Vicky Cristina Barcelona

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Woody Allen, 2008

In Woody Allen's latest film, we follow two friends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), who are Americans living in Barcelona. Vicky is a reserved person who is about to marry a boring businessman; Cristina is her opposite, a perky, blonde-haired art major who currently has no job and no love interest. But this changes when a rich man named Juan Antonio, who is played by the excellent Javier Bardem, befriends them in a restaurant; and he asks them to join him for a weekend excursion. It is there that Vicky opens up and, despite her misgivings, falls in love with Juan.

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is an unusually quiet film, and it requires us to pay close attention to its characters' every move. These are people who have been raised to hide disgruntlement, yet there are subtle signs of "weakness," a deep-seated dissatisfaction that breaks through the surface in almost unnoticeable gestures - an eye role, or a shrug - and in the occasional burst of emotional fury. Allen's technique is perfectly suited for the subject at hand. He gives equal attention to action that takes place in the background and foreground: Cristina, in one beautifully constructed sequence, eyes Juan at an art gallery while behind her, Vicky's parents blabber on about his scandalous exploits. We have our reservations about the guy, but Cristina obviously has other thoughts on her mind.

Where Allen is most successful, though, is in his depiction of the characters' sense of confinement. An overarching, cheerful-sounding narrator often pops in throughout their adventure, a risky technique that nonetheless succeeds in simultaneously summarizing and trivializing their efforts to find true love. Vicky and Cristina both feel trapped in their current situations, and Allen tends to place them between lines, or in the middle of the frame. This visual motif, however, is thrown out the window during a brief, torrid sex sequence between Cristina and Juan. Allen places his camera up-close on the two kissing passionately, and we only see a disorienting mish-mash of faces. These are people who transcend the film's rigid visual style, and their everyday, rational inhibitions. But this pleasurable escape proves to be all too brief.

Juan's unstable ex-wife Maria Elena (a terrifying Penelope Cruz), who, as an obsessive and often violent woman, is the source of his notoriety, decides to stay with him and Cristina; inevitably, the tension grows exponentially. And despite efforts to maintain his fidelity, Juan simply can't reject Maria - chemistry trumps relationship protocol. In justifying Maria's move back in, Juan tells Cristina, "Love is for each other." But the camera simply lingers on Cristina's pouting face; Allen seems to be saying that love is a purely selfish beast, that it is something that we use for our own well-being. It has the potential to be both wonderful and emotionally ruinous, and it is all but impossible to nail perfectly. But like most things, that doesn't stop people from trying.

Rating: 9

First Viewed: 8/16/08, in 35 mm projection - IMDb