‘Barcelona’ is a refreshing Woody Allen film
Woody Allen is probably one of the most famous writer/ directors in Hollywood. He is a rare entity in the film business who has a film released every year. What’s more, he writes and directs all of his films. The down side is that some aren’t that great. After a string of films in the not-so-great category, Allen moved from his trademark setting of New York City to London with 2005’s “Match Point,” which earned him an Oscar nomination. Three years and two flops later, he has changed settings again, this time for Barcelona in the fittingly titled “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” “Barcelona” is his Spanish “Match Point,” but better. It gives us a classic film to add to the Woody Allen collection. In following suit with the setting change, Oscar nominations should surely follow.
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” tells the story of two girlfriends, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), as they spend their summer in Barcelona. They soon meet an attractive painter, Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) who invites them to spend the weekend with him. After both fall for him, his psychotic ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) re-enters the picture to complicate things.
“Barcelona” is without a doubt the best film I have seen in theaters all year. It’s a very European film, a style Woody Allen has made his own in America, and is refreshing among the sea of blockbusters that the summer months are filled with.
The writing is crisp, the dialogue is intriguing and the cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful. Everything works for this film. Penelope Cruz has been generating Oscar buzz for her role as Maria Elena, and she definitely deserves it, but she is not the only one who deserves the buzz.
Rebecca Hall’s turn as the engaged Vicky who falls for Juan Antonio is on par, if not better, than Cruz’s performance. She plays the morally strict character Allen is usually seen playing in his own movies and in turn gets some of the best laughs in the film.
Something that is very prevalent in European films that American audiences are certainly not used to is the presence of a narrator who has no connection to the film as a character. “Barcelona” has such a narrator. It may take some viewers a few minutes to get used to the narration, but it adds something to the film that makes it so much different, and therefore so much more refreshing compared to the cookie-cutter summer films we are used to seeing. “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, including sexuality and smoking. The film is in no way appropriate theme-wise for a middle schooler. There is rare swearing (and only in Spanish) but the story really is something that parents should take caution for their middle schoolers.
Joey Polino will be a junior at Canisius High School.
