Review

Review Date: 17-August-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

I went to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona for one main reason: to escape the heat. It was a toss-up between this and a kids' adventure starring animated insects. The trailer for Woody Allen's latest had made it look like an overly arch assessment of romance from a man who — let's face it — has not had an enviable love life. Yet it proved to be one of those surprises that keeps the thrill in frequent moviegoing. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is well written, well acted, and well designed to make one think, and even ache a little.

The story dives into a dilemma which every adult has pondered: how love that is passionate and life-altering combusts in its own fire, while love that is lasting and secure often fails to satisfy. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a free-spirited blonde who wants to explore love's possibilities to fill her soul. Her friend Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is a brunette who has always wanted a stable marriage and well ordered life and is about to marry a man who can provide her with such. The two women go to Barcelona for the summer where they enjoy the sights and sounds which form a wonderful backdrop to the film. One night they are approached by a local painter (Javier Bardem) who tells them he finds them both beautiful and invites them to join him for a weekend of pleasure. Vicky is appalled but agrees to go because Cristina insists.

Unexpected events occur which rattle each woman's concept of her needs. For Vicky, the weekend forces her to question if she really desires the future offered by her uninspired fiancé. (This character elicited many laughs from the crowd where I sat, which I found flagrantly and sadly hypocritical. Everyone sitting there with a spouse and silenced cell phone either was or wanted to be this guy, and besides, he isn't that bad.) For Cristina, the self-doubt begins after she moves in with the Spaniard and he brings his notorious ex-wife (Penélope Cruz) home from the hospital after a suicide attempt. This new woman in the mix is incapable of tempering or hiding her emotions. These include a passion for art, an undying love/hate for the painter, and suspicion followed by adoration for Cristina.

Humor and sex appeal adhere to these people's confused groping for fulfillment, but Vicky Cristina Barcelona takes a basically sobering view of the situation. They are all trying to understand what is right for them, what can make their lives worth living, and none of their varied attempts provides an answer. Traveling to a new country does often shake up one's viewpoint. Allen also suggests that traveling through life does the same.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.