Vicky Cristina Barcelona

[Robert L Sungte, Deccan Herald]

English (U/A)
Cast: Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem
Director: Woody Allen

Best friends Vicky (Hall) and Cristina (Johansson) are poles apart when it comes to love. Vicky believes she knows what she wants and is doing research on Catalan even as she prepares for her wedding to the man of her dreams Doug (Messina). And Cristina is not sure of what to do after making a 12-minute film. She tries her hand in photography.

But the two friends have one thing in common – they are smitten and seduced by a just-divorced Spanish artist Juan Antonio (Bardem) when on holiday in Barcelona.
Antonio sleeps with both women but he still has a soft corner for his wild and beautiful ex-wife Maria (Cruz). Vicky turns cautious of Antonio, while Cristina follows him to his house. But when Antonio takes Maria in again after she tries to kill herself and after a brief spell of three-some lovemaking, the room begins to turn smaller.

This complicated and high-risk experiment on finding the perfect element in love is certainly one of the best from director Woody Allen’s genre of film-making. Classic film editing styles of fade-ins and fade-outs are incorporated with an appropriately timed voiceover narration.
The film is a witty take on love, lust, and marriage in sunny Barcelona. The stars are beautiful and their performances are naturally good enough for Allen and young adults. Johansson is sweetly innocent while Cruz turns impeccably hot to be forgotten.

‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ is definitely an intelligent film based on the continuous process of learning how to be ‘in love’ and not ‘out of love’.

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Surrogates (Film Review)

Robert L Sungte, Deccan Herald

English(A)
Cast: Bruce Willis, James Cromwell , Ving Rhames
Director: Jonathan Mostow
This sci-fi film is about the dangerous trend of impersonal relationship ushered in by technology. People don’t interact in normal day-to-day activities anymore. They are brainwashed by companies to use their exact look-alike surrogates to maintain their public life while they sit at home.

However, when surrogate creator Dr Lionel Canter’s (Cromwell) son is murdered, things take a new turn. FBI agent Tom Greer (Willis) and his partner are ordered to probe the case. The two agents also use their ‘surries’ to track down the killer but when Tom’s surry is destroyed, the real ‘him’ is forced to venture out of his home to the streets.
The general theme is a fight against surrogate technology led by ‘The Prophet’ (Rhames) and to free humans from its clutches. Using a graphically greenish set-up, director Jonathan Mostow tries hard to bring forth man’s blind acceptance of machines and its dangers. There are some brilliant action sequences in addition to the artistic impression of the surrogate of Bruce Willis’ look.

However, the film lacks a tight plot and twists become predictable after the first half. There are also many rooms that need a little more attention. For instance, the reason behind Tom’s failing relationship with his wife after the death of their son is sapless.

The motivational message that humans need direct and personal relationship is perhaps the only reason that drives this soulless and shallow take on human dependency on technology.

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