Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen est un puits sans fond d’idées, de motifs et de raisonnements. À son âge, il est remarquable de le voir maintenir un niveau aussi élevé qu’il y a vingt, trente ans. Dans trois de ses quatre derniers films, j’ai regretté son absence de certains personnages centraux, mais en y repensant par la suite, il n’aurait convenu à aucun des personnages de Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Au lieu de ça, il s’est attardé sur chacun des rôles avec minutie et c’est très bien comme ça, vu que la correspondance entre les acteurs et leurs personnages est irréprochable et que la personnalité des protagonistes est finement construite. Ainsi, Woody a à sa disposition une vaste palette de caractéristiques, de sentiments et d’actions, de sorte que chacun d’entre nous pourra se retrouver dans au moins un de ces éléments. Le genre de Vicky Cristina Barcelona est difficile à définir. Je dirais que Match Point est un thriller à suspense, le Rêve de Cassandre, un drame tragique et Scoop, une comédie typiquement allenienne. Mais pour Vicky Cristina Barcelona, j’hésite entre une comédie au goût amer, une œuvre analytique sur les relations amoureuses ou une tragicomédie. Quoi qu’il en soit, j’en ressors avec un ressenti très particulier et la certitude encore renforcée que Woody Allen est en tête de mon hit-parade personnel de réalisateurs, avec un sérieux fossé entre lui et les suivants. (07/11/2008)

Actually, the Spanish atmosphere definitely saved the film. The screenplay is quite interesting, but on the other hand an "Italian relationship" is also nothing new. What's much more original is that they get a beautiful blonde girl involved. And instead of their relationship falling apart, it balances it out. The beautiful blonde is a great actress, by the way! Oh, and to make matters worse, we have the ordinary Vicky, who doesn't actually do anything throughout the film. A film you only have to see once. 3.5 stars. (28/06/2011)

Only unfulfilled love can be romantic. During the trailer, I anxiously anticipated, at the first reviews unexpectedly attaching the film with the stamp of the funniest movie of the year, he blinked surprised and didn't even breathe during the film. And he cursed the reviews. This comedy is not it, and from my point of view, it doesn't come anywhere close to it. Not that the humor is completely missing, but in several places, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was watching Match Point for the second time - this time written with a much more positive mood. Woody's experimenting should never (if possible) end. Thanks to Spain, everything is intimately familiar and yet brilliantly new. When the uncompromising artist Bardem steps up to the table, a hint of the coming symbolism of partnership can be sensed, but it was only when the fascinating intimacy began to unfold that I realized what a unique work I had come across. Because I didn't see pure romance anymore, Woody probably has his ultra-happy endings definitively behind him. And at the same time, I didn't see a hint of cynicism, just the suppression of idealism and the inevitable acquisition of a certain perspective. Thanks to this, Vicky is enjoyed the most by those romantics who have already been burned. Those sweetly hopeful should rather wait a few more years alongside Hana and her sisters. (31/12/2008)

In his old age, Woody Allen somehow caught a new artistic vibe and can surprise with at least every other film he churns out at a machine gun pace. After his film Match Point, this is the second film I've seen in a short time where I had a hard time finding his typical style. For a long time, essentially for the entire first half of the film, I couldn't immerse myself in it, but with every passing minute, this Boccaccio-esque tangle of relationships and love passions got to me more and more. Unlike his older comedies, Allen reduced his typical dialogue banter, omitted the character of a neurotic intellectual, and focused on a group of people who have problems with their emotions and long for something that is currently out of their reach. The infidelities, seductions, rejections, and sufferings are presented convincingly and have charm, especially when they form a remarkable polygon. It may not be the pinnacle of Allen's work, but Vicky Cristina Barcelona definitely belongs to the better things he has created. Overall impression: 80%. (24/05/2010)

A living classic set off to warm his bones under the Catalonian sun to make his old-man’s wet dream come true. And because he’s no jerk, he eagerly shares full screen footage of Scarlett’s nipples (*glurp*), Penelope’s butt (yum!), Rebecca’s thighs and Bardem’s five o’clock shadow (wowie) with the public... Oh but, no, no, that neurotic miser only shares the thighs and the five o’clock shadow. But really, in places it’s so hot that, despite it being the beginning of a damp and drizzly fall, I recommend you wear summer clothes when you watch this. This applies mainly for those who can boast chromosome Y in their genetic makeup. And how Bardem organizes his household is priceless. But it wouldn’t be a Woody Allen movie of past years without one big “but". A kind of nothing intro. It’s just too sleepy summer like. It requires María Elena to plunge in and save the movie. Personally I was also upset that the two best characters (Juan’s father and María Elena) are criminally kept in the background. Overall, no miracle to be penned into the master’s filmography in gold lettering, but excellent as relaxing summer entertainment. (22/10/2008)