Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen, 2008)

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margot · #151 Post by **margot** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:57 am

Why does everyone hate the narrator? I loved him.

Antoine Doinel · #152 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:07 am

Woody Allen's Spanish diaries.

Montreal's love/hate affair with Woody Allen.

Fielding · #153 Post by **Fielding** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 4:04 am

VCB held up very well going into its second weekend. It was down only 24% compared to last Friday, a good result compared to the other films that debuted last week. Tropic Thunder was down 41%, Fly Me To the Moon was down 41%, Mirrors was down 62% and Clone Wars was down a whopping 75%.

Grand Illusion · #154 Post by **Grand Illusion** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:11 am

I disagree with the complaints about Vicky and Cristina having an encounter with just another stereotypical Latin lover. These are two American tourists who found exactly the exoticism they were looking for, consciously or subconsciously. If you go to a party and spend the evening gawking at the one painter, dressed in red, who had a widely-publicized attempted murder scandal with his ex-wife, then you get what you're asking for.

As for Barcelona being a sort of travel porn, I'd say less porn than fantasy, which is exactly how Woody has always done it. He's said as far back as Manhattan that he uses location as his ideal, romanticized sense of place.

The narrator was a bit on the nose with the exposition at times, but the distancing and the irony made his presence worthwhile. The narrator is downright inappropriate at times with his judgment calls, so take that ironic flavor how you will.

Needless to say, I enjoyed the film a lot. Performances all around were great. Rebecca Hall is a standout.

Dylan · #155 Post by **Dylan** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:44 pm

The narrator was a bit on the nose with the exposition at times, but the distancing and the irony made his presence worthwhile. The narrator is downright inappropriate at times with his judgment calls, so take that ironic flavor how you will.

In this respect, it recalls Jean Seberg's narration in Bonjour Tristesse, and I believe it works on a similar level. As stated, I really liked the narration in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but I would've preferred a female narrator.

With that said, every single scene and many of the character nuances, score tracks and images from VCB are incredibly, unusually fresh in my mind, and I think of this film often. I'm also happy to say that everybody I know who has seen it loved it. I still haven't returned for a second viewing, but it will come soon enough.

exte · #156 Post by **exte** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:54 pm

This film was great, and the climax was exciting. Very great stuff. Again, I'm in awe of Mr. Allen and his ability to do a film a year...

#157 Post by **mfunk9786** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:26 pm

Poor Woody. Could we all please discuss Vicky Cristina Barcelona again?

I'm on the side of those who liked the narrator. I think having a non-distinct male voice was a good choice. It's very generic but very crisp, and doesn't serve to do any emoting - but that's fitting for the film, I think. The characters' actions and emotions speak for themselves, but when there is a lapse in time, the narrator's voice serves as a great way of filling us in on, for example, how Cristina is fitting in with Juan Antonio, without letting the film resort to musical montages and the like, which wouldn't fit with the mood of the film.

ed_gonzalez · #158 Post by **ed_gonzalez** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:35 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:I could really go on for longer, but the review reads to me like one conveniently constructed to project a negative opinion onto a film receiving nothing but praise at the time, to be noticed as the first guy who didn't like There Will Be Blood. Just because you "called me out" on this opinion doesn't mean I'm going to take it back and crawl into a hole.

mfunk9786: My Google Alert didn't go off, I was just led to this topic on this very fine board that I frequent quite often by Slant Magazine's traffic reports. There's no need to get defensive: I may have "called you out" (as you say), but I didn't ask you to crawl into any hole. You're entitled to your opinions, just as you're entitled to dislike me and my writing, but when you accuse me of faking my opinions to get attention, you are calling me a liar. Armond W., Stephanie Z., David E. and others get this "contrarian" crap thrown at them all the time and I imagine they're all as sick of it as I am. Why is it impossible for some to conceive of others disliking a film like "There Will Be Blood" (which, incidentally, Nick Schager and I saw at the same time in New York City prior to Thanksgiving last year)? (I really got a great response to that review, as well as the "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" one, but just because I don't like these movies, doesn't mean I can't appreciate or engage with positive opinions about them, like the very ones being articulated throughout this topic.) Is it possible for anyone to lob a negative view at this film without raising a red flag for you? Why always the knee-jerk "did you walk out during it" accusations? What other reviews do you think I've fabricated? Seriously, I'm all ears.

LQ · #159 Post by LQ » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:46 pm

When a film comes along that strikes you to the core, you can't help getting defensive when someone else dismisses it; you just can't understand why everyone doesn't see it your way. All of us are guilty of this in varying levels, and more often than not it gets us into trouble because we shoot from the hip.
how about we just chalk this one up to that, eh?

Michael · #160 Post by **Michael** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:48 pm

Ed, welcome to the forum and I hope you are here to stay.

Tom Hagen · #161 Post by **Tom Hagen** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:09 pm

ed_gonzalez wrote: Armond W., Stephanie Z., David E. and others get this "contrarian" crap thrown at them all the time and I imagine they're all as sick of it as I am.

Yeah, "contrarian" is an unfair label for such non-provocative, non-histrionic film critic likeArmond White.

rohmerin · #162 Post by **rohmerin** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:12 pm

Puto Castillian dubbing. Penélope and Javier are dubbed by others. In my town, only dubbed version will be released. Fuck ! I can't stand any dubbing.

It's crazy but true, it's more expensive to travel to Madrid than to London to see the movie. When does it open in London???

relapser · #163 Post by **relapser** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:59 pm

Allen did a funny piece on the film in last Sunday's Arts section of the NY Times. Apparently he had a threesome with Penelope and Scarlett while making the film.

tavernier · #164 Post by **tavernier** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:07 am

relapser wrote:Allen did a funny piece on the film in last Sunday's Arts section of the NY Times. Apparently he had a threesome with Penelope and Scarlett while making the film.

Near the top of this page is the link.

Belmondo · #165 Post by **Belmondo** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:34 pm

Looking at Scarlett Johansson on the big screen has gotten me through several ungreat Scarlett Johansson movies. This one kept its distance and should have been just a bit more fun, but, it will stand up to repeat viewing when I buy the DVD because even though Woody isn't entirely "back" (many of us were unaware that he'd left), this is probably as good as it's gonna get from here on out and it is more than good enough.
You can take the emotional and intellectual point of view of any of the four main characters and strongly defend it. That's a good enough screenplay for me, and those gals are easy on the eyes.

relapser · #166 Post by **relapser** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:54 pm

yeah, it's baffling to me why Allen thinks Johannsson is good actress. She comes off as bland and distant in everything she does.

LQ · #167 Post by LQ » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:06 pm

Antoine Doinel wrote:Woody Allen's Spanish diaries.

Montreal's love/hate affair with Woody Allen.

You can go see it now

rohmerin · #168 Post by **rohmerin** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:50 am

Horrible reviews in Spain.
Dirigido por and El Pais didn't like it. I wait to read the Cahiers du cinema -Spain reaction.

Highway 61 · #169 Post by **Highway 61** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:35 pm

What's their beef? Not authentic enough?

Barmy · #170 Post by **Barmy** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:47 pm

People who speak Spanish know that Cruz is shite in ANY language.

#171 Post by **swo17** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:06 pm

¡No es verdad!

Barmy · #172 Post by **Barmy** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 8:26 pm

¡Sí, Se Puede! (sorry, that's the only Spanish I know--I think it means "I'm a fool").

pianocrash · #173 Post by **pianocrash** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:33 pm

Supongo, pero sin palabras principales de Sr. Allen, Penelope no hay nada que divisoria la ultimo tragedia Elegy (lagrimas mas feas), inculso si Ben Kingsley estaba bastante desnudo para ellos (o cada uno, cualquier persona, dondequiera). He resuelto las ratas más talentosas, pero con pechos peores. :-$

Hail_Cesar · #174 Post by **Hail_Cesar** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 2:43 am

Moi j'ai bien aimé le film sauf pour la partie narrative

Antoine Doinel · #175 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 1:47 pm

Finally saw this last night and absolutely loved it. As AWA noted, the camera work is very fluid here, almost as another tourist wandering the streets of Barcelona. And I definitely agree with Dylan this is one of Allen's best pictures period. The script ranks is as accomplished as anything in his early days and he brings an energy to the proceedings that outshines even his stronger, more recent work. The performances are all fantastically strong, particularly Bardem and Cruz. A love letter to Barcelona and a mature look at relationships, even at 71, Woody Allen's productivity and level of quality outshines any other American director working at half his age. I can't wait for his next film, and I hope he has many more left in him.

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