Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Vicky a mi me gusta mas Vickiana... Cristina y Barcelona

I was encouraged to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona and thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently content to write its screenplay and then direct it without appearing in it, Allen's unique influence continues to be significant but inconspicuous as he allows his characters and plot to develop naturally. Here's the situation. Two young and attractive American women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johannson), arrive in Barcelona to spend much of the summer with Vicky's older friends, Judy and Mark Nash (Patricia Clarkson and Kevin Dunn). For reasons best revealed in the film, they become involved with a local artist, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), and develop separate, quite different relationships with him.

Several complications gradually and sometimes suddenly occur. For example, Vicky is engaged to Doug (Chris Messina) back in the U.S. who impulsively decides to visit her in Barcelona and marry her immediately in a civil ceremony there, to be followed by a lavish wedding later in the year. He represents everything that the analytical and grounded Vicky repeatedly claims she wants (i.e. wealth, status, stability, security). However, he lacks the passion and sensitivity that she has found irresistible in Juan Antonio. In stunning contrast, Cristina is a free spirit, "up for anything," who also finds the artist irresistible and eagerly moves in with him, to Vicky's predictable dismay. Meanwhile, Judy Nash confides to Vicky that there is no love in her marriage and urges Vicky to follow her heart, not her carefully calculated life plan. Nonetheless, Vicky marries Doug soon after he appears and they remain in Barcelona for awhile.

Unexpectedly, Juan Antonio's former wife whom he still loves, Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz), appears. In fact, after her failed suicide attempt, Juan Antonio insists that she move back into the home they once shared and live with him and Cristina until she (Maria Elena) recovers. He loves all three women and they love him. It would be a disservice to those who have not as yet seen the film to reveal more plot details in this review of it.

I think this is Allen's most coherent and engaging film since Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). His direction is crisp and sure, the dialogue is appropriate to various situations (e.g. there is an almost total absence of Allenesque quips), and the performances by the lead actors are outstanding. It is impossible for me to take my eyes off Cruz whenever she is onscreen. Given her pyrotechnical personality, she is capable of literally anything. Clarkson does the best she can with her role as Judy Nash, one that allows her few opportunities to display her talents. (The same is true of her role in The Untouchables as Catherine Ness.) As for Bardem, he transcends the stereotype of a "Latin Lover." Heaven knows his Juan Antonio is charming but he is also a caring person who is completely truthful with others. (Note the direct approach he takes in his first encounter with the Vicky and Cristy who can't take their eyes off him in a restaurant after first seeing him in an art gallery earlier.) He challenges other characters to examine their values and, perhaps, trust their feelings more than they would otherwise be willing to do. Also, credit Javier Aquirresarobe with superb cinematography. When portraying life in Barcelona and (briefly) in Oviedo, he and Allen provide a visual feast of gourmet images.

I also appreciate the fact that questions remain as the film ends. Will Vicky experience the same disillusionment that Judy has? Will Cristina finally find what she wants in life, having experimented with and then eliminated so much that she doesn't? Will Juan Antonio and Maria Elena ever be able to accept each other (as is) as they love each other?

"Lo que sera...."

Other review:

Some die-hard Woody Allen fans may insist the poster-child for neurotic, narcissistic New Yorkers has still got it in him, but many more fans of the director's work insist his real creativity dried up when the drama of his real life outstripped that in his features. Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a bruising, hypnotic meditation on romantic triangles, marks not so much a return to form as his first true evolution in tone and style since the early '90s. Wooden Scarlett Johansson is mined brilliantly as a foil to the charismatic effusions of Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz, and for once, Allen's dialogue and cinematography prove rather fluid.

– Lisa Rosman

For Schedule and locations:
http://www.fandango.com/vickycristinabarcelona_114960/movietimes