VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA....8.5/10

by Aaron Mannino of Blue Key Reviews

"Everything I do affirms life" -Juan Antonio (Bardem)

When I think on Vicky Christina Barcelona I do not wallow in the mire of a pointless existence, even though there are underpinnings of this attitude in the finale of the film, which brings each character, principle and peripheral, in spite of their actions, right back to where they started, stifling their actualization, slave to their old moralities, emotional trends, and life decisions. It's a powerful note to end on, the futility of our efforts as emotional irrational individuals, but again, I don't remain on it too long. This feeling, intentionally or not, isn't made to resonate as deeply and lastingly as the films overarching elements of sensuality, complex love, the challenging of our moralized concepts of love (ie commitment, marriage, exclusivity, orientation, etc), and the vulnerability we experience in love being so close to the kind we experience in travel. However ironic, I felt affirmed of life after watching this film. And even though I sometimes have little sympathy for the woes of the wealthy, especially those that can summer in Spain without batting an eye, I'm continuously interested in Allen's dissection of the subject, and his career spanning reveal of the cross-class inevitability of emotional starvation.

Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), the empassioned, intrepid, and quite forward Spanish painter who boldly propositions single Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and engaged Christina (Scarlett Johansson), two friends on summer holiday in Spain, to join him for a weekend in his hometown, speaks of love and life as transient, and so this translates into the unfolding of the film itself. Things never feel constant. But no matter the brevity of experiences, they are still had, emotions are felt, and we are changed in accumulation, no matter how concealed we are about it. Vicky Christina Barcelona doesn't follow a straight narrative path. Rather it deviates and accumulates, allowing things to fall in and out of sync with one another.

Read my full review at http://bluekeyreviews.blogspot.com/ where I discuss the character complexity of Allen's newest film, and how VICKY... fits into his new and old cinematic stride.

[Aaron Mannino is an installation/video artist with a BFA from Tyler School of Art, who among many disciplines, is a fervent explorer of the cinematic medium through watching and writing.]

Bad at Sports:Chicago :: Funnel Pages:Philadelphia

We've been looking forward to this for weeks!

Remember the Bellwether show at Vox? Remember those little slogans running the length of the whole entire space? The artist, Duncan MacKenzie (pictured above at the bottom right), runs BadatSports.com with a few other Chicago folk, and came to town to install his show and hang out with Funnel Pages, thanks to an email he received from our own Dustin metz. The podcast, which is posted here with sincere thanks to BadatSports, features interviews with Bambi, FLUXspace, Little Berlin, Kelly & Weber, Space 1026, Vox, and PIFAS, and includes mad props to Roberta and Libby.


Direct download is available from BadatSports.com

Again, many many thanks to Bad at Sports and those who they thank at the end of the podcast, and do email Duncan about his sister. If you have yet to subscribe to their show, we highly suggest that you do so, as each week they publish some entertaining and enlightening interviews. And for the love of god, make sure you stay tuned for the last 2 minutes after the closing.

[Bad at Sports is a Chicago Based Contemporary Art Podcast, which is published weekly. Dustin Metz is a contributor to Funnel Cast, which is the podcast arm of the Funnel Pages.]



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