A Worthy Trip to 'Barcelona'

by Brett Parker

What happens when the romantic philosophies of New York Intellectuals clash with the zestful passions of Spanish bohemians? You get Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the new romantic dramedy from Woody Allen. It seems like if he’s not talking about murder and death, Allen is dealing with complications of love and the human heart. This time, he really gets at something deep. It may be a lightweight affair, but it presents profound ideas about our romantic appetites.

The film follows Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), two New Yorkers who travel to Barcelona for a vacation. Vicky is a rather conservative girl who is engaged to a dull yuppie named Doug (Chris Messina) while Cristina is a more adventurous spirit, constantly seeking new suitors and new artistic opportunities to relish. After meeting with old friends and taking in an art show, the girls run into an abstract artist named Juan Antonio (Javier Bardhem). Juan Antonio is a respected artist surrounded by rumors of a violent divorce, in which it’s been said that his ex-wife tried to kill him with a knife. Fascinated by this man, Cristina keeps staring at him across from a restaurant not too long after the art show. Juan Antonio approaches their table and suggests, point blank, that they fly away with him to an exotic city where they can observe art and make love.

Vicky is of course offended by this but Cristina is intrigued by the offer and soon enough Juan Antonio whisks them both away on a jet to a beautiful European city. What follows is a series of romantic episodes and complications as Juan Antonio persuades Vicky into bed, Cristina moves in with Juan Antonio, Vicky’s fiancé unexpectedly turns up, and Juan Antonio’s fiery ex, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) shows up to live with both him and Cristina under the same roof. Allen gives special attention to each character as they march towards these unconventional romantic situations and no emotion is left unfelt.

Fans of Woody Allen will undoubtedly recognize the themes and style they’ve come to love from the New York auteur. Allen once again uses eloquent dialogue and thoughtful characters to explore specific depths of human emotions in a sweet and subtle package. No matter what the material, you can always expect an Allen film to have seasoned actors, a sharp wit, and intelligible dialogue, making Vicky Cristina Barcelona no exception to this cinematic tradition. I call the film lightweight because it lacks the grand significance and creativity of his major works, such as Annie Hall, and it’s not as absorbing or as patient as his better films, such as Cassandra’s Dream.

One thing that really turned me off was the film’s use of voiceover narration. The film has one of those redundant narrations that highlights points to the audience they were strongly capable of figuring out on their own. It doesn’t help matters that the narrator (Christopher Evan Welch) sounds like an ESPN commentator speaking into an old tape recorder from the 80s. Not exactly the type of voice you want representing a tale of Spanish romanticism. Hell, even Allen doing it himself would’ve softened the sting. Also maddening is the fact that the narration hurries us past certain passages we would’ve liked to stay and linger on for a bit. This film would’ve played extremely better without that strange voice explaining everything to us.

All of the performances, especially from the women, are pitch perfect and really help nail the film’s underlying ideas. Yet it’s Javier Bardem’s performance which shines brightest and is the best reason to see this film. On the surface, the character of Juan Antonio seems like an outsized Latin Lover type, but you haven’t seen a Latin Lover until he’s written by Allen and played by Bardem. The details of the character (his frankness, his exotic activities, his seductive power) make him seem like a bit of a caricature, yet Bardem has the right amount of sincerity and charm to make him plausible. The scene where he propositions both traveling and sex to Vicky and Cristina is almost astonishing in the way Bardem says all the right things and hits all the right notes. He is the man.

When all is said and done, there’s a lot to consider about the film’s message. Allen uses the Vicky and Doug subplot, along with another subplot involving married friends of Cristina, to illustrate how a typical American marriage, based around class and societal structure, can be very dull and unfulfilling. By contrast, Juan Antonio’s sense of bohemian passion seems a lot more attractive and correct. However, the film’s ending does a great deal to show how both Juan Antonio and Maria Elena’s indulgence of wild passion is not the healthiest way to go either. At first, it seems like Allen has painted himself into a corner. Then we realize that he’s pointing out how complicated it is to get a handle on the depths of the human heart. Our feelings are constantly flowing and changing like water, so how are we supposed to fine tune it to one specific lifestyle for the rest of our lives? The characters in Vicky Cristina Barcelona try to solve this dilemma by compromising or continuing to indulge in their passions, even though by film’s end it’s obvious that they haven’t really figured it all out.

After Allen wrestled with grand, operatic tragedy with Match Point and Cassandra’s Dream, it’s nice to see him play once again on his ideals of romance and relationships. It says something that his lightweight romantic ventures hold more thoughts and ideas than so-called “grand” Hollywood romances. Plus after seeing Javier Bardem terrify and slay countless people in No Country for Old Men, it’s nice to see him charm the pants off of countless ladies in this one. What an actor.