fascination: vicky cristina barcelona

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" is a 2008 film by Academy Award-winning writer-director Woody Allen. The film was shot in Avilés, Barcelona and Oviedo. The plot centers around two American women, Vicky and Cristina, vacationing in Barcelona. There, the women meet an artist, and the three quickly develop a relationship. The artist, however, is still enamored of his mentally unstable ex-wife [from Wikipedia].

I went to the movies last night with my cousin and we saw this movie. In the past I have never been a big fan of the works on Allen, but this movie surprised me in a positive way. I felt strangly inspired by it afterwards and wanted to paint. Silly.

This is a seemingly plotless movie, yet I found it undeniably interesting. Javier Bardem stars as the Don Juan character Juan Antonio. Bardem is a brilliant actor, and is probably one of my favorite actors in the world. The 39-year old spanish actor has starred in great ovies as "Before Night Falls" (2000), a movie I recommend highly. Last year he portrayed the grotesque serial killer Anton Chigurh in the bizarre movie "No Country for Old Men".


Vicky and Cristina are two american friends who go to Barcelona for the summer.
Scarlett Johansson, in the role of Cristina, is a spontaneous and unsure girl who chases highs, while her friend Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is practical and traditional in her approach to love and commitment. They encounter Juan Antonio,
who is an eccentric artist who offers them to fly to Oviedo with him to get to know each other better. This is the beginning of fast and dramatic relationships, whereas Juan Antonio's ex-wife María Elena(Penelope Cruz) also enter the story.

María Elena is nevrotic and charming, and has recently attempted suicide. After being hospitalized, Juan Antonio takes her into his home. Being lovers, Cristina also shares recidence with Juan Antonio. The three of them develops a harmonic relationship. Cristina persues her passion for photography, while María Elena and Juan Antonio continues their artistic duties. They threesome inspire each other. Vicky, on the other hand, is also attracted to Juan Antonio, even though she has recently married her reliable but unromantic Doug. I absolutely loved Cruz's portrayal in the movie. She definietly deserves an Oscar nomination for the part. One of the quotes I really liked was when Maria Elena stated that "only unfulfilled love can be romantic". Isn't that just so true?

The end is vert dramatic and unfulfilling. I liked that the movie was reckless but realistic. It could've happend. What I loved the most was the scenery, Barcelona. I visited the city this summer, and recognized many of the most famous places, like the rooftop of the Casa Milà, Cathedral of Santa Eulalia and the the Sagrada Família, all gotic constructions by the famous architect Gaudí. Vicky is getting her masters in Catalan Identity, a project spawned by her love of the works of Gaudí.

Works of Antoni Gaudí:


Rooftop of Casa Mila


Outside view of the asymmetric Casa Mila


The unfinished cathedral Sagrada Familia


The gothic Cathedral of Barcelona

Different quotes from the movie:

She had reluctantly accepted suffering as an inevitable component of deep passion, and was resigned to putting her feelings at risk. If you asked her what it was she was gambling her emotions on to win, she would not have been able to say. She only knew what she didn't want.
#
So for a, a brief moment of
passion, she completely
abandons all responsibilities
#
So, uh, tell me, why won’t your
father publish his poems?

Well, because he hates the world,
and that’s his way of getting back
at them -- to create beautiful
works and then...to deny them to
the public, which I think, it’s...

My God. Well, what makes him
so...angry toward the human race?

Mm, because after thousands of
years of civilization...they still
haven’t learned to love.
#
Maria Elena used to say that...only
unfulfilled love can be romantic.