Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

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Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 10-14-2008, 10:04 PM:

On Sunday, October 12th my wife and I took a delightful walk on a perfect Autumn day through Forest Hills Gardens and Kew Gardens to the Kew Gardens Cinema for the 3:15 matinee of Woody Allen's comedy.

Allen doesn't appear in this film, but the narrator's voice might be his, though it sounds nothing like the nebbishy (wimpy)
voice he used in Annie Hall. It provides continuity, telescoping time, and lends a leisurely story-telling pace. Billed as a comedy, there is little outright humor, but like Shakespeare's
plays of couples coupling in enchanted forests, seems to prove "What fools these mortals be."

ACHTUNG! SPOILERS AHEAD!

The erotic locale is Barcelona, popular with honeymooners and whores, and the enchanter is an artist who appears seductive to Cristina, a blonde, moody American tourist, and to her more skeptical companion Vicky, a brunette grad student researching Gaudi's architecture and Catalan culture, who has a fiance in the US.

I found the movie relaxing after our walk, but not especially memorable. The plot is episodic, and the characters act alternately in love, in heat, and in jealousy as more minor characters are drawn into the changing-partners love fest.

Projection in Auditorium #4 was satisfactory for the audience of 25 seniors.

Posted by Paul Burt (Member # 3743) on 12-15-2008, 03:24 PM:

Finally caught up with this film and it's way better than I expected. Fully realized characters, a plot without cliches, good acting, and one or two things to think about afterwards. And no whiny Woody in the film. Should be nominated for best screenplay. 4.5/5.

Posted by Mike Schindler (Member # 1309) on 12-15-2008, 03:44 PM:

I liked this movie, but doesn't it seem like Allen is running out of material? The main plot is very similar to the Drew Barrymore/Tim Roth subplot in EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE. And I think he did a better job with it in the earlier movie.

Allen needs some sort of insane break from his usual routine. I'd like to see him do a slasher movie or something, just to get the ball rolling again.