We saw Woody Allen‘s film Vicky Cristina Barcelona this weekend and really dug it. It’s warm, thought-provoking, sensual, and you can’t beat the backdrop.
It’s no masterpiece of plotting or action — Allen doesn’t seem willing any more to do the heavy lifting that plotting or even visual storytelling require. (In VCB he has a narrator just fill in the backstory and talk through key plot points throughout.) But the characters, played by Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and others, are charismatic and very, very interesting.
The Onion AV Club has an in-depth interview with Allen about VCB. (How do they get such great interviews for that site all the time, anyway?) The LA Times has still more on Allen and the film.
The Times describes him as “holed up in a hotel room, giving interviews — a rare burden for Allen, who used to be able to escape such routine experiences.” That sounds like his financial backers these days are maybe requiring him to do PR as part of the package.
Well, whatever. God bless the old boy for the film and the great interviews.