“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is Woody Allen’s latest and although it’s been advertised as a comedy, it’s a comedy in the Shakespearean sense, not ha-ha slapstick. “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is Allen musing about various kinds of love and is sure to generate a lot of conversation. Allen also pays tribute to the beauty of his stars and the Spanish setting. Allen’s voice-over narrator streamlines some of the narrative, thereby eliminating some dialogue, but it is also intrusive. Two young women spend some time in Barcelona, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) to work on her graduate thesis and her best friend Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) to experience life. At an art show they meet handsome Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), an artist who has recently divorced fellow artist Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz). Juan Antonio invites Vicky and Cristina to spend the weekend with him in Oviedo to see the sights, drink wine and make love. Vicky is all caution and disapproval and Cristina is ready to go. Needless to say both fall for him.
When compared to the fiery performances of Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson seems bland, but she certainly is beautiful. Rebecca Hall gives a strong performance as the guarded Vicky. And Javier Bardem……Anyone who can be the scariest villain on the screen (“No Country for Old Men”) and a charismatic lover is certainly versatile. One of the more engaging aspects of this movie is the way the characters interact with each other, with each seeming to represent a kind of love. And this is where your after viewing conversations can become quite interesting. What kind of love does Allen seem to say is important? Which character has learned something about the nature of love? Which character is happy at the end of the movie? “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is certainly worth seeing. 8/15/08
1 comment:
Maybe they are all happy in the end or perhaps .......none of them. They all seem to get what they deserve but, not necessarily what they want. I got a lot of laughs out of this film and came out scratching my head??
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