What have Woody Allen’s movies been missing lately? Apparently, it’s Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (titled after the two main characters and the city in which the movie takes place) is an inspired, quietly beautiful character study. Rebecca Hall’s Vicky is a repressed, structured woman engaged to a white collar boy shouldered in amongst the suits of corporate America. She and her best friend Cristina (Scarlett Johannson) go to Barcelona, Spain for two months during the summer to study and enjoy the sights.

Cristina is a sexually adventurous woman who can’t seem to find any sort of satisfaction in conventional relationships. She doesn’t know what she wants; she only knows what she doesn’t want.

One of the main themes of the movie is defining love, and paradoxically, how love is indefinable. The two women meet Juan Antonio (played by Javier Bardem) a passionate artist whose violent affair and divorce from Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) is well-known and gossiped about among the art world. Immediately Cristina is entranced by Juan Antonio’s cavalier, honest approach to the women. Reluctantly, Vicky agrees to join Cristina and Juan Antonio on a weekend out in the country.

Woody Allen drew from breathtakingly inspiring Barcelona; the sun always seemed to catch the beauty of Scarlett Johannson just right, and the russet colors of the architecture of Barcelona were warm and cozy on the screen. I can’t imagine this summer romance film would be nearly as good without Barcelona as the backdrop for it. Woody Allen seemed inspired by the lofty, elegant lines of Barcelona’s architecture and the quaint cobbled streets. The tone of the movie was softly focused in the country, passionate in the city. Eventually, Maria Elena rejoins Juan Antonio’s life and a love triangle between Cristina, Juan Antonio and Maria Elena develops. Despite the unconventional sound of the words “love triangle” it manages to feel entirely natural and right for the characters.

The movie deals with many issues such as love and loss, accepting talents and the lack thereof, and contentment vs. passion in a relationship in a light-handed evocative manner that leaves a lingering affect on the viewer. Numerous sub-plots and minor characters provide subtle humor and depth to the story, most notably Juan Antonio’s father. He doesn’t speak a word of English in the two scenes that he is in, but his joie de vive transcends the language barrier.

The use of a narrator (voice of Christopher Evan Welch) is both unexpected and a bit off-putting at first, and then welcome as the movie progresses. His voice is light and vaguely derisive, and it is used as a good tool to move the story along at a quick pace. There are no heavy scenes of exposition for the characters because the narrator takes over that role. The viewer may find the narration frustrating at first, wanting to see the characters develop without being lead by the hand.

The story has lovely character arcs, beautiful themes, gorgeous people and scenery. Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz provide strikingly passionate, realistic performances that pay homage to the fiery characters of the art world. Rebecca Hall’s subtle, emotional journey from a woman who knows exactly what she wants to a woman who is floundering in emotions that she doesn’t want- but may need- is heartbreaking in the end. This is Allen’s best film in over a decade; the depth of his characters leaves you wanting to know more about them and their troubled lives. The viewer leaves wanting more intellectual yet unpretentious discussions about art and the nature of talent versus appreciation.

Allen should keep inspirational Scarlett and Barcelona close, because in the end this may be his saddest film but it might also be the most beautiful.

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