''Lisístrata'' is a 2002 Spanish comedy film directed by Francesc Bellmunt. It is based on a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

by the German cartoonist

Ralf König Ralf König (born 8 August 1960) is one of the best known and most commercially successful German comic book creators. His books have been translated into many languages. He has resided in Soest, Dortmund and Berlin and now lives in Cologne. Bi ...

, which in turn is loosely based on the play '' Lysistrata'' by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

Plot

It is the year 411 BC and the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

between

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

(among others) and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

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 Verdú), they barricade themselves on the

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

, where the Athenian treasure is kept, and refuse to have sex with their husbands until peace is restored. The men soon sport gigantic

erection An erection (clinically: penile erection or penile tumescence) is a physiological phenomenon in which the penis becomes firm, engorged, and enlarged. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular, ...

s, which as in Aristophanes' play are depicted by huge prosthetics that protrude from under the actors' clothes. This unfortunate state of "

blue balls Blue balls is slang for an uncomfortable testicular sensation that can occur during a state of male sexual arousal. The term is thought to have originated in the United States, first appearing in 1916. Another slang term used for the condition ...

" hinders them in their capacity to fight. Luckily, the Spartans have the same problem. To the rescue comes Hepatitos (

Juan Luis Galiardo Juan Luis Galiardo Comes (2 March 1940 – 22 June 2012) was a Spanish television, theater and film actor. Life The eldest of six children, Juan Luis Galiardo Comes was born in San Roque, Cádiz, but spent most of his childhood and youth in ...

), the local homosexual and transvestite, 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 Greek play), it also contains interesting tidbits of historic truth, such as a relatively accurate life-size replica of the Pallas Athene statue by

Phidias Phidias or Pheidias (; grc, Φειδίας, ''Pheidias''; 480 – 430 BC) was a Greek sculptor, painter, and architect. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the stat ...

in the Parthenon. 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

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...

and Troilus, son of

Priam In Greek mythology, Priam (; grc-gre, Πρίαμος, ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Etymology Mo ...

Cast

* Maribel Verdú as Lisístrata *

as Hepatitos * Javier Gurruchaga as Ajax *

Jesús Bonilla Jesús Bonilla (born 1 September 1955) is a Spanish actor. He has appeared in more than sixty films since 1978. Selected filmography References External links * 1955 births Living people Spanish male film actors 20th-century Spanis ...

as Cinesias *

Teté Delgado Teté (24 August 1907 – 18 June 1962) was a Brazilian football manager who coached Brazil national team for some games in 1956. He also coached Sport Club Internacional during the 1950s. Biography Teté was a major coach of football i ...

(billed as Tete Delgado) as Mirrina *

Aitor Mazo Aitor is a Basque masculine given name, created by Agosti Xaho for a Basque ancestral patriarch descending from the Biblical Tubal in his work "The Legend of Aitor" (published in French in the journal ''Ariel'', 1845). Koldo Mitxelena believes t ...

as General Termos * Glòria Cano as Sabrina * Eduardo Antuña as Harpix * Antonio Belart as Potax * Cristina Solà as Lampito * Anna Maria Barbany (billed as Anna Mª Barbany) as Papila * Albert Trifol as General Bonus *

Sonia Ferrer Sonia Ferrer González (born 26 September 1977) is an actress, model and television presenter on Spanish television. Biography Sonia Ferrer was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She is the only child of parents Victoria González and Josep ...

(billed as Sònia Ferrer) as Cleonice * Sergio Pazos as Oficial Bitón *

José Corbacho José Corbacho Nieto (born 12 December 1965) is a Spanish comedian, screenwriter, actor, and film and television director from Catalonia. Biography José Corbacho Nieto was born on 12 December 1965 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and was diagnos ...

as Soldado Lico

External links

* 2002 films 2002 comedy films Films based on Lysistrata Films based on adaptations Spanish LGBT-related films 2000s Catalan-language films 2000s Spanish-language films Films based on German comics Live-action films based on comics Spanish historical comedy films 2002 multilingual films Spanish multilingual films 2000s Spanish films 2002 LGBT-related films LGBT-related comedy films {{2000s-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

External links