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Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Oof this movie. I got what this movie was trying to go for, but everything about it was just so cliched and annoying. Would not recommend this film.
Spoilers.
Story
The story was about Vicky and Cristina going to Barcelona and meeting a sexually liberal artist called Juan Antonio.
Vicky was engaged to be married, but eventually gave in to Juan Antonio's aggressive sexual advances and even fell in love with him.
Cristina often felt uncomfortable in stable relationships and was drawn to Juan Antonio's spontaneity. Some time after they moved in together, Juan Antonio had to take care of his ex-wife Marie Elena. The three of them eventually fell into a polyamorous relationship. That was, until Cristina felt uncomfortable with the stability of the relationship and needed to move away.
Vicky ended up returning to the US with her now-husband, and Cristina continued on her life of free love.
The main theme of this story was the idea of unfulfilled love and romance. I'll talk more about this in Themes section below.
Production
When I first started the movie, I saw that it was produced by the Weinstein Company and directed by Woody Allen, and my brain just went YIKES.
Narration
I thought that the narration made the movie sound kind of like a sitcom, and it made me take the movie less seriously. I couldn't stop seeing the characters like stereotypes if the narrator insisted on summing up their personalities in such a way.
Spain
The idea of these two American women in Spain kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Vicky was doing a masters on Catalan identity but it was implied that she only spoke English. And of course, there were communication issues between Cristina and Juan Antonio when Maria Elena came into the picture because she was used to speaking Spanish with Juan Antonio. I just felt like the movie did a lot to romanticize Spain and Catalonia but tried not to go too far because apparently it might've been too hard to relate to two women who were not super American.
Characters
Nearly all of the characters felt like stereotypes and it made me uncomfortable. If the story had more interesting characters, I would've taken the message more seriously, but I was just far too distracted.
Vicky
Vicky was the woman who was aggressively defensive of her romantic commitment to Doug. When Juan Antonio approached Vicky and Cristina, Vicky was so aggressive and didn't brush off Juan Antonio's advances off with tact and grace like any normal person would have. I think Vicky was maybe more obsessed with the idea of being in a committed relationship, and anybody who challenged that (other than Cristina) was being rude to her.
Vicky was so desperate to hate Juan Antonio that she was probably surprised that he could be a decently nice human being, and that surprise might've been what sparked that romantic attraction. Vicky then spent the rest of the movie mulling over the fact that she was more attracted to Juan Antonio than Doug. She brought this up to Cristina and Judy, but not to Doug.
Vicky had one last meeting with Juan Antonio before she left. That's when she was accidentally shot, and she left in shock, convinced that she couldn't coexist with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena.
That being said, Vicky never totally got over Juan Antonio. She was going home to have a big grand wedding reception with Doug, but she was still thinking about Doug.
Vicky was initially happy with her romantic commitment, but became unhappy because she'd learned what it was like to have a whirlwind romance and craved that. Vicky was annoying because she was kind of snobby about the fact that she had a long-term relationship. Despite being friends with Cristina for years, she continued to police her actions at that age. I wouldn't say that she had it coming because she didn't, but I'd say that Vicky finally understood why others might not have such a straightforward love life. She thought it was so easy to be in one, and she learned that it wasn't.
Cristina
Cristina never stayed with any relationship for too long. She was uncomfortable with stability. Cristina was extremely attracted to Juan Antonio's looks and his spontaneity.
Cristina had moved in with Juan Antonio. Later on, Maria Elena moved in as well. Given that Cristina herself was rather lax when it came to sexual partners, it didn't totally bother her that Maria Elena was back in Juan Antonio's life, but more that Maria Elena was skeptical of her. In addition, I think that was why Cristina wasn't angry with Vicky for having slept with Juan Antonio.
Cristina felt too stable in a polyamorous relationship with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena that fulfilld a lot of her emotional and sexual needs. She decided to leave and go back to the States.
At the end of the movie, Cristina got out of her relationship with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena relatively unscathed. She'd left many relationships before, and I suppose this one was no different. But as she entered and left more and more relationships, I think that perhaps she was getting more and more comfortable and confident about what it was that she wanted or didn't want.
Juan Antonio Gonzalo
I felt that Juan Antonio was kind of a stereotype of the sexy Hispanic man with lots of body hair that Americans perceive Hispanic men to be. I didn't feel that Juan Antonio had much of a personality besides being charming and loving his ex-wife.
Juan Antonio really felt more like a tool for Cristina and Vicky to understand themselves than an actual character.
Also, one thing that really grinded my gears was when Juan Antonio kept telling Maria Elena to speak English, but he would often ask her a question in Spanish, which was why Maria Elena had responded in Spanish!! Very hypocritical and grinded my gears because I felt that Juan Antonio was going out of his way to make things difficult. He could've had the entire conversation in Spanish and then translated for Cristina after they were done, or something equally practical.
Maria Elena
I felt that Maria Elena was a stereotype of the crazy Hispanic woman who spoke very quickly and was mentally unstable. She was very skeptical of Cristina when she first came to live with them. Over time, she came to bond with Cristina over their art, and then they became lovers.
Maria Elena didn't mind that Cristina and Juan Antonio were lovers, probably because she still loved Juan Antonio and liked that she made him happy.
Maria Elena got angry when Cristina decided to leave the relationship, and after that, Maria Elena and Juan Antonio were no longer stable either. That being said, it's implied that Maria Elena and Juan Antonio will get back together again, because that is their fate. Their romantic attraction is as strong as it is because their relationship is unstable.
Judy Nash
Judy was the typical overenthusiastic mentor figure who was trying to get Vicky to cheat on Doug with Juan Antonio. Vicky did call out Judy for trying to live vicariously through her. It did get kind of annoying how nosy Judy was though.
Doug
On the surface, Doug seemed kind of annoying because he was always worried about work, and cared about typical rich man stuff like golfing and such.
But not once did I really think that Doug really mistreated Vicky? Yeah, maybe he roped her in to boring dinners too often. But he spent time with her (shopping and sightseeing) but also wasn't controlling (e.g. encouraging her to have lunch with her Spanish teacher).
Doug was painted to be a boring man but like, he was just a nice and normal guy, and besides, isn't that why Vicky had originally liked him?
Themes
Romance as unfulfilled love
Juan Antonio said that only unfulfilled love can be romantic. This makes sense because only when you're kept wanting does the relationship keep giving in new and exciting ways. Note here that love and romance are different things. Romance is more about the fun and excitement.
Cristina seems more in love with romance than in love with love, and that is why she kept leaving relationships that were too stable. As for Vicky, maybe she hadn't had too much experience with romance and now that she had, realized what she'd been missing.
Maria Elena and Juan Antonio's romance was strong because they were always at odds with each other. They maybe had a little bit of love for each other, but they were probably more attracted to the excitement (both good and bad) that they got from being around each other.
Women
The views on women in this movie kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The biggest instance was when Judy insisted that Vicky wouldn't need to worry about a career after she had a child.
I won't give the movie that much shit for defining women by their views on love because this is a movie about love, and Juan Antonio, the main male character, was painted in this way too.
Overall
I really didn't enjoy this movie. It felt like it was trying to convey a message in the most heavy-handed way, using strong stereotypes and not being tactful at all. As I said, I would not recommend it.
Spoilers.
Story
The story was about Vicky and Cristina going to Barcelona and meeting a sexually liberal artist called Juan Antonio.
Vicky was engaged to be married, but eventually gave in to Juan Antonio's aggressive sexual advances and even fell in love with him.
Cristina often felt uncomfortable in stable relationships and was drawn to Juan Antonio's spontaneity. Some time after they moved in together, Juan Antonio had to take care of his ex-wife Marie Elena. The three of them eventually fell into a polyamorous relationship. That was, until Cristina felt uncomfortable with the stability of the relationship and needed to move away.
Vicky ended up returning to the US with her now-husband, and Cristina continued on her life of free love.
The main theme of this story was the idea of unfulfilled love and romance. I'll talk more about this in Themes section below.
Production
When I first started the movie, I saw that it was produced by the Weinstein Company and directed by Woody Allen, and my brain just went YIKES.
Narration
I thought that the narration made the movie sound kind of like a sitcom, and it made me take the movie less seriously. I couldn't stop seeing the characters like stereotypes if the narrator insisted on summing up their personalities in such a way.
Spain
The idea of these two American women in Spain kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Vicky was doing a masters on Catalan identity but it was implied that she only spoke English. And of course, there were communication issues between Cristina and Juan Antonio when Maria Elena came into the picture because she was used to speaking Spanish with Juan Antonio. I just felt like the movie did a lot to romanticize Spain and Catalonia but tried not to go too far because apparently it might've been too hard to relate to two women who were not super American.
Characters
Nearly all of the characters felt like stereotypes and it made me uncomfortable. If the story had more interesting characters, I would've taken the message more seriously, but I was just far too distracted.
Vicky
Vicky was the woman who was aggressively defensive of her romantic commitment to Doug. When Juan Antonio approached Vicky and Cristina, Vicky was so aggressive and didn't brush off Juan Antonio's advances off with tact and grace like any normal person would have. I think Vicky was maybe more obsessed with the idea of being in a committed relationship, and anybody who challenged that (other than Cristina) was being rude to her.
Vicky was so desperate to hate Juan Antonio that she was probably surprised that he could be a decently nice human being, and that surprise might've been what sparked that romantic attraction. Vicky then spent the rest of the movie mulling over the fact that she was more attracted to Juan Antonio than Doug. She brought this up to Cristina and Judy, but not to Doug.
Vicky had one last meeting with Juan Antonio before she left. That's when she was accidentally shot, and she left in shock, convinced that she couldn't coexist with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena.
That being said, Vicky never totally got over Juan Antonio. She was going home to have a big grand wedding reception with Doug, but she was still thinking about Doug.
Vicky was initially happy with her romantic commitment, but became unhappy because she'd learned what it was like to have a whirlwind romance and craved that. Vicky was annoying because she was kind of snobby about the fact that she had a long-term relationship. Despite being friends with Cristina for years, she continued to police her actions at that age. I wouldn't say that she had it coming because she didn't, but I'd say that Vicky finally understood why others might not have such a straightforward love life. She thought it was so easy to be in one, and she learned that it wasn't.
Cristina
Cristina never stayed with any relationship for too long. She was uncomfortable with stability. Cristina was extremely attracted to Juan Antonio's looks and his spontaneity.
Cristina had moved in with Juan Antonio. Later on, Maria Elena moved in as well. Given that Cristina herself was rather lax when it came to sexual partners, it didn't totally bother her that Maria Elena was back in Juan Antonio's life, but more that Maria Elena was skeptical of her. In addition, I think that was why Cristina wasn't angry with Vicky for having slept with Juan Antonio.
Cristina felt too stable in a polyamorous relationship with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena that fulfilld a lot of her emotional and sexual needs. She decided to leave and go back to the States.
At the end of the movie, Cristina got out of her relationship with Juan Antonio and Maria Elena relatively unscathed. She'd left many relationships before, and I suppose this one was no different. But as she entered and left more and more relationships, I think that perhaps she was getting more and more comfortable and confident about what it was that she wanted or didn't want.
Juan Antonio Gonzalo
I felt that Juan Antonio was kind of a stereotype of the sexy Hispanic man with lots of body hair that Americans perceive Hispanic men to be. I didn't feel that Juan Antonio had much of a personality besides being charming and loving his ex-wife.
Juan Antonio really felt more like a tool for Cristina and Vicky to understand themselves than an actual character.
Also, one thing that really grinded my gears was when Juan Antonio kept telling Maria Elena to speak English, but he would often ask her a question in Spanish, which was why Maria Elena had responded in Spanish!! Very hypocritical and grinded my gears because I felt that Juan Antonio was going out of his way to make things difficult. He could've had the entire conversation in Spanish and then translated for Cristina after they were done, or something equally practical.
Maria Elena
I felt that Maria Elena was a stereotype of the crazy Hispanic woman who spoke very quickly and was mentally unstable. She was very skeptical of Cristina when she first came to live with them. Over time, she came to bond with Cristina over their art, and then they became lovers.
Maria Elena didn't mind that Cristina and Juan Antonio were lovers, probably because she still loved Juan Antonio and liked that she made him happy.
Maria Elena got angry when Cristina decided to leave the relationship, and after that, Maria Elena and Juan Antonio were no longer stable either. That being said, it's implied that Maria Elena and Juan Antonio will get back together again, because that is their fate. Their romantic attraction is as strong as it is because their relationship is unstable.
Judy Nash
Judy was the typical overenthusiastic mentor figure who was trying to get Vicky to cheat on Doug with Juan Antonio. Vicky did call out Judy for trying to live vicariously through her. It did get kind of annoying how nosy Judy was though.
Doug
On the surface, Doug seemed kind of annoying because he was always worried about work, and cared about typical rich man stuff like golfing and such.
But not once did I really think that Doug really mistreated Vicky? Yeah, maybe he roped her in to boring dinners too often. But he spent time with her (shopping and sightseeing) but also wasn't controlling (e.g. encouraging her to have lunch with her Spanish teacher).
Doug was painted to be a boring man but like, he was just a nice and normal guy, and besides, isn't that why Vicky had originally liked him?
Themes
Romance as unfulfilled love
Juan Antonio said that only unfulfilled love can be romantic. This makes sense because only when you're kept wanting does the relationship keep giving in new and exciting ways. Note here that love and romance are different things. Romance is more about the fun and excitement.
Cristina seems more in love with romance than in love with love, and that is why she kept leaving relationships that were too stable. As for Vicky, maybe she hadn't had too much experience with romance and now that she had, realized what she'd been missing.
Maria Elena and Juan Antonio's romance was strong because they were always at odds with each other. They maybe had a little bit of love for each other, but they were probably more attracted to the excitement (both good and bad) that they got from being around each other.
Women
The views on women in this movie kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The biggest instance was when Judy insisted that Vicky wouldn't need to worry about a career after she had a child.
I won't give the movie that much shit for defining women by their views on love because this is a movie about love, and Juan Antonio, the main male character, was painted in this way too.
Overall
I really didn't enjoy this movie. It felt like it was trying to convey a message in the most heavy-handed way, using strong stereotypes and not being tactful at all. As I said, I would not recommend it.