nan | 楠木

While the revelations and observations are not totally new, Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona is still a delightful romantic comedy. With a superb cast including Rebecca Hall (Vicky), Scarlett Johansson (Cristina) and Penelope Cruz (not Barcelona, but Maria Elena who resides in Barcelona), as well as Javier Bardem as the man who is causing all the sizzle and stir among those fine ladies, this film is at its least a highly enjoyable soap drama.

Of course, since it’s written by Woody Allen, you can ensure that the plot will be somewhat complicated and the dialogue "sophisticated” if not witty. Indeed, Mr. Allen simply moves the intellectual dialogue from New York to Barcelona – the underlying content is the same, only the setting is different. Under the sunny Catalonian skies, everything about love seems to take on a new perspective.

The plot. Vicky and Cristina are two Americans in Spain, looking to enjoy the sun and the sights, and in Cristina’’s case, some romance. The girls, while best friends, are immediately established as the exact opposites – Vicky is reserved and rational, while Cristina is flirtatious and emotional. Vicky is engaged to Doug, a successful New Yorker, and is looking forward to a content and perhaps straightforward life – which is exactly what Cristina is trying to avoid. When they meet Juan Antonio, a divorced Spanish painter who doesn’t hide his desires, Cristina is immediately flared up while Vicky finds him repulsive.

However, in Mr. Allen’s typical fashion perhaps, with a twist of chance (Cristina falling ill), it is Vicky who develops a real relationship with Juan Antonio first. Juan Antonio, a true womanizer, quickly moves on to the eager and waiting Cristina, using Vicky’s engagement as an excuse (not wanting to endanger her happiness, as he claims); Vicky however, is truly stirred by the momentary passion and begins to doubt her relationship and her future life with Doug. For Cristina, all is not well either, as Juan Antonio’s ex-wife, Maria Elena, soon reemerges and it’s truly “three’s a crowd”. Ironically, Juan Antonio and Maria Elena seems to be able to live pleasantly together with Cristina “maintaining the balance”.

In Vicky Cristina Barcelona, there is no true resolution – for most of its main characters, life at the end of the film is the same as it started, the only difference being the chaotic brief interruption of some very messy relationships. The process is revealing for the audience, however, as some time-tested old questions about love is well presented – should you pursue that “true love”, even if it meant endangering what you already have and hurting others? And do morals exist when it comes to love, or is it “all’s fair in love and war”? For the audience, perhaps your predisposition will determine you answer – in other words, this film will probably not change your view – but the narrative will make you think twice.

A bit about the cast. Mr. Bardem seems very comfortable as the old hand at love, and is fitting as the Bohemian artist. Ms. Hall has very good potential – she is actually a very young actress, yet her performance here is quite on the mark and she holds her ground against her established counterparts. Ms. Johansson is once again the femme fatale, and the image she is projecting is not very different from her portrayals in The Other Boleyn Girl, The Prestige, The Black Dahlia or Match Point. While it’s fine (and natural) for actors / actresses to have some inherent qualities which is shown in all their characters, I do think she should start experimenting new roles or she will become stereotyped. As for Ms. Cruz, her numerous nominations are already proof of her fine performance – she literally steals the scene the first moment she appears.

8/10