David O'ConnellVicky Cristina Barcelona
February 25th 2009 22:30
Woody Allen’s love affair with his muse – or is it obsession – of the new millennium, Scarlett Johansson, continues with the wonderful Vicky Cristina Barcelona, clearly his best film in years. The generally serious tone of this poignant rumination on the connections between love and artistry, the choices people make or are afraid of making, receives a boost from both the exotic locales and a flavourful international cast headed by Spanish duo, Javier Bardem, and Penelope Cruz, who thankfully dilute the impact of the predictably luminous but vacuous Johansson.
When two America friends on a Spanish holiday, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) are propositioned by a handsome, charming artist, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), with rumours of violence attached to his recent marriage breakup, they experience contradictory impulses: the recently-engaged Vicky is repelled and offended, whilst the loose and carefree Cristina is intrigued; craving an exotic new experience, she convinces Vicky to tag along in protective, defensive mode but when she falls victim to food poisoning on the verge of submitting to Juan Antonio’s seduction, Vicky becomes the lone object of his back-up ploy to win over a new partner.
Against all her instincts she’s won over when he pushes all the right buttons, sensuously honing in on her weak spots, including a fascination with Catalan culture. This leads to a series of entanglements, conflicting emotional investments caught up in the mess that will define these people’s romantic lives. Allen’s most impressive feat is how skillfully he juggles all the players, making the messy progress of his recent films seem like a distant memory, and even inviting favourable comparisons to his best work.
The use of omniscient narrator, Christopher Evan Welch (sounding a bit like a young Steve Martin), is a stroke of genius, ensuring the story stays on track whilst simultaneously smoothing out any possible rough narrative edges. I know a lot of people have problems with this device but I loved it in two other recent films as well – Todd Field’s Little Children and Andrew Dominick’s The Assassination of Jesse James.
It feels perfect here too, allowing the whole thing to flow sublimely without ever intruding needlessly. It also provides insights into the heads of the main characters we normally don’t have access to (admittedly giving possible credence to the theory that it’s a sign of flawed and lazy writing). This is especially true for the distraught Vicky who suffers the most, ensnared by the thought of her upcoming marriage to a man whose flaws suddenly seem like widening apertures beside the elusive magic conducted by her brief tryst with Juan Antonio.
Bardem, easily one of the finest and most versatile actors in world cinema, is effortlessly intoxicating as the sensitive but unsatisfied artist. He doesn’t try to camouflage his motives, and yet the sleazy undertones of his quest for contentment end up seeming like some legitimate scholarly fascination with the intricacies of sexuality. Juan Antonio is a complex man, his tempestuous relationship with ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) providing some of the film’s most colourful exchanges.
The conceit of the ménage a trois allowing for the kind of equilibrium that these complex artists require to exist harmoniously and creatively provides both tantalizing possibilities – and the inevitable deflation of letdown! (Anyone who heard the pre-release rumours will know exactly what I’m talking about!)
The diminutive Cruz creates another strong presence from an essentially underwritten role; fiery and without inhibitions, she gives the disturbed and unstable Maria Elena likeability in the face of all the evidence to the contrary. And those vehement rants in her native tongue really do defy any kind of literal translation - they may as well be recitations of poems of love, so intoxicatingly do they flow from those lips!
On the other hand, Johansson is woefully underwhelming yet again, given some decent lines by Allen, but flubbing them with that recognizably wooden, vapid delivery of hers. Surely the most overrated actress of recent years, at least she can’t put any real dent in the quality of this film, surrounded as she is by world-class actors who make her mediocrity superfluous.
Previous unnoticed - by me at least - Rebecca Hall ends up a real revelation, maintaining Vicky’s vulnerable edge and believability even as her attitudes and emotions fluctuate. In fact, there’s genuine pathos evoked by Vicky’s forlorn search for satisfaction, Allen cleverly manipulating her outlook on love and happiness with a neat transformation: from the one most assured of her future, defiantly standing by her convictions in the opening scenes, she becomes the film’s most pliant and maligned character, deferring to fate, it’s one true victim.
It’s been a long wait for Woody Allen fans, and after a string of sub-par works, including the false dawn generated by the torturous Match Point, he’s finally delivered another film worthy of his long-esteemed reputation.
When two America friends on a Spanish holiday, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) are propositioned by a handsome, charming artist, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), with rumours of violence attached to his recent marriage breakup, they experience contradictory impulses: the recently-engaged Vicky is repelled and offended, whilst the loose and carefree Cristina is intrigued; craving an exotic new experience, she convinces Vicky to tag along in protective, defensive mode but when she falls victim to food poisoning on the verge of submitting to Juan Antonio’s seduction, Vicky becomes the lone object of his back-up ploy to win over a new partner.
Against all her instincts she’s won over when he pushes all the right buttons, sensuously honing in on her weak spots, including a fascination with Catalan culture. This leads to a series of entanglements, conflicting emotional investments caught up in the mess that will define these people’s romantic lives. Allen’s most impressive feat is how skillfully he juggles all the players, making the messy progress of his recent films seem like a distant memory, and even inviting favourable comparisons to his best work.
Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) with Vicky (Rebecca Hall)
The use of omniscient narrator, Christopher Evan Welch (sounding a bit like a young Steve Martin), is a stroke of genius, ensuring the story stays on track whilst simultaneously smoothing out any possible rough narrative edges. I know a lot of people have problems with this device but I loved it in two other recent films as well – Todd Field’s Little Children and Andrew Dominick’s The Assassination of Jesse James.
It feels perfect here too, allowing the whole thing to flow sublimely without ever intruding needlessly. It also provides insights into the heads of the main characters we normally don’t have access to (admittedly giving possible credence to the theory that it’s a sign of flawed and lazy writing). This is especially true for the distraught Vicky who suffers the most, ensnared by the thought of her upcoming marriage to a man whose flaws suddenly seem like widening apertures beside the elusive magic conducted by her brief tryst with Juan Antonio.
Juan Antonio gets closer to Cristina (Scarlett Johansson)
Bardem, easily one of the finest and most versatile actors in world cinema, is effortlessly intoxicating as the sensitive but unsatisfied artist. He doesn’t try to camouflage his motives, and yet the sleazy undertones of his quest for contentment end up seeming like some legitimate scholarly fascination with the intricacies of sexuality. Juan Antonio is a complex man, his tempestuous relationship with ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) providing some of the film’s most colourful exchanges.
The conceit of the ménage a trois allowing for the kind of equilibrium that these complex artists require to exist harmoniously and creatively provides both tantalizing possibilities – and the inevitable deflation of letdown! (Anyone who heard the pre-release rumours will know exactly what I’m talking about!)
The diminutive Cruz creates another strong presence from an essentially underwritten role; fiery and without inhibitions, she gives the disturbed and unstable Maria Elena likeability in the face of all the evidence to the contrary. And those vehement rants in her native tongue really do defy any kind of literal translation - they may as well be recitations of poems of love, so intoxicatingly do they flow from those lips!
Juan Antonio with ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz)
On the other hand, Johansson is woefully underwhelming yet again, given some decent lines by Allen, but flubbing them with that recognizably wooden, vapid delivery of hers. Surely the most overrated actress of recent years, at least she can’t put any real dent in the quality of this film, surrounded as she is by world-class actors who make her mediocrity superfluous.
Previous unnoticed - by me at least - Rebecca Hall ends up a real revelation, maintaining Vicky’s vulnerable edge and believability even as her attitudes and emotions fluctuate. In fact, there’s genuine pathos evoked by Vicky’s forlorn search for satisfaction, Allen cleverly manipulating her outlook on love and happiness with a neat transformation: from the one most assured of her future, defiantly standing by her convictions in the opening scenes, she becomes the film’s most pliant and maligned character, deferring to fate, it’s one true victim.
It’s been a long wait for Woody Allen fans, and after a string of sub-par works, including the false dawn generated by the torturous Match Point, he’s finally delivered another film worthy of his long-esteemed reputation.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
- loved the film, thought it was some of Allen's best work in years.
- thought Cruz and Bardem nailed this joint to the wall, giving the film such intimacy and passion.
- thought Scarlett was a bore, and only Woody's obsession with her would create the fantasy world where Penelope Cruz would bother wasting time with her taking photographs.
- felt Rebecca Hall was the surprise, taking the worst of the narrative to heart, finding dissatisfaction and cloudy judgement.
The only thing I'd disagree with: I thought the narrator wasn't so necessary.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Nice one Cibby, Rebecca Hall really was a surprise packet, wasn't she? She was my favourite character in the film and apparently she's British-born too, with a very convincing American accent!
Poor Scarlett, my opinion of her gets worse every time I see her.
Agreed about the very natural pairing of Bardem and Cruz - they're a couple in real life now too I've read somewhere...........hopefully not trying to kill one another!