Third Draft Of Essay 3, By Tracy1A Love Letter Full of Literary Character to Barcelona-A Movie Review of Vicky Cristina BarcelonaBy 许陶涛 Xu Taotao TracyI have always been fond of European movies for their slow pace, beautiful scenes and romantic love. Different from Hollywood films, European movies do not attach much importance to the spectacular scenes, great heroes and satisfactory endings. Woody Allen, an American writer and director, has been devoting to making pure European films and even did a better job, especially in his famous work, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I do think this movie is like a love letter full of literary character to Barcelona which also contains philosophy of love and life. This reflects on the following aspects. What the most obvious feature of the movie is that Woody Allen designed large quantities of details. Details and dialogues are the soul of his movies. Without these elaborately orchestrated details, the chattering and whispering dialogues would never exist meaningfully. For instance, the actor blocking of the beginning contrasts that of the ending.The big engagement ring circling Vickeys finger flashed on the dark night. Juans ex-wife, Mara Elena, wearing a white dress, was sitting beside the pool in the shadow of trees and skimmed over the water with one foot. These details mix with the huomorous dialogues harmoniously, making many emotions which could only be understood through much more lively words. Without the almost perfect details, the charm between the “lines” could not be expressed precisely and the intended blank could not be successful.Third Draft Of Essay 3, By Tracy2Secondly, the unique voiceover is the highlight of the movie. As is known to all, a good novel, especially a good script, needs to present a story through details instead of pouring out what they think. However, this voiceover deliberately goes against the rule. In the movie, the mental world of Vickey and Cristina is shown through voiceover to a large degree. Such voiceover is not weary because of abundant details which are indeed, the keystone of the movie. As for the thoughts and personalities inside the characters, they have already been explained at the beginning of the movie as a transition to put more emphasis on the plot in a limited time. In this way, the unique voiceover add the up-and-down rhythm and literary flavor to the movie.The most important thing in a literary book is the inside philosophy. In Woody Allens Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the meaning of love and the purpose of life are the permanent topics. At the beginning, the theme of Cristinas twelve-minute short filmwhy love is so hard to define, is exactly the definition of love. Juans father, a poet, wrote many graceful poems but were not willing to publish because he hates human beings and thinks “After thousands of years of civilization, they still havent learned to love”. Talented artist Juan talked about the ephemeral life and gone-with-the-wind love. He said that only unfulfilled love can be romantic and that loves requires such a perfect balance. These sentences full of philosophy are impressive and thought-provoking. In addition, delicate frames, as well as warm and orange mood, makes the movie full of dreamy color. For example, the ancient stone alleys in Oviedo, Third Draft Of Essay 3, By Tracy3warm and humid summer nights in Span, affectionate Spanish guitar and masterpieces of Spanish architect Gaudi are beautiful and impressive. Those composed the best description and praise to Barcelona.Vicky Cristina Barcelona ended at a loss and everything seemed to go back to where they were before. Actually, the director did not mean to give us a certain ending finally. In contrast, his story always has no conclusion and always have a lot to review and rethink. After “reading” the love letter full of literary character to Barcelona, one may feel more confused about life and love. However, at the same time, he or she may understand them more deeply. Just as Cristina said “I dont know what a want. I only know what I dont want”.