Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Ranked #14,250 in Entertainment, #158,982 overall | Donates to Soldiers Angels
Woody Allen's Ode to Barcelona
In Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which I will refer to from now on as VCB, Woody Allen repeats a formula he used in "Manhattan" whereby he tells a story against the backdrop of a beautiful city and the film is actually an ode to that city as much as anything. The music, the scenery, the mood, all work together to function as a very effective travel brochure. My son said he had no desire to vacation in Spain till he saw this movie, but it changed his mind.
The story is charming, and the characters are funny and interesting, but the star of the film is the gorgeous city of Barcelona itself. And as always Woody chooses fantastic music to integrate into the story that sets the scenes in an auditory way along with the visual. I was tempted to watch it again immediately just for the scenery and the music.

The story is charming, and the characters are funny and interesting, but the star of the film is the gorgeous city of Barcelona itself. And as always Woody chooses fantastic music to integrate into the story that sets the scenes in an auditory way along with the visual. I was tempted to watch it again immediately just for the scenery and the music.
Why I Love It
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
I have to confess that any film Woody Allen directs and does not act in is a great Woody Allen film to me. I love his writing and direction, but just cannot stand watching him on screen. In the past few years he has thankfully stayed behind the camera.In this movie, his latest showcase of Scarlett Johansson, Woody tells a simple charming story of 2 vacationing friends in Barcelona and what happens when they meet a local playboy and their different reactions to him. In his last few movies Woody has showcased Scarlett's talents which he has rhapsodised over in print and on camera.
Of course he has a long history of falling in love with an actress (not necessarily literally-just as a filmmaker) and featuring her in several movies. Scarlett joins the illustrious list along with Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Diane Wiest, and Louise Lassiter. If Woody likes your work, you get to work in his movies. But now that I write that, I realize that he lived with Diane for 5 years, with Mia for 12 years, and was married to Louise, so maybe Scarlett should be careful.(Just kidding) She was luminous as usual; the camera loves her face.
Anyway, the main reason I love it besides enjoying the beautiful sights of Barcelona, is watching Penelope Cruz. She is funny and amazing. My husband and I were in stiches watching her act like a hot tempered half lunatic. Too funny. No wonder she won the academy award.
And my God...her face. What a gorgeous actress!
Woody is obviously in love with her too, so he uses Javier as his alter-ego... the movie is a fantasy that he is filming starring Javier as himself. My reaction is "thank God, at least he was kind enough to spare us from having to watch him in this melodrama."
But he is so crafty. He seduces you with gorgeous scenery and wonderful music, and while he alludes to the x-rated part of the fantasy, he doesn't show it. In fact he distracts you with the sights and sounds of Barcelona so much that you wonder why he is spending so much time on this story. And then it hits you. He's giving us one of his fantasies as if it is a "slice of life" story. He weaves all this in with so many nuances it is hard to describe.
As always his cinematography is soft focus and beautiful, just right for the story he tells and the soundtrack is breathtaking. Since he's a musician he always showcases beautiful music that fits the mood he is conveying. I have to buy the movie for the soundtrack. To me this film is storytelling at its finest.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Credits
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Review
Genre: Drama/ComedyDirector: Woody Allen
Actors:
Scarlett Johansson
Javier Bardem
Penelope Cruz
Rebecca Hall
If You Collect Films, This One Is A Keeper
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Review
Get Your Movie Trivia
Everything about Movies Including Reviews
- Viewers ratings
- Find Out what viewers thought...
- Movie Database
- All you ever want to know
- FilmBug
- Another Database
Soundtrack Credits
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
BarcelonaArtist: Giulia y Los Tellarini
Gorrion
Artist: Juan Serrano
Entre Dos Aguas
Artist: Paco de Lucia
El Noi De La Mare
Artist: Muriel Anderson & Jean-Felix Lalanne
Granada
Artist: Emilio de Benito
La Ley Del Retiro
Artist: Giulia y Los Tellarini
When I Was A Boy
Artist: Biel Ballester Trio, Graci Pedro, Leo Hipaucha
Big Brother
Artist: The Stephane Wrembel Trio
Asturias
Artist: Juan Quesada
Your Shining Eyes
Artist: Biel Ballester Trio, Graci Pedro, Leo Hipaucha
Entre Olas
Artist: Juan Serrano
The Awesome Soundtrack
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
What They're Saying
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
- WE BOUGHT A ZOO Comes to Blu-Ray and DVD, 4/3
- Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) and starring Matt Damon (Contagion, True Grit), Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Thomas Haden Church (Easy A, Sideways), WE BOUGHT A ZOO comes to ...
- Sir Tom Stoppard's Parade's End: first picture
- The picture shows the drama's two leads, rising stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse) and Sir Peter Hall's daughter Rebecca (Vicky Cristina Barcelona). They play the troubled married couple Christopher and Sylvia Tietjens who are at the ...
- The Fiver | The culmination of a seven-year bluff | Jacob Steinberg
- See what you can do with Johannson, Cruz, Pique, Ibrahamovic and Barcelona" - Neil Bage [Gerard Pique and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have both been to the cinema to see Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz's over-rated film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona?
- Penelope Cruz to Present at the Oscars
- Cruz, the winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008), will join the artists who will participate in the gala, a group that includes Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Halle Berry and Cameron ...
Who Was Your Favorite?
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Woody Allen, Director
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Some Funny Woody Quotes
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Director
"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve it by not dying."
"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be one hundred."
If Jesus Christ were to come back today and see all the atrocities that have been committed in His name, He would never stop throwing up."
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve it by not dying."
"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be one hundred."
If Jesus Christ were to come back today and see all the atrocities that have been committed in His name, He would never stop throwing up."
If Barcelona, Spain was not on your destinations list before you watched this movie, it will be after you see it!
Visit Barcelona
A Truly Beautiful Place
Twitter Users Share Information about Barcelona, Spain
Tweets about Barcelona
Barcelona Photos
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Movies in the Theatre Now
Current Movies
- 1. The Vow - $41.2M
- A husband endeavors to win back his new bride's heart after she loses her memory in a tragic car accident in this romantic drama starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 2. Safe House - $40.1M
- A rookie CIA operative goes on the run with a rogue former intelligence officer after a South African safe house comes under attack by heavily armed mercenaries. Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA agent just waiting for the perfect opportunity to prove himself. But that's no easy task when you've been cooped up in an empty Cape Town safe house for a whole year. Weston realizes that a prime opportunity is headed his way, however, when he learns that former agent Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) has been captured after nearly a decade on the run. Frost is about to become Weston's one and only guest at the safe house, and the fledgling agent is determined to handle the situation like a true professional. But by selling U.S. secrets to countries like North Korea, Frost has made more than his fair share of enemies in high places, and shortly after he arrives at the safe house, all hell breaks loose. A small army of gunmen are determined to see Frost dead. Meanwhile, Weston will do everything in his power to protect Frost, regardless of his crimes. Now Weston's only hope for getting out of this alive is to find out who's gunning for them, and seek out someone he can trust before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - $27.3M
- Intrepid young explorer Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) traces a mysterious distress signal to a remote island that isn't on any map, and he embarks on a daring rescue mission while encountering a vast array of mythological creatures in this follow-up to 2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth. Joined by his new stepfather (Dwayne Johnson), an adventure-seeking helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman), and the pilot's headstrong daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), Sean navigates the crumbling stone corridors of Atlantis and comes face-to-face with bizarre life-forms while on a mission to track down his long-missing grandfather (Michael Caine). Later, as seismic shock waves threaten mass destruction, the group must race to escape the otherworldly paradise before the ocean swallows it up. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- 4. Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace 3D - $22.4M
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) ; Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a nine-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter.
- 5. Chronicle - $12.0M
- A loner (Dane DeHaan) escapes his abusive home life and discovers a mysterious crater that gives him and two fellow high school students psychokinetic powers in this found-footage-style superhero film from director Josh Trank and screenwriter Max Landis. DeHaan plays Andrew, a angsty teen whose mother is dying and whose father takes out his violent frustrations out on the boy. As a result, Andrew starts filming everything around him, including the dreadful night that he, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and the soon-to-be senior class president, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), wake up with superpowers after exploring a condemned piece of land housing an unexplained power source. The three bond over their newfound abilities, with Andrew clearly leading the pack in terms of control and strength. Despite their noble intentions, a darker streak appears in one of them as the other two try to take control over a situation that soon spirals into homicidal madness -- all of which is captured on camera. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
powered by Movies.com
Thanks for Stopping By
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Barcelona by teyes143
Make your own personalized keychains on zazzle
submit
-
Reply
-
NanLT
Sep 17, 2010 @ 12:50 am | delete
- I'd never heard of this film. Thank you for sharing it with us so eloquently.
Blessed by an Angel.
-
-
Reply
-
CCGAL Jun 27, 2009 @ 8:03 pm | delete
- Thanks for bringing this film to my attention - I may want to watch it now. Nicely done lens.
-
-
Reply
-
jaye3000
Jun 9, 2009 @ 10:09 pm | delete
- I've been dying to see this movie. Thanks for a great lens and a reminder :)
-
-
Reply
-
jaye3000
Jun 9, 2009 @ 10:09 pm | delete
- I've been dying to see this movie. Thanks for a great lens and a reminder :)
-
-
Reply
-
Mortira
May 9, 2009 @ 7:44 pm | delete
- Wonderful review! I'm definately sold. Welcome to the Armchair Critics group!
-
-
Reply
-
aj2008
May 4, 2009 @ 8:47 am | delete
- I have not seen the film - but this lens makes me want to see it!
-
-
Reply
-
GrowWear
May 3, 2009 @ 10:16 pm | delete
- I would watch anything with Woody Allen's name on it -- even with him in it. LOL Excited to watch this one. Love Javier!
-
-
Reply
-
Joan4
May 3, 2009 @ 5:52 pm | delete
- Sounds like one I must see!
-
-
Reply
-
C-Joy
May 2, 2009 @ 10:04 pm | delete
- Hmmm, maybe I'll watch VCB while traveling TO Barcelona...LOL. Adding this to the list of movies to watch this summer :)
-
-
Reply
-
OhMe
Apr 30, 2009 @ 8:40 am | delete
- Wow. I haven't seen this film but this lens sure makes me want to see it right now. Great work.
-
- Load More
by Heather426
Heather426
Hello World,
I am a lover of angels, pets, children, my husband, stars, plants, and life. For many years I have had the luxury of working at home and...
more »
- 229 featured lenses
- Winner of 32 trophies!
- Top lens » Romantic Gifts For Valentine's Day
Feeling creative?
Create a Lens!