mrkwooVicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
January 4th 2009 07:29
Trailer
While the trailer gives the impression that Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a new, sensual exploration into love, this is a Woody Allen film, after all. I am not that knowledgeable on the works of Mr Allen, I have only seen 5 of his films to date, which is certainly only a small portion of his career in writing and directing so I am not at all an expert into his style However, some aspects aren't so hard to pick out. Anyway, I was curious to see what he makes of these passionate, fiery characters we are introduced to, and whether this was anything more than Woody Allen's current wet dream starring Scarlet Johansson.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona is about two young New Yorkers, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Johansson), who are holidaying in Barcelona. Vicky is pragmatic about love and is engaged to a decent, moderately attractive, moderately successful man and is moderately excited about it. Cristina's a bit of a neurotic free spirit, constantly looking for a passionate kind of love, although she isn't quite sure what that is. This is all narrated to us by a man with an uninteresting voice. They soon encounter a sexy mysterious local painter named Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who we are told had a violent relationship with his ex wife (Penelope Cruz). Cristina is intrigued. Juan Antonio, instantly enamoured by the both Vicky and Cristina, invites them to join him on a trip to Oviedo. They all fall inconveniently in love with one another and if that wasn't complicated enough, the ex wife Maria Elena re-enters Juan Antonio's life.
As ridiculous as the plot becomes as it goes on, the film never stops being charming, despite the conclusion that passion is brief, chaotic and something we will never learn to stop desiring. This is thanks to the wonderful performances by Hall, Bardem and Cruz, and the lovely Spanish music that plays throughout. Hall manages to keep the humour and empathy in what could have ended up a frigid neurotic, Bardem is "charmingly candid" and the ultimate romantic Spaniard and Cruz is a scene stealer. Johansson was the only dud, she was easily overshadowed by the other actors, who are really at their game here. All their rich, witty dialogue slipped so naturally from their tongues with such finese but Johansson's always seemed a little bit forced, possibly too weighed down by having to be the main Woody Allen figure in the film. The shots of Barcelona and Oviedo are beautiful and softly add to the romance. It's like the characters are living and breathing the passion that they hungrily seek. And it's because of this that we can easily settle into the tanged relationships of these strange and quirky characters that only Woody Allen could lovingly create.
The mood was however constantly spoiled by the intrusive narrator, whose dispassionate explanations retract from the immense levels of passion flying all over the place on screen. The narrator tells of what is happening as if he is reciting from a novel, with a great focus on details we would otherwise observe ourselves. I don't know about you, but I don't like being told what I'm seeing in a film while I'm watching it. I've read in messageboards that the reason Allen included the narrator was so he would constantly remind us to not get too taken away by the intense drama of the moment. If that was the case, then I think Allen played it too safe. There was no sharp commentary from the objective party to be truly self reflexive, and it instead felt pretentious, nit picking itself to show off how clever it truly is. It made Allen's otherwise excellent script look sloppy, and tainted the great performances.
Nevertheless, Vicky Cristina Barcelona won me over with its idiosyncratic insight into love, in a refreshingly different light. I wish that it had gone just that little bit further from the usual schtick to make it more of a standout piece, but I would not call this a failure in any respect. 7/10
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