Under the dim lights of the friendly Roxy Bar, an eclectic group of people settled into their seats, beers in hand, as the movie began. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was the perfect movie to see in this pleasant setting, especially because it tells the story of two American women spending their summer in Barcelona, much as twenty-four American SDSU students are spending their summer in London.
There are many aspects of the film that highlight Woody Allen’s directing style, a prominent one being the narration. The deep voice and profound words of the narrator interject at many key points during the story. In most other films, this would almost certainly break the audience’s concentration and interrupt the flow of the scene. However, in this film, the narration works. It seems to bring the film back together during the more frenzied moments. The narrator, along with the cheerful music, brings certain lightness to a film that would otherwise be heavy if it depended solely on its dramatic plot.
Another part of Vicky Cristina Barcelona that resembled Woody Allen’s style was that the film was so heavily focused on love and sex, yet the conversations spoken among characters were much more erotic than any of the actual sex scenes. Allen is known for his dialogue-heavy movies, and this one is no exception. Although many of the themes in the film are taboo in our culture (e.g. a threesome), Allen has a way of opening up the viewer’s mind and illustrating that, in this case, a relationship with three members instead of two can be quite healthy. The film ends abruptly, and although this contradicts the “happily ever after” ending of most romantic movies, this conclusion is quite fitting for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
No comments:
Post a Comment