It is a rare movie that manages to both be funny and thought provoking at the same time, without sacrificing either element. Vicki Christina Barcelona joins the list of those rare movies.
It is the story of two friends, Vicki and Christina, who decide to spend a summer in Barcelona for different reasons. Vicki , decides to go in order to finish her thesis on Catalan culture before getting married in the fall, while Christina is there to get over a recent personal heartbreak and a professional disappointment. They fall for the myriad charms of the city and things become complicated when they meet Juan Antonio (played to smouldering perfection by Javier Bardem) who calmly and coolly proposes to sleep with them both. But first, he proposes that they spend the weekend at Oviedo. For sightseeing ostensibly. It is surely not giving anything away to say that eventually both girls fall for his charms, albeit at different times. Ah, but the plot thickens even more when they encounter Maria Elena( played superbly by Penelope Cruz), the force of nature ex-wife of Juan Antonio. And, for an ex-wife, she’s terribly involved in his life.
This movie easily belongs to Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, who play their roles to perfection. For such physically blessed people, notably Penelope Cruz, they are also actors with that elusive gift of perfect comedic timing. I think Penelope Cruz is a great actress ever since I saw her amazing performance in Volver and her performance here just affirms her talent. Much if not all of Penelope and Javier’s scenes crackle with energy and are laugh out loud funny. I later learned that a number of them were improvised, which makes me wonder how on earth the movie crew kept their sides from splitting in laughter. But much more than being funny, these two managed to create characters that are much more than stereotypical characters. Bardem is not just the sleazy Latin lover out to get it on with hapless American tourists, and Cruz is much more than a crazy ex-wife. Thanks to their impressive talent, there is something more nuanced and fine at work here and it’s a pleasure to watch them together.
This movie also manages to raise interesting questions on love and the way it wreaks havoc on our lives. The heart in all its contrariness, never quite knows what it wants or where its going and its certainly not always going to go with what the head says. Who do we love and why we do, are questions that director Woody Allen has always been concerned with, since his Oscar winning movie Annie Hall. Neuroses of the heart is Allen territory but in recent years his touch has been less than sure. He succeeds in this movie probably because he has wisely chosen to stay behind the scenes and let the story be told by his excellent choice of actors. Undoubtedly his movie is going to raise comparisons to Almodovar movies, given its Catalan setting, and “Almodovarian” actors, but it succeeds all on its own and quite deserves all the critical praise it has been reaping.
It is the story of two friends, Vicki and Christina, who decide to spend a summer in Barcelona for different reasons. Vicki , decides to go in order to finish her thesis on Catalan culture before getting married in the fall, while Christina is there to get over a recent personal heartbreak and a professional disappointment. They fall for the myriad charms of the city and things become complicated when they meet Juan Antonio (played to smouldering perfection by Javier Bardem) who calmly and coolly proposes to sleep with them both. But first, he proposes that they spend the weekend at Oviedo. For sightseeing ostensibly. It is surely not giving anything away to say that eventually both girls fall for his charms, albeit at different times. Ah, but the plot thickens even more when they encounter Maria Elena( played superbly by Penelope Cruz), the force of nature ex-wife of Juan Antonio. And, for an ex-wife, she’s terribly involved in his life.
This movie easily belongs to Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, who play their roles to perfection. For such physically blessed people, notably Penelope Cruz, they are also actors with that elusive gift of perfect comedic timing. I think Penelope Cruz is a great actress ever since I saw her amazing performance in Volver and her performance here just affirms her talent. Much if not all of Penelope and Javier’s scenes crackle with energy and are laugh out loud funny. I later learned that a number of them were improvised, which makes me wonder how on earth the movie crew kept their sides from splitting in laughter. But much more than being funny, these two managed to create characters that are much more than stereotypical characters. Bardem is not just the sleazy Latin lover out to get it on with hapless American tourists, and Cruz is much more than a crazy ex-wife. Thanks to their impressive talent, there is something more nuanced and fine at work here and it’s a pleasure to watch them together.
This movie also manages to raise interesting questions on love and the way it wreaks havoc on our lives. The heart in all its contrariness, never quite knows what it wants or where its going and its certainly not always going to go with what the head says. Who do we love and why we do, are questions that director Woody Allen has always been concerned with, since his Oscar winning movie Annie Hall. Neuroses of the heart is Allen territory but in recent years his touch has been less than sure. He succeeds in this movie probably because he has wisely chosen to stay behind the scenes and let the story be told by his excellent choice of actors. Undoubtedly his movie is going to raise comparisons to Almodovar movies, given its Catalan setting, and “Almodovarian” actors, but it succeeds all on its own and quite deserves all the critical praise it has been reaping.
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