Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a new Woody Allen tale of one summer spent by two young American tourists (Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson) in Spain. Vicky is conservative and reserved, certain of a happy future with her successful fiancé. Christina, on the other hand, is insatiable and impulsive in her search for the right relationship and is willing to experiment with almost anything in order to find what she is looking for.
In the setting of free spirited Spain, both Vicky and Christina give in to their sex drive and begin to question conventional ideas of monogamy, fidelity and heterosexuality. Each woman is put to the test of her own when a romantic and moral free artist Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) enters her life, followed by his psychotic ex-wife (Penélope Cruz).
In this film, Woody Allen lovingly captures the light romantic scenery of Spain and mingles it with female sensuality in a way that transposes our well established sense of personal freedom against the all American moral values. The director presents each character with careful fondness, slowly revealing each woman’s crisis against temptation to accept a liberated way of love. I most enjoyed Cristina’s struggle to accepting a new bohemian lifestyle as she rationalized herself into being a European above all conventions and then felt proud of herself for succeeding in setting her morals aside. Vicky’s character is more complex in her struggle to give up the life she always wanted.
Despite their willingness to try, both women soon discover that their individual ideas of love, values and beliefs are not easily set aside. This excellent study of relationships and human nature concludes on a somewhat distressing note, boldly calling into question the possibility of lasting romantic happiness.
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