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Woody
Allen's latest film explores the age-old dramatic tension between
passion and reason, between following one's desires and
settling for the security of the dependable and controlled. Vicky
and Cristina, best friends, travel to the city of Gaudi and Art for a summer
vacation. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is a pragmatist and depends on the
safety of her relationship with her fiancé back home in New York.
Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a dreamer who wants a man to
sweep her off her feet and fill her life with art, literature,
philosophy, and sexual mystery. Vicky is researching her thesis on
Catalan culture, and Cristina, an aspiring filmmaker, is here only
to luxuriate in Barcelona's culture and cuisine. One night, celebrated painter Juan Antonio
(Javier Bardem), with
his bedroom eyes and insinuating charm, walks into the restaurant
where they are dining, and propositions the two women. Add Juan
Antonio's manic depressive and certifiably insane ex-wife Maria
Elena (Penelope Cruz) and the mix becomes combustible.
Woody
Allen revels in poking fun at stereotypes, including the liberal
open-to-anything blasé European lover. He does light bedroom
farce better than anyone else. By trading his usual Upper West
Side boudoir settings for the spectacular warmth and scenery of
Barcelona, Allen breathes new life into an old formula. The
characters will have to make important and possibly life-altering
decisions in the remaining days of their Spanish idyll. But
it is after all a summer movie, and no better place to play at
love than in Barcelona.
While Allen reprises themes from
previous movies such as Hannah and Her Sisters and Manhattan,
here, as in his New York films, the City is Muse and Barcelona,
Mediterranean, alluring and sensual, is the seductive heart of the
film.
See:
Vicky
Cristina Barcelona
See:
Manhattan
Tags:
film
spain
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