The Fire and Fever of a Generation — How The Ages of Lulu Became More Than a Film
When The Ages of Lulu (Las edades de Lulú) was released in 1990, Spain was in the beginning stages of the liberalisation of its democracy. Spain was trying to shake off the long conservative and dictatorial regime and trying to unleash its creativity. Artists were trying to unleash their passion in every aspects of politics and everyday life. It was in this atmosphere that Bigas Luna came to the screen with a novel by Almudena Grandes and a movie starring a young and fearless Francesca Neri. What came after was not simply the premiere of a movie, but a cultural phenomenon.
During a period in which cinema was trying to rediscover its bravery and courage, The Ages of Lulu was a lightning rod demonstrating rebellion in the form of curiosity, and conversation that had been silenced. It was not only the liberation of sexuality, but the quest for identity, the control in onescself, and the primal need to feel alive that drew the fire.
The Conversation Everywhere Was About This Dark Uncompromising Story
The Ages of Lulu is ultimately about the desire, love, and disillusionment of a woman, and how Lulu, as a young girl, is enchanted by her older brother’s friend, Pablo, and as an adult, goes after that man, only to realize that passion can morph into power and being free can turn into imprisonment.
The surrealism and emotional authenticity of the film’s layers came from Luna’s vision. Lulu’s portrayal of the journey was not seen as immoral; it was an awakening that was uncomfortable, raw, and ultimately human. For viewers in Spain and elsewhere, it was like seeing a metaphor for the nation — moving from oppression and, in a disordered way, seeking to express oneself.
In India, where the film first circulated in the underground VHS collection and then on the festival circuit, The Ages of Lulu was a whispered reference — a film “too bold to be screened” that film clubs would discuss as an example of how European cinema talked about the female gaze, well before it became a mainstream discussion, and bold enough to be screened.
Francesca Neri: The Woman Behind Lulu
Francesca Neri defined her early career portraying Lulu. She was not a seasoned star at the time, but a risk taker who saw the role not as scandalous, but as psychological truth. “Lulu is every person who has ever wanted to live without apology,” she said in a 1991 interview.
What the audience saw on screen, a confident veneer concealing profound vulnerability, was grounded on Neri’s own struggle. She was a young Italian actress trying to break into Spanish cinema. She moved to Madrid to pursue larger roles but, after The Ages of Lulu, she became both celebrated and typecast. Critics adored her intensity, but producers offered her roles in “daring” films and “the woman” parts.
In later interviews, she spoke of the emotionally exhausting consequences that came as a result. “It took me years to separate Francesca from Lulu,” she said. She did, however, credit the film for making her fearless, a trait she carried into her later performances in Live Flesh and Carne trémula, directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
Bigas Luna’s Bold Vision
Every so often, there comes a creator whose work resonates with the public and, at the same time, challenges them to think deeply about the complexities that seem intertwined with societal disfigurements and the human condition. Some may cite the controversy that followed the release of ‘The Ages of Lulu’ as an example of provocative cinema, but Luna pushed the boundaries of provocation and sought to expose the disjunction in audiences’ empathies, many of whom vilified the film’s protagonist while identifying with her emotional core.
While most filmmakers of the time focused their efforts on orchestration and choreography, Luna’s fascination with improvisation and splicing surprises during the edited sequence breaks became a form of psychological exploration for the cast as well as himself. Neri and Iain Glenn, who played Pablo, were uniquely prepared for their rehearsals. While all the other cast members focused on their scenes, Neri and Glenn spent ‘intimate’ rehearsals for the ‘silences’ of their scenes, which, in the finished work, produced a sense of confusion that serves to heighten the climax.
The skilful lighting of ‘The Ages of Lulu’ by the cinematographer, José Luis Alcaine, complemented the emotional complexities of the film. The mirror imagery, warm color tones, and other subliminal and overt symbols of self sensuality and self-reflection, as well as the psychological aspects, became the film’s defining features. Alcaine’s work set standards that other European and 90’s European influenced Bollywood films received as artistic.
The Cultural Ripple — When Cinema Became a Statement
Debate around The Ages of Lulu and crisis of representation became a staple of national discourse. Art, as the saying goes, is often a reflection of the society it dwells in. The older generations of Spain, embarrassed or offended, pondered the social eating habits changed, while the younger, more curious, excitable crowds flocked to see what the fuss was about. The first helped set the tone, the latter, by popular demand, the rhythm.
The film was a veritable moodboard, helping set and reshape the visual in popular culture in Spain. The soft lensed, intimate portraits in the film, invited photography of the period, elegently and emclaimed the unfiltered emotional portraits. The visuals set the style in the contemporary music focused visual culture ascribed to the singer of the contemporary Spanish pop. The emotional memes of the period as well as the fan art of the film and contemporary art of Spain. Lulu, both symbol and spirit.
By the late ’90s, the name “Lulu” became shorthand for independence in Spanish pop culture — much like “Geet” from Jab We Met or “Rekha’s persona” in India: bold, layered, unapologetically feminine.
When Fans Found Themselves in Lulu
One of the most captivating aspects of The Ages of Lulu’s legacy is its audience. The film is the legacy of Francesca Neri and Bigas Luna. Neri and Luna received letters from audience members describing the film as helping them re-evaluate love and autonomy. An interesting descriptor of the film came from a Spanish journalist who referred to it as “the film that divided dinner tables” due to the contentious discussions it sparked within families around gender, morality, and modernity.
In India, cinephiles noticed parallels between Lulu’s emotional evolution and Indian women characters penned by writers Shyam Benegal and Deepa Mehta. Film appreciation clubs in Mumbai and Kolkata mentioned Lulu alongside Fire and Maya Memsaab, referring to it as a mirror to women’s inner rebellion.
Behind-the-Scenes Whispers and What Shaped the Craze
The making of The Ages of Lulu was marked with creative tension, even if the final product exudes confidence. Bigas Luna and Francesca Neri had creative differences, particularly around the emotional key scenes. Luna and Neri expressed different styles in creative scenes. Neri described Luna’s approach to cinema as “Bigas always said cinema is emotion painted in light” and recalled him as a person who was always looking for dramatization and visual metaphors.
The soundtrack— a unique combination of jazz and a minimalist score — was another surprise. Over the years, the ambient sounds of composer Carlos Segarra’s score became iconic for Spanish indie radio shows. The background score was later sampled by Madrid nightclubs — proof of how deeply the film soundtrack integrated into the everyday pop culture. The score was also described as moody and restless, and for good reason.