Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[Stefen]

I found Vicky far more interesting than Cristina. Cristina was just a dumb hoe with no talent, but a decent rack who used her sexuality to befriend people. Vicky actually had a life, a fiance, morals, etc. If I were to ask a girl, "Hey, would you like to have sexual intercourse?" I find the one that hesitates a lot more interesting than the one that immediately answers, "YES"

I don't know if it was just Scarjo who bothered me or if it was the character of Cristina. I guess it was both. Neither (Scarjo/Cristina) really seemed very honest to me. She reminded me of those girls in high school who are bi-sexual, but not because they're REALLY bi-sexual. You know the ones that just do it for attention? They're at a party and a bunch of soon to be frat boys are all chanting, "MAKE OUT! MAKE OUT! MAKE OUT!" and so the girls do? That's Scarjo/Cristina.

Vicky on the other hand is the character who fell in love with a girl in college, moved in together, thought she'd spend the rest of her life with her, then eventually just grew apart/up and then found a male fiance and went right back on the straight and narrow track her parents told her was right. Marriage, children, the white picket fence, etc.

I just found Vicky far more honest and real than I did Cristina, who I felt came off as a phony. I doubt that was Woody's intention, but that's how I saw it.

[WideShot]

You should post more.

Thank you!  I've been lurking at xixax for a long time.. 5 years?  I don't know.  I've always read to get the scoop on what's coming and especially get the scoop on PTA info.  So I look forward to finally joining the discussions if I have something to add.

I dunno, I was pretty much in love with cristina - rebecca hall did enough with someone who should've been a lot more boring.  she was barely movie boring, undergoing a tiny struggle that someone like me will enjoy watching.  I actually found her to be a whole lot more ravishing and charismatic than scarjo, who, in my opinion, peaked at 8-Legged Freaks.  Rebecca Hall reminded me of those watchably lame characters that mia farrow and diane keaton used to play a lot back in his glory days.  People that you know are ultimately no fun, but it was fun watching them trying to sway our way in the meanwhile.  Am I making sense?  I'm talking about diane keaton in Manhattan primarily - you almost thought Woody could've transform her into someone more lively, but he couldn't.  I like it when Woody does things like that, 'cause it's always a revelation - even in real life too, when you break up with someone and realize she was never the person you wanted her to be - I find that in Woody's films sometimes and it always brings me solace.

"Watchably lame"  I love it.  I agree, he has a tendency to allow characters to wallow in a state and prove their own fallibility through weakness in personality, which they try to make up for with constant babble which never really amounts to much.  Take any role where Mia is a lead and she tended to be Woody's female equivelent, maybe not quite as neurotic.  Even in a film like The Purple Rose of Cairo when he has every opportunity to escape this "wallowing effect" with the high concept, he still prefers to make Mia into a bumbling insecure wallflower throughout the whole movie, with no solid arc of any type by the end.  Not that he always follows the same suit, there are clear differences.  But he seems to like to mix a character who goes through a wild arc with one who goes through little change at all (the Woody, or Mia character).  But that in itself, while not terribly entertaining in the classic character arc "journey-esque"  motif, is totally realistic and really proves to be quite accurate, especially in relationships and the way they workout.  Husbands and wives illustrates this to a T.  Nobody really undergoes any permanent personality change, they just go through the emotions of a typical relationship and either stay with the same partner or move on, retaining almost the exact same personality traits as when the movie started.  What's maybe different is that the arc for the characters is that they change but end up in a similar place to where they started, just maybe with a different partner.  And that too is realistic because ultimately, we don't try to change much.  We try to change the world around us to try to accommodate us.

SPOILER BELOW

Hall here pulls a Keaton from Manhattan, and goes back to her sweet husband because of several negative things at once, especially being shot in the hand.  This is more of a crescendo though because in Manhattan, it was a wind down from their relationship (not without the midnight call to come kill the spider though, similar to the final meeting between javier and Rebecca).

In the end, VCB is, like most of his films since probably Sweet and Lowdown, a real departure from his earlier techniques, and takes us to a new place that I think most people thought Woody had totally forgotten about - sexy intimacy, but this time without the Woody one-liners like "we could hide the salami".

That's why I wonder if Whatever Works will be a let down to the legions of new fans created by VCB.  I seriously doubt Evan Rachel Wood and Larry David are anything like Javier and Scarlett or Cruz (who is?).  I just hope Woody listens to the box office for even a fleeting second and makes that new film in Paris hotter than Everyone Says I Love You.  Hot, Woody, Hot!

I found Vicky far more interesting than Cristina. Cristina was just a dumb hoe with no talent, but a decent rack who used her sexuality to befriend people. Vicky actually had a life, a fiance, morals, etc. If I were to ask a girl, "Hey, would you like to have sexual intercourse?" I find the one that hesitates a lot more interesting than the one that immediately answers, "YES"

Not to keep waxing Woody's car but I think thats what makes the pair realistic.  Its the "opposites" that make for good cinematic buddies, like in Sideways or any other buddy movie.  The easy chicks.. well, lets just say that Juan Antonio is the guy who picks up rich American/British tourists in any foreign country.  He's really after a weekender of just wining and dining these two and probably doing them both at the same time.  It happens in real life every day.  The chicks want a sexy foreign guy for something exciting, and the guy wants a clean chick with no attachments, plus they're easy.  I think both Vicky's and Cristina's reactions are exactly what I would expect from those two friends on Vacation.

I don't know if it was just Scarjo who bothered me or if it was the character of Cristina. I guess it was both. Neither (Scarjo/Cristina) really seemed very honest to me. She reminded me of those girls in high school who are bi-sexual, but not because they're REALLY bi-sexual. You know the ones that just do it for attention? They're at a party and a bunch of soon to be frat boys are all chanting, "MAKE OUT! MAKE OUT! MAKE OUT!" and so the girls do? That's Scarjo/Cristina. Vicky on the other hand is the character who fell in love with a girl in college, moved in together, thought she'd spend the rest of her life with her, then eventually just grew apart/up and then found a male fiance and went right back on the straight and narrow track her parents told her was right. Marriage, children, the white picket fence, etc. I just found Vicky far more honest and real than I did Cristina, who I felt came off as a phony. I doubt that was Woody's intention, but that's how I saw it.

No I think that was sort of the intention here.  Cristina, as indicated by Vicky's fiance and others, is simply wandering through life aimlessly.  She does exactly have that "I'll try anything and do anything because I'm misguided and want some attention" thing going, and yeah I dated a couple of chicks like that in high school that were fairly hot in sack but f'd up in the head (worse than Cristina).  Cristina is a bit non-volatile compared to the real life counterparts, and she comes off as a bit of a sucker for it.  The thing I also didn't really buy was Vicky then falling for Juan Antonio through the absolutely predictable "I can't get him out of my mind, so I'm going to question my loving caring fiance so that I can try this guy out".  Like, I knew where that was headed anyway so I couldn't really buy it.  Maybe I just know Woody's history of characters too well?

[Stefen]

Vicky then falling for Juan Antonio through the absolutely predictable "I can't get him out of my mind, so I'm going to question my loving caring fiance so that I can try this guy out".  Like, I knew where that was headed anyway so I couldn't really buy it.  Maybe I just know Woody's history of characters too well?

I think in Vicky's case, it was more that she was experiencing something she had never experienced before. A charming foreign man sweeping her off her feet and making her feel good. Let's be honest, her fiance is a total square and up until she experienced something new, she was content with having the type of lifestyle that someone like her fiance brings. Lights off at same time everynight, never anything out of the ordinary.

I don't think Vicky fell in love with Juan Antonio the person as much as she fell in love with the idea of him. I think it was more that he was something that took her away from the reality that is her boring life and soon to be marriage.

[WideShot]

Great point, and again thats why I dig Woody Allen, because he cares enough to give his characters a bit more than the average.  I didn't mean to imply that she didn't have motivation, I just found it predictable and a bit cliche but even still, you could look at the whole story as four characters who are real, that simply walk right into a cliche for each of them.  Because just because its cliche doesn't mean it doesn't really happen.

[Stefen]

I want a sequel.

[pete]

I mixed up vicky and cristina - sorry, everytime I said cristina I meant vicky.  I didn't like scarjo or vicky at all.

[Stefen]

So you hated both of them?

Scarjo = Cristina

[pete]

ah stupid.  twice in a row.  no.  I liked vicky/ rebecca hall.  I disliked cristina.

[WideShot]

Hypochondriac Allen Missed Out On Johansson/Cruz Kiss
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000095/news#ni0669274
4 February 2009 2:00 PM, PST | From wenn.com | See recent WENN news

Director Woody Allen missed the same sex kiss between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz in his new movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona - because he was busy having a suspicious mole tested. The two actresses were stunned when the filmmaker disappeared as they were preparing to pucker up for the saucy scene.

But Cruz insists he did them a favour, by diverting attention from the nerve-wracking shoot.

The actress reveals, "On the day I had to kiss Scarlett Johansson, all his attention was on this freckle on his hand. He decided he had to leave the set and get it looked at, because the end of the day would be too late. It was good because it divided attention."

Cruz reveals she and the 73 year old bonded on set over their fear of illness.

She adds, "My family and my friends think I'm a hypochondriac. I think I am a little. And when I hang out with another person like me, I have an attraction to that. I want to know all of their fears and obsessions."

[Kal]

This was terrible. Come on, people see a foreign city, some hot chicks, and one cliche 'on purpose' after the other and think its a masterpiece? This was horrible. Boring. Tries too hard to be Woody's cool European flick with foreign actors and it sucks. It took me a long time to see it and I'm fucking disappointed.

[pete]

kal, I'm always pleasantly surprised by how much you know.

[Alexandro]

"Let me tell you about my next film: It will be the Woody Allen cool european flick with foreign actors".

Dude, woody allen doesn't even use the word "cool". He probably thought of it as "a knockout love story in a knockout city" or something...

The joy from this film comes from the fire between cruz and bardem, and the sexyness of it all. I mean how many sexy movies are around? really?

[pete]

He doesn't like movies without a male lead he can project himself onto.