Acclaimed worldwide as the “Gone With The Wind of the Cuban film industry,” Lucia is indeed Cuba's first film spectacular, an epic, three-part feature film dramatizing three separate periods in the Cuban struggle for liberation in order to show the participation of Cuban women in that fight. In 1895, Lucia (Raquel Revuelta) is embroiled in a tale of love and betrayal during Cuba's war for independence from Spain; in 1933, Lucia (Eslinda Nunez) leaves her middle-class family and becomes involved in the overthrow of the Cuban dictator Machado; and in the 1960s, Lucia (Adela Legra) is taught how to read and write during Cuba's literacy campaign and, as a newlywed, confronts her husband's macho attitudes. Each episode is filmed in a distinctive visual style which translates the spirit of each historical era, with the themes of love, death and war achieving epic proportions.
Lucia is one of those rare films that deals with the role of women in history. In its depiction of the classically machismo Latin culture, Lucia puts into clear perspective those long-standing social attitudes and customs which have determined the second-class status of women. With this context, however, the historical progression of the three episodes emphasizes the changing role of women and shows their increasing participation in all aspects of social and political life.

“...the film is a knock-out:... each subject is given an appropriate style, from stark bleached-out images of tremendous force to the subtlest, warmest intimacy. Folk and classical music is brilliantly used; the editing rhythms are marvelously calculated to heighten the drama or strengthen the mood... a triumph of art over propaganda and an exhilarating experience.”