Film: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Hysterical Bi-sexual

Don’t get me wrong, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) is an awful film, but yet I still enjoyed it. Woody Allen’s film, funded in part by the Spanish government, follows two women Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) as they spend the summer in Barcelona. 

First, let’s unpack the clear two atrocities of the film. For one there is the narrative, which honestly feels like a wet dream that Woody Allen had one night, in which three of the most attractive women you can think of are literally falling for him. Him in the films case is Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem), a Spanish painter who we first meet in a restaurant propositioning Vicky and Cristina for a threesome. Ridiculous from the outset, it is a vaguely familiar trope; two oppositional American tourists, one artistic and capricious (Cristina) and the other uptight and unhappily engaged (Vicky), both falling for the exotic native (Antonio Gonzalo), the only one to fulfil their desires and remedy their unhappiness. Throw into the mix a hysterical ex-wife Maria (Penelope Cruz), who still shares an undying love with Antonio, and you have a film whose gender politics is detestable to say the least.

Second, in typical Hollywood fashion, the man can only give true fulfilment. Although Vicky is wealthy in knowledge, doing a masters on Catalonian culture, it is Antonio who holds the power, making her realise her passionless marriage to Doug, valued in this film a hell of a lot more than her intellect. As well as this, it is him who truly teaches Cristina her capability within art (he himself being a tortured artist, of course) through his friends (all men) and Maria, who very quickly adapts to his new muse out of nowhere by becoming a part of the action! A twosome with Scarlett Johansson turning to a threesome with Penelope Cruz: must have been an inspiring dream Woody.

I could go on. However, I feel the troubled themes of this film will be accurately pointed out by many, MANY others, and so I want to highlight some of the things it done well. 

Firstly, there is the star factor. We all know that a film can be absolutely dreadful from start to finish, but if you have a big name and shoot them with continual flattery, the desire to stick pins in your eyes is subdued. Allen has three in Cruz, Bardem and Johansson. Juan Bardem is ruggedly handsome from the outset and aesthetically this is aided from candlelit restaurants to his clothes and possessions, he doesn’t even really need to act at all and judging from his performance I think he knows this. Cruz and Johansson however definitely show more charisma in their roles, most especially Cruz in her various outbursts and arguments with Bardem (of course both are incredibly attractive as well).

Secondly, I liked the way Allen dealt with Doug, Vicky’s American fiancé, and later husband. One thing the film seems to be exploring for Vicky especially is her confliction of economic safety and conformity against her inner desires. Allen embodies this in the male figures of Doug and Antonio, contrasting them well. With Antonio, mise-en-scene and music compliment him. Beautiful flamenco music hovers around his scenes persuasively; his first sexual encounter with Vicky is complimented with a camera technique I can’t quite define; his art is eye-catching, and his father is a noble poet, whilst also providing the best comedic moments of the film. Doug is quite the opposite. When he begins to tell a joke, the soundtrack fades up to deafen the punchline and he is constantly dressed in greyish blue, connoting a coldness reflected in his business type job in the city. He’s also judgemental, set up rather lazily in the script by Allen when he is having his opinion on Cristina’s sexual unconventionality, after which he says, “I don’t set myself up for a judge”.

There is an interesting scene in the bathroom too, where Vicky contemplates meeting with Antonio and potentially leaving Doug. He stands in the back of the shot out of focus as his signal is lost and he repeats “you’re breaking up”, working nicely to connote her irresolution. 

This irresolution ultimately returns at the end of the film, with both Vicky and Cristina realising Antonio’s erratic love with Maria would never hold the happiness they are both seeking. The final scene sees them in Barcelona airport ready to return to America, a fitting surrounding for the end of their journey. They are in transition, physically and mentally, between the nonconformity of Barcelona and conventionality of America.

If you're interested in trashy kinda films like this and now want to watch Vicky Christina Barcelona (although why would you I've literally outlined the best bits about it), the film is now sooooo old it really shouldn't be too hard. 

IMDB