After years of making movies in New York, about New York, and about New Yorkers Woody Allen recently made a string of three movies in London. While they did not suddenly make him a huge box-office draw, they were received more favorably by critics than the majority of his work since the late 90’s. Allen seemed to have found a new muse for himself as well; Scarlett Johansson appeared in both Scoop and Match Point as an out-of-place American.
Johansson returns here as the Cristina of the title. Cristina and Vicky (Rebecca Hall) are vacationing in Barcelona for the summer. Vicky is marrying in the fall when she returns to New York; this is a sort of last hurrah for the best friends. Vicky is getting a degree in Catalan studies, which she knows is useless. She plans to begin a comfortable life as an upper-class housewife after marrying. Cristina is a free spirit with no plan. She has tried her hand at various types of art but none of them stuck. She is also a free spirit in romance; she knows she wants nothing conventional. Though the girls are best friends, they detest each other’s view of romance.
The story starts after the girls have reached Barcelona. One night in a café, local artist Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem) approaches their table. He offers to take them to Oviedo, a small village that is his hometown. He is upfront that he finds them attractive and wants to bed them both. Cristina is instantly attracted to him and wants to go. Vicky finds him off-putting and tries to convince Cristina that it is a bad idea. But eventually, both girls end up in Oviedo with Juan Antonio for the weekend.
In Oviedo Cristina drinks too much and upsets her ulcer. She is bed ridden for two days which forces Vicky and Juan Antonio to spend time together. Despite Vicky’s attempt to stay distant she and Juan Antonio connect. This is the beginning of the romantic problems.
They all return to Barcelona. Vicky and Juan Antonio both pine for each other, but dare not contact each other. Cristina moves in with Juan Antonio after a few weeks.Vicky’s fiancé Doug (Chris Messina) decides to join her in Spain so they can have a memorable European wedding. Even in Barcelona though, it is clear to Vicky that life with Doug will be boring.Cristina and Juan Antonio are getting along until one night, his unstable ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) shows up.She has just tried to commit suicide and has nowhere else to go. Maria Elena and Juan Antonio clearly still have feelings for each other.
All the various love triangles and quadrangles play out until Vicky and Cristina leave Barcelona at the end of summer. The ending is violent and surprising. It suggests that Allen thinks neither the European nor the American view of love is any better than the other. They both can be their own traps.
Woody Allen presents this film as more of a novel than a movie. There is third-person omniscient narrator who tells us the characters’ innermost thoughts and dreams. Narration is often the lazy filmmaker’s way out, but not here. Allen is presenting his characters and his story in a different way so we can understand them better. The soundtrack consists mainly of Spanish guitar music. The music is often very on-the-nose, practically telegraphing the characters’ emotions. While this would normally also be lazy filmmaking, here it heightens the emotion of the characters. Only a great filmmaker like Allen could defy usual filmmaking conventions and still tell an effective story.
Most of the talk of the acting in this movie has consisted of the surprising turn of Javier Bardem as a hunk or of Penelope Cruz’s enigmatic Maria Elena. But Rebecca Hall does most of the work in the less showy role of Vicky. Hall manages to get us to sympathize with Vicky and her problems. We do not hate her for being immoral or for being boring. Hall makes Vicky a relatable person not the two dimensional staid American stereotype she could have been.
This is a fine Woody Allen film, equal to his work in London. It is a must-watch for any Allen fan. Others may want to be cautious. It is not a traditional romance in any sense. Despite its recent Golden Globe win for “Best Musical or Comedy” it is more of tragedy than either of those. But if you want to see a movie that is thought-proving, discussion-worthy, and entertaining this is well worth your time.
