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VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (2008): Love corrida a la Woody Allen

December 19th 2008 11:55

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Barcelona drenched in honey-hued sunlight, Gaudi architecture, sounds of Spanish guitar and delectable wine all make for an exciting and permissive romantic backdrop. If only the voiceover guy had a sexier or funnier voice – Allen’s usual ad-libbing is sorely missed in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but nevermind, one cannot have everything. Unless one is Javier Bardem that is. Enter painter Juan Antonio in a carmine-coloured shirt, ready for a love corrida, with passion, Spanish style. One evening he sexily saunters over to the table of American tourists Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) at a restaurant, and without much ado makes them an indecent and irresistible proposition. Do they take him up on it? Does he manage to seduce both the engaged, straight-laced and level-headed Vicky and the free-spirited, adventurous Cristina? Er, a film review is unnecessary for you to figure that one out.

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) enjoying themselves in Barcelona

Penelope Cruz as Maria Elena, Juan Antonio’s not-quite-ex ex spices things up, bringing chemistry and intimacy to the proceedings (her off-screen romance with Bardem rubs off a little) and seducing everyone in sight. Unless she decides to shoot everyone in sight. That is what makes her exciting to be around apparently, those Spaniards are like that you see, a little unpredictable. Much like the New Yorkers, if we take Allen’s oeuvre into consideration. One can detect a slight note of bitterness (or cynicism) across the 73 year-old director’s last films, although it doesn’t make them any less enjoyable or entertaining, but rather adds another dimension to his quirky, thoughtful analyses of human behaviour and its consequences.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Woody Allen

Woody Allen explains to his stars Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson that threesomes can be fun, on the set of Vicky Cristina Barcelona

A much lighter if not less ironic film than Mr Allen’s last memorable venture, the gripping and confrontational Match Point (2005), also starring Johansson, the amusingly effervescent Vicky Cristina Barcelona deals with Allen’s favourite subject: love relationships and the endless (and apparently futile in Allen-world) search for happiness and emotional fulfilment. And yes, the film’s unavoidable conclusion looms deliciously in the air: love is no more, no less than…tapas. Intense, ephemeral, often unexpected: to be savoured bite by scrumptious bite. And if love affairs don’t last very long? Oh well, it’s not the end of the world. Relationships make us grow, don’t they? Make a mental note to compare the first and last shots of Vicky and Cristina in the movie, they are telling.

Review by Patricia Bieszk

© Copyright P. Bieszk 2008

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