Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

On my recent flight to England I though it might be fun and even a little bit exciting to watch a couple of films having to do with European cities, it being my first time across the pond. On the flight I found two such options: Roman Holiday and Midnight in Paris. I would recommend both, but I mention this only because Woody Allen, the director of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, also directed the latter of the two films. I was struck by the semblance between the two films and realized that even though both are good, and Midnight in Paris is far more incredible, the spring of ideas seems to be running at a trickle. Both films are about travelers and  who embrace foreign culture in different ways. The two pairs of companions--fiances in one, best friends from college in the other--are different in their outlooks on life, and this creates tension. A stranger who typifies their culture in a very romantic sense enters the equation and opens the eyes of one or both people. Conflict, conflict conflict, and finally the central characters do not really get what they want, but they are changed for the better--more or less. This in no way affects what I think of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but I'm sure I could not possibly be the only one to notice. A side note for someone interested to observe.

This film happens to be the story of the two college friends. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is a pragmatic girl, soon to be engaged to a safe, dime a dozen man, who travels to Spain in order to do research for her degree on Catalan culture. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), a would-be actress/director/writer/artist of some sort or another, comes along because she is being put up, and because she is open to new experiences. Who would not jump at a chance to spend a summer in Barcelona for a very nominal price? Especially someone as bursting with creative thoughts as Cristina....hmm. 

The sightseeing is typical until they encounter a very atypical man (Javier Bardem). A painter, very suave and incredibly sexy, with the ability to charm the pants off of any girl (almost literally), he brings the two to the quaint, picturesque town of Oviedo--much to the dismay of Vicky--and there they drink good wine, see beautiful art, and make passionate love--though it is not at all what you might think. But I will leave some surprises for you, the reader. 

It is not long before Cristina has fallen head over heals for this painter, Juan Antonio, and moves in with him. But Vicky warns her to watch out for this man. Despite his immeasurable charm, brooding genius, and poetically fatalist view of humanity and love ("Love is so transient", he says. And what an encompassing quote for this film that is), he is known throughout Barcelona for the tumultuous relationship he shared with his ex-wife. Their fights were legend--one was almost fatal--but to Vicky and Cristina he speaks of her like some untamable goddess, full of wrath, passion, and endless beauty. He says their love was nearly perfect, but something was left out of the equation.

Enter the goddess, Maria (Penelope Cruz), who is all he described and so much more. A curiouser love triangle would be hard to find, and a sexier one impossible. For inevitably love arises in so many odd places in this film, and why not have Cruz and Johansson kiss when you have the opportunity? Cruz gives a performance of unbridled emotion, worthy of her beauty and talent, and solidifying her as the premier international Spanish actress. In fact, playing opposite Bardem I believe would be the only way to achieve her full potential in an American film, as he is the best bilingual Spanish actor working. She not only inspired the viewer in me, but also the poet, the painter, the lover, the fighter; everything that Maria represented, everything Cristina hoped to be and failed at--impulsive, visionary, original--Cruz conveyed with such believability as to be comparable as an actress to Maria as a painter. 

To sum it up this a film about love and the creative spirit. It does not have the usual, Woody whine that so many love, but it is about people who are unfulfilled with life. They find happiness, however transient, and continue to look for more even if all they ever wanted was being presented to them on a silver platter. It is sad to think about the concept, but it is a comedy, and a funny one at that.

This film will undoubtedly be talked about in terms of Woody Allen, and Cruz, as they are forces of cinema nature, though one is dying while the other is merely erupting. Fortunately for Cruz this will be seen as a new bench marker for her, as she has raised herself even beyond her work in Volver though her screen time is considerably smaller in this. Allen, however, will always be compared to Annie Hall, Manhattan, and his other classics, which is so unfortunate. He will never be able to top those films, and it saddens me that he will not be able to live that down even when he creates a perfectly respectable film like this one. I do like the direction of his more recent films like this one. Without his manic presence in front of the camera, and a less intellectual comedy which at times borders on pretentiousness, he has made a film that is just a small joy to watch. I may not remember it very well in five years like I will Annie Hall, but for a director in his silver years perhaps he should simply stick to making movies that offer a good night out, rather than a new phase in "art".

3/4