A Love Triangle... or Rectangle

Rating: 7/10 (28 November 2017)

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is the story of a four people struggling to understand what love is or what the feelings they have mean. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) are Americans spending a summer in Barcelona. They meet Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) a painter who embodies the concept of European free love. They fall into an unusual love triangle, complicated by Vicky's engagement. It gets even more complicated when Juan Antonio's crazy ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) is thrown into the mix.
What makes Vicky Cristina Barcelona different from most love triangle movies, is that there is no animosity between the characters. They are not in competition with each other, they are merely trying to find themselves. Everyone gives a great performance, particularly Rebecca Hall and Penelope Cruz. Woody Allen is working in his element here are makes a few choices that are unorthodox, but effective. Most notable is his use of a narrator throughout in the manner that was common in the 40s and 50s. The narrator relays plot points that could be conveyed in a quick scene, but rather that interrupt the flow, they are narrated in transitions.