Vicky Cristina Woody Allen

Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I am a huge Woody Allen fan.

I've practically written a thesis on him, The Six Types of Woody Allen. The basic gist of it is that Woody films fit into Six basic categories:

1) The Early Funny Ones (pure comedy's): Sleeper, Bananas, Annie Hall, Bullets over Broadway, Hollywood Endings

2) Bergmanesque (hardcore dramas): Interiors, September, Husbands & Wives

3) Felliniesque (Surreal existential pieces/autobiograpichal pieces): Stardust Memories, Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Radio Days, Mighty Aphrodite

4) Psuedocumentary (Mockumentaries/ narratives include documentary devices): Take the Money and Run, Zelig, Sweet and Lowdown

5) Magical/Fantastical(those that feature supernatural or out there elements): Alice, Scoop, Everyone Says I Love You, Purple Rose of Cairo and his New York Stories segment Oedipus Wrecks

And finally something I like to call 6) Pure Woody Allen (dramatic stories featuring humor whose homages are less outright and are often novelistic in narrative): Manhattan, Hannah and her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors

The thing about critiquing a Woody Allen film is that you inevitably compare it to his other works (Match Point is the dramatic narrative echo of Crimes and Misdemeanors minus the Woody part). This is both a hobby of Woody fans as well as a sometime unfair standpoint(oh it was good, but it was no Annie Hal, etc). Unfortunately it's bound to happen, and while that may lay undue criticism on works that would be hailed by other artist, it's just bound to happen for a man who puts out a film per year and has such a large oeuvre as Woody.

This leads us to Woody's latest flick, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I'm gonna try to make this review as non-Woody Allen fan friendly as possible while still being a Woody Allen fan.

To put it simply, Vicky Cristina is simply charming. Allen has taken the invitation from Spain for financing and fashioned a little story that is fill with beautiful people in a beautiful place trying to figure out who they are. It's a postcard to Barcelona. It's a forties travelogue film(right down to the iris ins and outs, where you lose yourself for 90 minutes a visit another country from the comfort of your movie theatre seat. It has all the Woody staples. The Title cards. The Great music. The existential dialogue. It's quite pretty. So are its stars. Bardem and Cruz have a sizzling hot energy to them and their interaction (fights alternating between Spanish and English, subtle physical movements that mark them as former lover) are fun to behold. Scarlett, while also pretty to look at, doesn't need to do much and plays what she is dealt (her highlight being beguiled by Bardem's Juan Antonio when he invites her and her friend for a threesome). Rebecca Hall also impressed with her woman finding less and less satisfaction with her marriage after being not but. Her storyline was unexpected for me and she had some nice points. She also is the current film bearer of the "Woody Allen tick" torch (for those not in the know, in films Allen doesn't star in there is inevitably an actor who carries his mannerism. Whether this is there way of speaking his dialogue or something Allen imposes himself, I am quite curious about.) Patricia Clark also has a nice, albeit protracted arc, but she puts the most into it. But while this is all well and good, Vicky Cristina is not without its problems.

The chief of which is the omniscience narrator whose voice over guides us through the film. While literary and useful at first to set the stage of the film, the voice over's continued use through only robs the film of actual growth. Why see Cristina's dissatisfaction when we can be told about it. It's the cardinal sin of telling, not showing that keeps the film from being great. We are told about things that we should see onscreen, things that would bring us closer to the characters and help us empathize. Instead the narration keeps us at arms length and shorts the characters development that is sorely needed. Instead of complete characters we get sketches. The brooding mysterious artist, the woman in search for herself, the crazy ex wife, etc.) The storylines of Vicky Cristina are ripe with possibilities not fully explored because of unrounded characters. I just invented a word.

Penelope might not get naked, but she's still smoking.

Also, fair warning, I know Vicky Cristina has gotten a lot of buzz because of its storyline and the potential threesome and Scarlett and Cruz's spit swapping. If that is what your looking for in this film, you came to the wrong theatre. It's there, but in a restrained tasteful way. Gratuitous isn't in the film's vocabulary, and that's probably want you want when you think of Johansson and Cruz making out in a darkroom. Could the sex scenes be hotter or even existent? I guess, but that's not what the film was about. I will say the Johansson Bardem sex scene, while not even remotely graphic, is shot absolutely beautiful for a way the gives you the sex without showing anything and resorting to the "pan to fireworks" sort of cliche. Vicky Cristina really isn't about sex. In fact, sex in the film is quite empty or simple just enjoyable for sex sake. The film is actually about relationships and finding fulfillment in them( including sex, artistic inspiration, friendship, relationship stability, self fulfillment).

Anyway, for those Allen fans out there, I stick it in the Pure Woody Allen category. Its like a more serious Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy. A Barcelona Night Sex Drama. Ironically enough Midnight in Barcelona was a working title. Its charming and pleasant and pretty to look at. Allen directs it well and the story has novelistic echos (Vicky's storyline echoing Judy's, Cristina's and Vicky's playing off one another) however, when put into perspective with the likes of Hannah and Manhattan, Vicky invariably falls short.

But its not supposed to be a masterwork, its simply a good film. It's better than most out there. Unfortunately Woody's worst enemy is himself.

Here's looking at you Woody.

Sidenote: Personal Top 10 Woody Allen Films
1) Stardust Memories
2) Interiors
3) Crimes and Misdemeanors
4) Sleepers
5) Hannah and her Sisters
6) Husbands and Wives
7) Zelig
8) Purples Rose of Cairo
9) Manhattan
10) Match Point