, hoping that things will be different when they wake up. They often are – but worse.
