Year of Release: 2008Country of Origin: Spain, USA
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz
Plot outline: Two young American women come to Barcelona for a summer holiday. They're then drawn into a series of unconventional romantic entanglements with a charismatic painter who is still involved with his tempestuous ex-wife (IMDb).
In this movie, Woody Allen is in a sensual mood, taking on the role of tourist in a passionate land. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is an aimless diversion, even for the notoriously unfocused Allen, but retains expected performance momentum, and positively sells the hell out of a lusty Spanish vacation. It is a sensory experience, not a dense piece of drama. Allen appears in perfect concert with the Spanish locations, graciously revealing the beauty of the land through the master shooting of cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe, filling the frame with golden Euro delights. It is suffused by Spanish sunlight, a dreamy setting for what becomes something of a crooked fantasy involving inescapable infatuation and questions of emotional self-preservation. Allen doesn’t create any traditional arcs for the characters to follow, instead the movie chases passions to their logical conclusion: DISASTER. Following Vicky and Cristina around Barcelona, and later Oviedo, Allen gives the camera two women eager to learn about themselves, using Jose as transport to new experiences that quickly roll into serious questions of yearning. Allen leads with these characters, using little explosions of lovemaking and combat to keep the experience lively. As usual, the actors make the experience worthwhile, with Johansson, Bardem, and Cruz creating a believable trio of frustrated lovers. While Hall has the least showy role, she’s a great asset as the moral center, so to speak, conveying the great eroding sway of infidelity with minimal indication. Much like the vacation itself, Vicky Cristina Barcelona doesn’t hunker down with much of a climax, ending the movie the same instant the ladies leave Spain. It’s a fitting conclusion for such a whirlwind sexual adventure, leaving the characters and the audience breathless and unsure where the road will lead to next. (BO)
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment