Vicky Christina Barcelona

Is there anyone who, after watching Vicky Cristina… didn’t want to hop on the next plane to Barcelona, ​ drink red wine, listen to a Spanish guitar and get lost in the nooks and crannies of the Gothic Quarter? The Spanish summer seems to lure not only tourists but also filmmakers who can easily transfer that heat of July days to the screen. Here, music, colors and even the light galvanize into the peculiar atmosphere of the film, and sparks a continuous interest even after eleven years since its premiere; many people would still like to go to the airport and catch that plane.

The It girl

Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) is the brightest star of this production next to the Catalan capital. She is both beautiful and unpredictable with the personality equally expressive and disturbing like the paintings she creates. Elena coquettes the viewer from the very first seconds she appears on the screen. The windy-kind hair and smokey makeup vividly emphasize the shrillness of her look. Besides, it was quite surprising watching this movie today, we can assume that her wardrobe comes straight from 2019, as it perfectly fits the current trends – pink, satin which has a big comeback now, and fringed bags – just accessorise it with the stylish analog camera, and here you have it- an outfit for today’s it girl.

Palette of colors

Allen chose the cast perfectly in order to present the story of a particularly unusual love polygon starring two slightly naive American tourists (Scarlett Johanson and Rebecca Hall), a stereotypical Spanish lover (Javier Bardem), and the above-mentioned impulsive artist (Cruz). It would seem those feminine heroines are an all-too-obvious contrast, and Maria Elena is the most vibrant color in this palette of characters. However, it’s nothing but a typical mosaic that the director would create. “You are like a tint, that added to the palette makes the color beautiful”, though perversely it can be said about Penelope’s in this rather “postcard-film”.