Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Produced by Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley and Stephen Tenenbaum; written and directed by Woody Allen; director of photography, Javier Aguirresarobe; edited by Alisa Lepselter; production designer, Alain Bainée; released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer and the Weinstein Company; starring Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Penélope Cruz, Chris Messina and Kevin Dunn. Colour, 97 min. 2008

In Woody Allen’s most current romantic comedy, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the writer-director moves to Spain to expand his views on relationships and the search for happiness. While not necessarily ambitious, but is balanced in structure, the film is most interesting in terms of how Allen moulds his characters, positions himself against the female and male roles, and creates an American experience without stereotyping Europe.

College best friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) leave the States to spend the summer in Barcelona, the former to focus on her masters on Catalan culture and the latter to indulge in new adventures after having experienced numerous relationship break-ups. The first adventure begins when they are approached by the charming Catalan painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bandem) in a restaurant, invited to take a spontaneous trip to Oviedo to see a sculpture, and to have sex with one another. This is the first instance where Vicky and Cristina’s attitudes differ: Vicky clings to her prim morality, reminding herself that she is engaged and soon to get married, and finds Juan Antonio’s proposal offensive, while Cristina is excited by the forward gesture and reacts positively. Vicky convinces herself to tag along to Oviedo only to keep Cristina company. There, Vicky maintains her distance and focuses on the architecture and art; Cristina and Juan Antonio are on to seducing one another, but any obvious sexual contact at the last moment is averted when Cristina suffers a stomach ailment. Vicky and Juan Antonio thus spend more time with one another. A romantic moment at a flamenco guitar concert leads to sex and Vicky falls in love.

One of the film’s strengths is the director’s keen interest in developing his characters. He examines what Barcelona does to Vicky and Cristina, two independent-thinking individuals, rather than lingers on the banal themes of romance, lust, and jealousy. Returning to the city after Oviedo, Vicky realises her growing attraction towards Juan Antonio is one-sided and struggles to forget him. At the same time, her restless passion makes her doubt whether the original plan of getting married to Doug (Chris Messina) will indeed make her as happy as she previously believes. For the first time, she looks at her life and realises she has never before questioned if stability is what she really wants. Her fiancée’s calls and visit do not cheer her, but she never confronts the question of pursuing another way to happiness out of fear and uncertainty.

Whereas Vicky never saves herself from the inertia that results from her unwillingness to let go of the stability afforded by her fiancée, and finally leaves Barcelona disheartened, Cristina throws herself in new situations all summer to find out what it takes to make her happy, and ultimately emerges enlightened. She excitedly meets Juan Antonio’s artist friends and fits in comfortably. Wanting to turn her back on America’s “puritanical and materialistic” lifestyle and all ready for the European way, she maintains her balance when Juan Antonio brings home his ex-wife, the crazed and wild Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz) after she attempts suicide, to stay. Initially cautious around Maria Elena and even jealous of her, Cristina gradually warms to Maria Elena and looks up to her as her mentor for photography. An instance of mutual attraction between the two develops into a physical affair, and next Cristina and Juan Antonio’s relationship expands to include Maria Elena, creating a three-some romantic situation that works wonders temporarily. As Cristina later tires of this lifestyle, however, she takes action and leaves. At the end, she realises this is what she will not want for the future and is contented with her discovery.

Interestingly, Woody Allen approaches his female and male characters differently. His female characters go through a spectrum of emotions and often engage in self-questioning. In fact, as his portrayal of Vicky and Cristina shows, the females are the ones who need to balance the external environment with their inner psyche, confront discoveries that are sometimes unsettling, and accept occasional disappointments. Maria Elena does not hide her frustration when Cristina decides to leave her and Juan Antonio and later becomes once again psychologically unstable, whereas Juan Antonio reacts with less emotion. Vicky and Cristina’s hostess, Judy (Patricia Clarkson), shares her own marriage problems and desire for something more adventurous in a small scene. That she cannot break out, just as Vicky fails to, is another instance that shows how in Woody Allen’s view a woman’s situation is often complicated. He treats the women with empathy and is never chauvinistic even when they cannot improve their conditions. In contrast, the male characters are seemingly complacent and need to face fewer pressing issues. Juan Antonio coolly plays along with the flow, does not shy away from passion but is emotionally distant, always staying unscathed even when an affair or a relationship fails. Doug is steeped in apparent middle-class narrow-mindedness (as he disapproves of Cristina’s three-some lifestyle) and never reaches the level of self-awareness as Vicky does, remaining insensitive to what the latter wants until the end.

Another strength of this film is that it averts mindless cultural stereotypes. The perspective from which the European experience is recounted – through Vicky and Cristina’s eyes – is personal and not inherently American in any decisive way. Cristina’s initial attitude towards America and Europe is not a dogmatic belief that the two continents are direct opposites, but rather results from her innocent excitement and openness for everything new. The two apparently free-spirited Catalan artists are not intended to represent all of Barcelona or Europe, but are two unique individuals whose personalities and not their cultural background spark the complex inter-personal dynamics. Even Doug’s narrow-mindedness must be understood as a personal sentiment and not a characteristically American attitude. The director’s point is only to tell stories about individuals as they look into themselves and interact with each other, and he does so observantly, with humour and generosity. He is not interested in preaching politics.