Lisístrata is a
2002The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost...
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
comedy film directed by
Francesc BellmuntFrancesc Bellmunt is a Catalan screenwriter and film director.-Film director:* 1975, Canet Rock* 1975, La Nova Cançó* 1977, La Torna* 1978, L'Orgia* 1979, Salut i força al canut...
. It is based on a
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
by the German cartoonist
Ralf KönigRalf König is one of the best known and most commercially successful German comic book creators, whose work is translated into several languages...
, which in turn is loosely based on the play
LysistrataLysistrata is one of the few surviving plays written by the master of Old Comedy, Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
by
AristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete...
.
It is the year
411 BC-Greece:* The democracy of Athens is overthrown by the oligarchic extremists, Antiphon, Theramenes, Peisander and Phrynichus in an effort by the oligarcists to exert more control over the conduct of the war with Sparta and its allies. A "Council of Four Hundred" is set up...
and the
Peloponnesian WarThe Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 B.C., was an Ancient Greek war, fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
between
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
(among others) and
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
has been raging for some 20 years. The women who want to see the conflict finally ended use a trick to make their husbands comply: led by the Feminist Lisístrata (
Maribel VerdúMaribel Verdú is a Spanish actress. She is perhaps best known to English-speaking audiences playing the roles of Luisa in the 2001 film Y tu mamá también and Mercedes in Guillermo del Toro's 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth...
), they barricade themselves on the
AcropolisAcropolis literally means city on the edge . In Greek, Acropolis means "Highest City". For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
, where the Athenian treasure is kept, and refuse to have sex with their husbands until peace is restored.
The men soon sport gigantic
erectionPenile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal. Penile erection can also...
s, which as in Aristophanes' play are depicted by huge prosthetics that protrude from under the actors' clothes.
Lisístrata is a
2002The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost...
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
comedy film directed by
Francesc BellmuntFrancesc Bellmunt is a Catalan screenwriter and film director.-Film director:* 1975, Canet Rock* 1975, La Nova Cançó* 1977, La Torna* 1978, L'Orgia* 1979, Salut i força al canut...
. It is based on a
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
by the German cartoonist
Ralf KönigRalf König is one of the best known and most commercially successful German comic book creators, whose work is translated into several languages...
, which in turn is loosely based on the play
LysistrataLysistrata is one of the few surviving plays written by the master of Old Comedy, Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War...
by
AristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a prolific and much acclaimed comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays have come down to us virtually complete...
.
Plot
It is the year
411 BC-Greece:* The democracy of Athens is overthrown by the oligarchic extremists, Antiphon, Theramenes, Peisander and Phrynichus in an effort by the oligarcists to exert more control over the conduct of the war with Sparta and its allies. A "Council of Four Hundred" is set up...
and the
Peloponnesian WarThe Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 B.C., was an Ancient Greek war, fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
between
SpartaSparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the River Eurotas in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars...
(among others) and
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
has been raging for some 20 years. The women who want to see the conflict finally ended use a trick to make their husbands comply: led by the Feminist Lisístrata (
Maribel VerdúMaribel Verdú is a Spanish actress. She is perhaps best known to English-speaking audiences playing the roles of Luisa in the 2001 film Y tu mamá también and Mercedes in Guillermo del Toro's 2006 film Pan's Labyrinth...
), they barricade themselves on the
AcropolisAcropolis literally means city on the edge . In Greek, Acropolis means "Highest City". For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
, where the Athenian treasure is kept, and refuse to have sex with their husbands until peace is restored.
The men soon sport gigantic
erectionPenile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal. Penile erection can also...
s, which as in Aristophanes' play are depicted by huge prosthetics that protrude from under the actors' clothes. This unfortunate state of "
blue ballsBlue balls is the slang term for a congested prostate or vasocongestion, the condition of temporary fluid congestion in the testicles and prostate region caused by prolonged sexual arousal in the human male...
" hinders them in their capacity to fight. Luckily, the Spartans have the same problem.
To the rescue comes Hepatitos (Juan Luis Galiardo), the local homosexual and
transvestiteTransvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing the clothing of the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations.-History:...
, who disguises himself as a medical doctor and advises the generals to order circumstantial homosexuality as a way to relieve the pressure in their men.
At first, the soldiers refuse, but quickly warm up to the idea — and soon everyone lives rather happily in male–male relationships. The women are not amused by this, as their plan has been foiled. However, as the soldiers begin to fall in love with enemy soldiers instead of fighting them, peace is finally established. The women end their strike (not to the delight of all men) and it is hinted that in the future, homosexual and heterosexual relationships will be regarded as relatively exchangeable.
While the film is primarily a bawdy comedy (even more so than the
GreekAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
play), it also contains interesting tidbits of historic truth, such as a relatively accurate life-size replica of the Pallas Athene statue by
PhidiasPhidias or Pheidias ; circa 480 BC 430 BC), was a Greek sculptor, painter and architect, who lived in the 5th century BC, and is commonly regarded as one of the greatest of all sculptors of Classical Greece: Phidias' Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World...
in the
ParthenonThe Parthenon is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena whom the people of Athens considered their protector. It was built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development...
.
The scene in which one soldier is about to kill an enemy fighter, but is moved by his beauty so much that he spares him and arranges a tête-à-tête with him after the battle, can be seen as being based on the legend of
AchillesIn Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy....
and
TroilusTroilus is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War...
, son of
PriamIn Greek mythology, Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon. Modern scholars derive his name from the Luwian compound Priimuua, which means "exceptionally courageous"....
.