Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Movie Review
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: B+
Rating: PG-13
Released: Friday, August 15, 2008
Directed by:
Cast:
For months we have wondered why Woody Allen gave his new film the unwieldy title of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." The answer is a bit anti-climactic: the movie opens with a narrator saying, "Vicky and Cristina were spending the summer in Barcelona." So. There you go.
The film itself, much more nimble than its weird title, is a mature, sexy look at non-traditional relationships, a topic on which Woody Allen may be considered an expert. The Spanish setting, the saucy content, and the presence of Penelope Cruz make it easy to compare the film to the work of Pedro Almodovar, and I suspect Allen wouldn't entirely disagree with you. But the usual Allen-ish neuroses and angst are here, too, and the filmmaker's unmistakable fingerprints are all over the place.
Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is a dark-haired, down-to-earth, serious woman who's getting a master's degree in Catalan identity and has a fiance, Doug (Chris Messina), back in New York. Her best friend, Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), is blond, romantic, and tortured by love, Vicky's opposite in every way. The two are approached in a restaurant by Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), an impossibly suave artist who invites them both to accompany him on a weekend getaway. He makes this offer within seconds of meeting them, and his smoldering forthrightness annoys Vicky and mesmerizes Cristina. They go with him, but Vicky's only along as a chaperone for Cristina. Vicky has the very sensible policy of not trusting painters who pick up strange women in restaurants and whisk them away to vacation homes
Inevitably, Vicky succumbs to some of Juan Antonio's charms, though not as completely as Cristina, who is absolutely smitten with the fellow. Cristina and the artist develop a relationship -- a relationship that is torn to shreds 50 minutes into the film, when Juan Antonio's fiery, unstable ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), barges in and takes over their lives and the movie.
With a characteristically smart mix of comedy and drama (and guided, curiously, by an unseen narrator), the film's dialogue sounds surprisingly refreshed when it's spoken, as it often is here, in subtitled Spanish or broken English. Moreover, Bardem and Cruz bring a vitality that Allen's work hasn't seen since he converted to Scarlett Johansson-ism a few years ago, and the local scenery, shot by acclaimed Spanish cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, is gorgeous. How often does a Woody Allen film LOOK beautiful?
The film is ultimately about the many different permutations that successful relationships can have: monogamous, polygamous, polyamorous, faithful, unfaithful, kinky, and vanilla. Who's to say that one is better than the other as long as everyone involved is happy and satisfied? And why does everything need to have a label? Allen's own romantic life has been unorthodox, to say the least (you'll recall he dated and eventually married his adopted daughter, 35 years his junior), but "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" doesn't feel like a defense. On the contrary, it feels like the work of a man at peace with love, no matter how thorny or complicated it may be.
Grade: B+
Rated PG-13, some fairly strong sensuality
1 hr., 36 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 5 comments
August 15, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Ummm was the PG-13 supposed to be for strong Sexuality? As lovely and sensual as it sounds being set in Spain and all I haven't heard of sensuality being a big red flag for the MPAA board.
August 18, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I thought it was his ex-wife's adopted daughter, but only his step-daughter. Not that that makes it any less gross.
August 21, 2008 at 6:10 am
How often does a Woody Allen film LOOK beautiful?
Perhaps no filmmaker in history has illustrated the beauty of New York City more thoroughly than Woody Allen. Consider what Roger Ebert wrote in his review of "Manhattan:"
"The opening shot is a stunner, looking West across Central Park at dawn while Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue'' does what it always does--makes us feel transcendent. The locations are like an anthology of Manhattan shrines...This is one of the best-photographed movies ever made, and a compelling argument for letterboxing on home video."
Allen has also given us visually interesting (and fun) recreations of New York of the past in such period films as "Radio Days," "Bullets Over Broadway," and "Sweet and Lowdown" (shot entirely in New York but set in Chicago).
"Everyone Says I Love You" not only celebrated the beauty of New York in the Spring and Winter, but also Venice and Paris. And "Match Point" and "Scoop" captured some great images of London.
The guy has written and directed a movie every year for the past 30 years or so and many of them aren't about the visual beauty of the environment. But still... off the top of my head I sure can remember plenty of beauty in his body of work.
August 26, 2008 at 5:56 am
I'm very glad you liked this movie. Giant high five from me.
August 30, 2008 at 3:13 am
Penelope Cruz lights up this whole movie whenever she appears onscreen. It feels like the first 50 minutes is just a long buildup until she finally arrives.
I liked the dialog, including the mixed Spanish and English. However, the narration was rather annoying to me and my friend... SHOW us, movie, don't simply TELL us things like, "suddenly, Vicky was stunned when she came across...". This gave the movie the feel of a story being read aloud to us. Some may like this feature of the film but I felt that it detracted from an interesting story about how love affects people's lives in such interesting ways.