Self-Hypnosis

email this story
read comments (25)
post a comment

All is well in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Weinstein Co., 8.15) when Penelope Cruz's neurotic firecracker is on-screen and having her way, and particularly when she's arguing with Javier Bardem's compulsive seducer-slash-painter. These two provide the erotic blood-flow in this Woody Allen film, and thank the Movie Gods for that. VCB is certainly worth seeing for Cruz and Bardem alone, but if the film had been entirely about them I would have been 100% delighted.

As is, VCB is about a couple of American girls -- Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) -- getting romantically involved with Bardem (and to a lesser extent Cruz) during a summer in Barcelona, and the hard fact is that Johansson and Hall are nowhere near as interesting as their Spanish-born costars.

And yet Vicky Cristina Barcelona played better at Monday's night's premiere screening in Westwood than it did for me in Cannes, and I'm trying to figure out why.

One reason had to do with mere suggestion, I suppose. The crowd at Westwood's Village theatre laughed heartily at just about every joke and visual inference, and the press people in the Grand Palais last May were much more subdued. Another persuader was the fact that I read David Denby's review of Allen's film just before the Village screening, and an observation of his had a surprising effect.

One of my beefs against Vicky Cristina Barcelona when I reviewed it on 5.16.08 was the incessant narration. I described it as "persistent, obnoxious and thoroughly unwanted" and said that it made "this story of overlapping, off-and-on love affairs in present-day Barcelona so on-the-nose and over-explained that I was feeling actively hostile less than 15 minutes in."

Denby, however, wrote the following: "Allen uses a narrator (Christopher Evan Welch) to explain who the women are, and, at first, it seems as if the director is just filling in backstory and telling us things we might have noticed ourselves. But this narrator does for Allen what narrators once did for Francois Truffaut -- he allows him to skip merely functional exposition and jump from highlight to highlight."

Truffaut! A light went on. Or rather, I found myself gradually succumbing to a cousin of the movie lover's "Russian Tea Room syndrome." Legendary critic Andrew Sarris described this back in the '80s as a willingness to not only accept but applaud speed-bumpy things in a foreign-language film (precious-sounding dialogue, say, or a clumsily-composed narrative) that an American viewer might reject outright if included in an English-language film, and especially a Hollywood-produced one.

An hour or so after finishing the Denby review (which I read while sitting at Jerry's Deli), the lights came down at the Village and I began watching Vicky Cristina Barcelona with the idea that it was, in fact, a French-language Truffaut film, and it played like a whole different animal. Not painful, not prickly. Not first-rate but a mostly agreeable thing.

I still preferred Cruz and Bardem's scenes to everything else, but the narration didn't get on my nerves because it was now the narration in Truffaut's Two English Girls or The Woman Next Door,and that was okay.

It still felt as if Allen was faintly mocking his own writing style and penchant for having his characters forever going to musuems, chatting in cafes and talking about artistic longings...aaah, I'm blathering. My basic point is that it played better the second time so do what you will. Odds are you'll have a pretty good time with it.

Of course, if you're under-25 you won't go at all because GenY audiences, to go by the box-ofice track record of Allen films over the last eight or ten years, are averse to the Allen sensibility.

I want to repeat one complaint from last May, which is Allen's no-naked-breast- shot rule. "He's telling a story that's swimming in mad erotic currents," I wrote, "and yet he's clearly decided against boob exposure -- not even a casual random glimpse. It's obviously unnatural and un-European. Presumably this was about avoiding an R rating, but the oddly prudish vibe works against the story and the general mood, so why even pick up the brush if you're afraid to paint a nipple?"

Count On It<< previous | next >>Carr Tube

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 6, 2008 at 8:54 AM

comment #1

berg says ...

I thought Rebecca Hall's character of Vicky reminded me of Mary Wilkie from Manhattan, there was a sense of "I'm from Philadelphia, we don't do things like that in Philadelphia" about her ... compare the breast shots in Truffaut's The Man Who Loved Women with the ones in Blake Edwards' remake. They trimmed the sex scenes in Man on Wire for the PG-13 release ...

Posted by berg at August 6, 2008 12:40 PM

comment #2

T. S. Idiot says ...

Penny C's boobs are on display in Elegy.

Posted by T. S. Idiot at August 6, 2008 12:41 PM

comment #3

snoop says ...

I agree with your general statement, but I'm under 25 and absolutely love Allen. That being said, Allen is pretty much a wait for DVD guy. His films are intimate, and (Match Point being an exception) I usually prefer to view them in an intimate setting. However, I say this having not been of age for many of his greatest films, so if I had been, I might think differently. I probably will when I'm in my 40s and I'm still one of the few people turning up every time for Wes Anderson and PTA.

Posted by snoop at August 6, 2008 1:07 PM

comment #4

p.Vice says ...

I'm right there with you Jeff -- my basic movie rating scale is as follows:

Boobies - THUMBS UP!

No Boobies - THUMBS DOWN!

I believe Roger Ebert uses this scale as well.

Posted by p.Vice at August 6, 2008 1:56 PM

comment #5

anti-sardine says ...

p.Vice, I thought that your basic movie rating scale was:

Films I loathed beyond reason - THUMBS DOWN!

Films I disliked or hated - THUMBS UP!

Posted by anti-sardine at August 6, 2008 2:46 PM

comment #6

Gaydos says ...

A movie that says here the choice you face in young adulthood: A) follow the rules even if you find that you probably will lose your shot at joy or B) search for authenticity in life/love even if it means bumping into walls and risking a couple of gunshots from maniac ex's and assorted loons along the way.

So of course, VCB is comfortably tucked into my list of top 3 films for the year so far.

Posted by Gaydos at August 6, 2008 2:54 PM

comment #7

EOTW says ...

Javier Bardem. Studly. Period.

Posted by EOTW at August 6, 2008 5:54 PM

comment #8

Terry McCarty says ...

snoop wrote:
I agree with your general statement, but I'm under 25 and absolutely love Allen. That being said, Allen is pretty much a wait for DVD guy. His films are intimate, and (Match Point being an exception) I usually prefer to view them in an intimate setting.

MANHATTAN, one of Woody's rare ventures into widescreen, is well worth seeing in a theater.

Posted by Terry McCarty at August 8, 2008 12:04 AM

comment #9

willis says ...

mmmmm i'm not sure about this movie. but if the storeis good maybe i'll watch this. i hope richard gere making another movie.he's so hot!real estate |articles|memory foam mattress

Posted by willis at November 26, 2009 12:25 AM

comment #10

yokek says ...

His films are intimate, and (Match Point being an exception) I usually prefer to view them in an intimate setting. good like Formal Gowns Prom Gowns Shop prom dresses, formal dresses, prom shoes, 2010 designer prom gowns at dres4sale.

Posted by yokek at March 11, 2010 8:07 PM

comment #11

sf says ...

MBT sale all over the world,about 100 million pairs every year.MBT Shoes Sale lots of various tyles,like MBT Chapa Shoes,MBT Lami Shoes,MBT M.Walk Shoes,MBT trainers,MBT 2010,all MBT Sports Shoes styles are good to your doing sports.MBT Shoes clearance !Save more money here! Your best choice,you may also be interested in MBT Shoes.You don't want to miss such a good chance,do you?

Posted by sf at April 17, 2010 8:13 PM

comment #12

switgurl12 says ...

I think that nice post. Nice information, valuable and excellent design, as share good stuff with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need, thanks for all the enthusiasm to offer such helpful information here.Download drake mp3

Posted by switgurl12 at April 21, 2010 10:18 PM

comment #13

doublexjohn says ...

McDonagh's one hell of a writer. You should be thrilled you're getting to see this show, regardless of who's in it. credit card fraud protection

Posted by doublexjohn at April 27, 2010 8:57 PM

comment #14

doublexjohn says ...

Penelope also went for the "and the winner is." Good for her. online fax

Posted by doublexjohn at April 29, 2010 8:59 PM

comment #15

dd says ...

Designer Handbags

Posted by dd at May 11, 2010 1:00 AM

comment #16

emogurl12 says ...

To further comment on Jeff's point, when there are no opening credits, I always feel like the director couldn't be bothered with setting the tone or creating a mood for the movie. It shows a lack of creativity (to me, anyway) or a basic failure to finish the last 1% of the job. I guess I'm in the minority because my friends could care less.
online fax

Posted by emogurl12 at May 16, 2010 9:06 AM

comment #17

repairUK says ...

I like this actress, I like to see her acting. She's my inspiration. appliance repair

Posted by repairUK at May 22, 2010 2:41 AM

comment #18

sexy12 says ...

You'd magnificent recommendations there. I did a hunt about the field and found that likely plenty of people will agree with your blog. identity theft fraud protection

Posted by sexy12 at May 22, 2010 10:41 PM

comment #19

sexy12 says ...

Penelope also went for the "and the winner is." Good for her.

funny t-shirts

Posted by sexy12 at May 23, 2010 12:28 AM

comment #20

viagra without prescription says ...

VCB is an interesting film, with a sequence perfect and where the details are majestic. Apart that the great director chosen by this film, as is Woody Allen.

Posted by viagra without prescription at August 9, 2010 9:50 AM

comment #21

supermada says ...

Your blog appears quite informative. I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest.Can you please tell me how can I read your rss blog?
-------------------
cheap mac cosmetics | miu miu handbags | air max 95 | asics shoes | p90 workout

Posted by supermada at August 18, 2010 4:33 PM

comment #22

youtube converter mp4 says ...

Thanks for your patience and sorry for the inconvenience!
Best regards, Mary, CEO of mp3 from youtube and install windows 7 on iscsi

Posted by youtube converter mp4 at March 1, 2011 1:24 AM

comment #23

kerry says ...

Si vous etes interesses par le dossier, ou desirez en savoir plus, contactez-moi par mail, et je vous mettrai en contact.
Best regards,Jane, CEO of what is storage area network

Posted by kerry at June 1, 2011 12:49 AM

comment #24