Sunday, May 30, 2010

Vicky Cristina Barcelona






The simple beauty of unpredictability

I watched this movie again recently and i felt inspired to write about it.

The present system of marriage is in place predominantly because it facilitates for a wholesome, joyous and intimate living with another. But what if there could be another way where same things are possible and much more fun? How open are we to even consider it? i think, a viewer who is very rigid or righteous about relationships in general would have a lot of confrontations and uncomfortable moments and that's precisely the reason for him/ her to watch it. :).

Vicky is a conservative & goal-oriented kind of woman and is engaged to be married. Cristina is liberal, impulsive, creative and she is single. Both are vacationing in Barcelona when a charming Juan Antonio invites both of them to spend the weekend with him in oviedo for drinking, eating and making love (yes, that's exactly the line in the movie :) ). The story is about their response to the invitation and further consequences of their actions.

I am tempted to write about the specific moments in the movie and analyze how simply creative woody Allen is. But that would knock out some surprise if you plan to watch it. So...

I think Woody Allen explores brilliantly how the society evolves in relationships and as in any of his other movies, it's so much fun to watch him play through his characters with a light sense of mockery humor. Right from the way the movie starts, the way Juan Antonio approaches the girls... their intriguing nature of response... the unexpected way things turn out between the 3 of them... and then the introduction of ex-girl friend... are very unexpected and unconventional, yet shown in a temptingly possible way.

Purely about relationships, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is very romantic and adventurous. 

Woody Allen is a master in showing our life situations to ourselves through his characters. Almost of all his characters go through a phase of unbound, limitless exploration finding exquisite fun and happiness in the process, going beyond their judgment of moral (right/ wrong). Then, all the characters gets pulled back to the past life style because of limited beliefs and the morals, gets pulled back to the state of perpetual pseudo happiness, always short of the potential happiness.

Its a knock at you to take a look at yourself where you are holding back from exploring the unexplored.

Moral: The experience of wonder always comes from the place of the unexpected and the uncertain, beyond your reasons.