How are stereotypes and images of European cities revisited and challenged in the films of American director Woody Allen?
Master Thesis European Studies Identity and Integration Graduate School for Humanities
Dr. K.K. Lajosi-Moore Prof. Dr. J.T. Leerssen The 1st of July 2016 Raisa van Nieuwenhuize
Contents
Introduction ... 3
Chapter 1 Theoretical Framework ... 7
Cultural Constructions of Images ... 7
The City and Film ... 9
Chapter 2 Paris Midnight in Paris (2011) ... 12
Locations ... 14
Themes and Characters ... 19
Chapter 3 Barcelona Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)……… . 20
Locations ... 22
Themes and Characters ... 26
Chapter 4 Rome To Rome with Love (2012) ... 26
Locations ... 27
Themes and Characters ... 38
Chapter 5 London Match Point (2005) ... 32
Locations ... 32
Themes and Characters ... 34
Conclusion ... 38
Bibliography ... 41
Cinematography ... 46
Introduction
As numerous studies have shown, images have a strong impact on peoples’ minds, and therefore, it is important to understand how images are represented to the public and what the aim of the images are. We see this in how national identity, national characters, and national stereotypes are represented, and therefore, we have certain prejudices about nations, cities, and social groups. These images are hetero-images, how we see others, but also auto-images, how we see ourselves. The study of Imagology looks into these images. Imagology is the study of national characterizations and national, cultural or ethnic stereotypes. Imagology
looks at the origin and historical development of these images and how they are represented.1
Just like a nation has a national character, a city has a city character, and both nation and city characters consist of cultural features that construct the cultural identity of the nation
or city.2 For example, when one thinks of Paris, he or she usually immediately thinks of a city
of love and fashion, of the Eiffel tower and the Louvre, and of artistic people eating croissants. When one thinks of London, he or she usually thinks of the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, the financial centre, red double-deckers, and people who are snobbish, love the royal family and like to drink tea. These characters are used to emphasize the differences among nations and, in this case, among cities as well.
For that reason, the focus in this thesis will be on the representation of European cities. Nowadays, more than fifty per cent of the population lives in cities. Cities, most of all,
represent innovation, modernity, and industrialisation, but they also represent cultural heritage and history. In addition, representations of cities have an influence on people’s visual and
cultural perceptions of those cities, which is called the urban mindscape.3 However, it not
only addresses the external appearance of the city, but also its internal activities. That consists of local and external images of a city (auto and hetero images). That is why all these features form the character of the city. However, why do we always have the same images about these cities? What kind of influence does the (cultural) history have on the perception of the city? And are these hetero-images the same as their auto-images? These are questions in which the discipline of imagology may have an answer.
European cities were chosen for this research because nowadays cities have a significant influence on their nations and on Europe as well. Cities are part of a nation’s
economic development and are used for promotion of the national identity.4 However,
1 M. Beller & J. Leerssen, Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), xiii. 2 J. Leerssen, “The Rhetoric of National Character: A Programmatic Survey”, Poetics Today, 2, (2000): 267. 3 G. Weiss-Sussex, G. & F. Bianchini, “Urban Mindscapes of Europe”, Special number of European Studies, 23, (Amsterdam, 2006): 13-14. 4 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images”, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 217.
imagology focuses largely on the representations of images in literature, and since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been new media developments through the emergence of cinema and television. People are now constantly influenced by television, social media, which make it easier and faster to represent and spread certain images and to influence a large audience.
Therefore, the main theme of this thesis is how stereotypes and images of European cities are represented in contemporary films. Nowadays, film is used to
promote positive images of European cities because authorities became aware of the potential
that the creative industries have for a city’s economic and image development.5 Soffier
described film “as a medium that shows landscapes throughout the world, cinema helps to
increase the media coverage of an area.”6
The main research question of this thesis is as follows: How are stereotypes and
images of European cities revisited and challenged in the films of American director Woody Allen? Woody Allen was chosen because, in the last ten years, he has made several
films that were set in European cities. These films can be seen as an example of the effect that public policies can have on the contemporary film industry because Woody Allen was mainly
filming in these cities for practical and financial reasons.7 The Europeans financed Woody
Allen’s films because they knew what kind of benefits these films could have on their cities’ images. Still, Woody Allen could represent the cities in his film like he wanted from his own
American perspective.8 For that reason, it is of interest to examine how Woody Allen
visualizes stereotypes and images, as well as what kind of influence that visualization has on the European cities and on people’s perception of those cities.
Therefore, I will examine how certain images, related to people’s expectations of a city, are represented in film. The image formed by films is of importance for certain destinations because it works as a mode for the promotion of cities.9 For that reason are
“movies extremely influential in promoting, confirming, and reinforcing images, opinions, and the destination’s identity, as well as playing a significant role in the image construction of touristic destinations like certain European cities” according to Rodriguez Camp and
Rodiguez-Toubes Muniz.10 5 A. Soffier, “How European Cities are fighting over Cinema”, Inalglobal, last modified on June 21, 2016: http://www.inaglobal.fr/en/cinema/article/how-european-cities-are-fighting-over-cinema. 6 Ibid. 7 J. Matloff, “Woody Allen’s European Vacation” last modified on June 21, 2016: http://jasonmatloff.com/selected-articles/woody-allens-european-vacation/. 8 Ibid. 9 L. Rodriguez Campo, J.A Fraiz Brea, D. Rodiguez-Toubes Muniz, “Tourist Destination Image formed by the Cinema: Barcelona positioning through the feature film Vicky Christina Barcelona,” European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 1, (2011): 137. 10 Ibid.
To examine how stereotypes and images of European cities are revisited and
challenged in the films of American director Woody Allen, the first chapter will outline the theoretical framework of the thesis, which consists of both literature and films. The selected literature will survey how cultural constructions of images and stereotypes are represented, how cinema contributes to people’s understanding of cities, and how filmmakers make use of urban space. The imagology theories in the literature are mostly based on the research applied to literary books, but with the rise of cinema, television, and internet, these theories will be used for the analysis of the selected films of Woody Allen.
In the second part of the thesis, four Woody Allen movies, divided in four chapters, recorded in European cities will be analysed by the theories of images outlined in the first chapter, the theoretical framework. The first film is Midnight in Paris (2011). In the film, Gil, an American screenwriter, is trying to write a novel. He longs for the Paris of the twenties, a period he sees as a golden era. The film presents Paris in a beautiful picturesque way as the city of artistic people and love. The second film is Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008). This romantic comedy is about two American students who become in love with a Spanish artist and his mentally unstable ex-wife. In this film, a general perception of “Spanishness” is set out through the characters and through the way Woody Allen viewed Barcelona. The third film, To Rome with Love (2012) is a comedy. The film brings the audience four stories: one about an American architect reliving his youth, an average middle-class Roman who suddenly is famous, a young married couple from the province who are drawn into romantic
encounters, and an American opera director who cannot accept mortality. The last film is
Match Point (2005). A former tennis player, Chris, tries to get in the upper class of England.
At the same time he falls for the beautiful Nola, who happens to be the girlfriend of his friend Tom. Eventually Chris has to choose between his love for Nola and his life in the upper class.
By analysing these movies, I will look into questions, such as: what are the most common expectations when people think of a particular city and which images rise in people’s minds? Then, I will apply the theories according to the research on the films by analysing the locations that Allen had used for his films. I will determine whether they are characteristic and unique for that city, and meet the expectations of the audience or not. In addition I will analyse the characters, the themes and the narratives as well, where I want to examine how the city is represented in the film and whether this representation resembles the city’s stereotypes and images.
In the final chapter, the conclusion, a short overview of the whole thesis will be given in which, after the similarities and differences of the films are compared, a final conclusion will be presented to provide an answer to the research question.
Chapter 1
Theoretical framework
In this chapter, the theoretical framework of the thesis will be discussed. The selected literature will survey how cultural constructions of images and stereotypes are represented. Therefore, I look into the field of imagology, which will explain why this affects the human perception and the formation of stereotypes. Additionally, how cinema contributes to people’s understanding of cities and how filmmakers make use of urban space will be clarified. Cinema, as a medium, has a significant influence on the cultural identity of a city and is an important agent to attract tourists. The cultural identity of a city represented in film is related to the city as a tourist destination, and I will examine how they affect each other.
Cultural Constructions of Images
One of the main questions in the examination of the cultural construction of images is: how
do ethnic and national stereotypes emerge?11 The study of imagology addresses this question
and the historical development of national stereotypes, which can deepen one’s understanding
of what these stereotypes consist of and how they emerge.12 Therefore, imagology studies the
origin and function of features of countries and places, as expressed in works of literature, poems, travel books, and essays.13
The study of people’s images of any other nation or place will identify the
significantly active prejudices and stereotypes that people have from total complex imaginary
images.14 Thus, it is important to examine the definition of an image. An image can be
defined in various ways. According to Crompton, “an image is the sum of beliefs,
impressions, ideas, and perceptions that people hold of objects, behaviours, and events.”15
According to the definition of Mitchell, “an image can be divided into five meaningful
categories: Graphic, such as pictures, statues, and designs; optical, like mirrors and projections; perceptual, sense data, species, and appearance; mental, such as dreams, memories, and ideas; and verbal, like metaphors and descriptions.”16 The mental images are considered most important because an image can be used as a mental silhouette of the other according to Beller, “who appears to be determined by the features of family, tribe, group, or
11 M. Beller & J. Leerssen, Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), 478. 12 Ibid. 13 M. Beller & J. Leerssen, Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), 7. 14 Ibid., 8. 15 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images”, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 218. 16 M. Beller, “Perception, Image, Imagology,” in In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), 4.
race.”17 An image like this influences and forms people’s opinions of others and certain
places and controls their behaviours towards those others and places.18 Because of that,
cultural discontinuities and differences construct positive and negative judgements,
prejudices, and images people have. 19 Taking this all together, it seems that most literature on images described a totality of impressions, beliefs, ideas, expectations, and feelings connected to a place over time.20
In addition we also have to examine what a national image is. A national self-image is the self-image that a nation has about itself and can be defined as its character. According to ERNiE, it consists of a canon of cultural traits, such as language, heritage, traditions, historical memories, and narratives, and is what makes the nation different from other
nations.21 However, it is actually almost always bias-confirmed and influenced by what other
people think of the nation. But wow is an image of a nation formed? That concerns how ethnicity is characterized. Hence, I examined ethnotypes. An ethnotype can be defined as a discursive commonplace of how people identity, view and characterize others opposed to ourselves, to characterize a certain nation, people, or ethnicity.22 Ethnotypes always concern
how countries differ; therefore, they obscure the extent to which countries may resemble each other. They are an important influential part of culture and ideology. 23 However, these
ethnotypes change over time because of the peoples’ perceptions, auto-images, and hetero-images about a nation. Ethnotypes are also steered by the stereotypes that influence peoples’ perceptions.
Now the definition of images has been established, there can be indicated that images have a great importance in the construction of stereotypes. A stereotype can be defined as “a
generalization about a group of people in which identical characters are assigned to virtually all the members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members”.24
Furthermore, they have influence on people’s expectations about a particular place or location. For example, one might assume that the majority of the Spanish population dances to Tango music and that the women have an exotic appearance, as described in the novel
Carmen from Prosper Marinée. Because these stereotypes complement people’s perceptions,
17 M. Beller, “Perception, Image, Imagology,” in In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), 4. 18 Ibid. 19 Ibid. 20 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 218. 21 “What is Nationalism?”, last modified on June 21, 2016, http://www.spinnet.eu/wiki instructions/index.php/FAQ#What_is_nationalism_according_to_ERNiE.3F. 22 J. Leerssen, National Thought in Europe: A Cultural History (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2006), 17. 23 J. Leerssen, Cultures of Nationalism in Contemporary Europe, Lecture 2, 2nd of November 2016. 24 M. Beller, “Stereotype,” in In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen, (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), 429.
sometimes people maintain those images because they satisfy their expectations. Thus, these images and stereotypes are almost always prominent in films and literature in order to induce a certain association.
The City and Film
Now the importance of images has been determined, as well as how images and stereotypes affect people’s perceptions. I will relate these images to cinema and explain how cinema contributes to people’s understanding of cities and how filmmakers make use of urban space. Before the rise of cinema, the novel was a powerful tool to construct mental images. Novels affect people’s imaginations and are, therefore, powerful tools to make representations about certain images and characters in people’s minds. However, over time, popular media changed from books to cinema and television. Novels sent mental pictures and ideas, but a movie represented these images in a powerful way: they did not only provide stories but also had immediate visual impacts on the audience.
The rise of cinema is related to the development of urbanization and industrialization.
Therefore early cinema productions were mostly urban.25 Because of these developments in
the film, as in the cities, a city was a diverse setting and subject where urban life was
presented in different ways to the audience.26 Therefore, the relationship between the city and
film can be understood in different ways. On the one hand, film can be understood as an
urban archive that displays the various changes and developments in the urban landscape.27
On the other hand, film is used as a way to produce the city, by producing an imaginary urbanism through the construction of f urban spaces, ideas and ideals of the city.28 This is also seen in how European cinema affects people’s perspectives by projecting images of its
inhabitants that create a certain identity. 29
This can also be related to the concepts urban mindscape and urban imaginary.30
According to Weiss-Sussex and Bianchini, a person’s worldview can be defined as a
mindscape: a structure of reasoning, cognition, perception, and conceptualization. An urban
mindscape is “a structure of thinking about a city and indicates something exists between the psychical landscape of a city and people’s casual and cultural perceptions of that city.”31 The city can, therefore, also be represented as an urban image bank that consists of local and
25 P. Robertson Wojcik, “ The City in Film”, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified on June 21: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0109.xml 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 P. Robertson Wojcik, “ The City in Film”, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified on June 21: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0109.xml 29 Ibid. 30 G. Weiss-Sussex, G. & F. Bianchini, eds.,“Urban Mindscapes of Europe”, Special number of European Studies, 23 (Amsterdam, 2006): 13-14. 31 Ibid.
external images consisting of the following: media coverage; stereotypes; representation of a city in music, literature, film, the visual arts, myths, and legends; tourist guidebooks, city marketing, and tourist promotional literature; and views of residents, city users, and
outsiders.32 The concept of urban imaginary is related to the idea of the city as an imagined
environment, created by James Donald, leading to the notion of urban mindscape.33 The specific components of the concepts explained above are both mental constructs of the city
that include media and cultural representations of different meanings and memories.34
These concepts can be related to a way of branding the city. Branding the city
involves examining things people find typical for a specific city.35 For example, with
Amsterdam, most tourists will consider what they think is typically Dutch and what fits their image about Amsterdam and Dutch people. However, Amsterdam itself utilizes this image because it has a significant influence on the commerce and tourist industry and, therefore, on economic development. This is called cultivation of culture. Culture becomes cultivated for the purpose of cultivating and valorising a national self-image and hetero-image. It is no longer only in the service of the nation, but in the service of commerce. Thus, the commercial enterprise uses culture to attract tourists to gain money.
Thus, according to Kim and Richardson, “the image formed by the movie industry
often represents an added value for certain destinations because it works as a real tool for promotion at an international level and as a factor that induces travel.”36 The representations
and images of famous European cities that are mostly tourist destinations as well, developed through the mass media, such as cinema, television, and literature, play a significant role in influencing the process of destination decision.37 These different media are very influential in promoting, confirming, and reinforcing images and the human perception and play an
important role in the image that shape tourist destinations.38 According to Kim and
Richardson “the way in which a city is represented in films and television series can have an
enormous influence worldwide in perpetuating a particular image and vision of the country.”39
The concept urban mindscape, and how and for what reasons the city brands itself, is related to the fact that the moving image culture has played an on going role in shaping perceptions of its urban environment. Additionally, the moving image culture can change the
32 G. Weiss-Sussex, G. & F. Bianchini, eds.,“Urban Mindscapes of Europe”, Special number of European Studies, 23 (Amsterdam, 2006): 13-14. 33 Ibid., 14. 34 Ibid., 15. 35 J. Leerssen, Cultures of Nationalism in Contemporary Europe, Lecture 3 Branding the public space, 9th of November 2016. 36 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 218-219. 37 Ibid. 38 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 216. 39 Ibid.
identity of a city.40 Because it is used for commerce and to attract tourists to certain destinations, it is related to economic benefits for the city itself, which is exactly what is happening in Europe in the last couple of decades. Matloff argued in his article that city administrators have realized that cities can become fully involved in the film industry as a whole and that the attention that cinema provides can have a significant effect, both
economically and culturally, in particular thanks to its positive impact on tourism.41
Therefore, the theoretical understanding about the relationships of movies and cities as tourist
destination images is associated with marketing ideas for the city.42
Thus, cinema has always had an effect on a city’s image, and nowadays, the major European cities are trying to boost their economies and create a brand through cinema, which is why Woody Allen was attracted to Europe: All of his films were sponsored by European investors to represent a certain image of a city to attract people, enlarged commerce, and
increase economic development.43
40 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 219. 41 J. Matloff, “Woody Allen’s European Vacation” last modified on June 21, 2016: http://jasonmatloff.com/selected-articles/woody-allens-european-vacation/. 42 H. Kim & S.L Richardson, “Motion picture impact on Destination Images, Annals of Tourism, 1, (2003): 219. 43 J. Matloff, “Woody Allen’s European Vacation” last modified on June 21, 2016: http://jasonmatloff.com/selected-articles/woody-allens-european-vacation/.
Chapter 2
Paris: Midnight in Paris
Most people think of Paris as the city of love. If one thinks of the city, he or she likely almost immediately thinks of the Eiffel tower, beautiful buildings, like the Notre Dame, shopping on the Champs-Elysees, and visiting the Louvre and the Arc de triumph, as well as of artists, like Auguste Rodin, famous composers, like Chopin, and fashion brands, such as Chanel. When one thinks of the inhabitants of France and Paris, he or she likely thinks of them as civilized people with elegant behaviour, social manners, refined taste, style, gallantry, and
self-expressions.44 These images derive from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where the
king, Louis XVI, had absolute power and was living in Versailles. Paris is, therefore, usually represented as a cultural environment; it is the city in which the French fashion and cuisine is situated. Paris has a leading role in the arts and intellectual sphere and a vanguard position in the field of politics.45
Midnight in Paris (2011) tells the story of a young American man, Gil (Owen
Wilson), who is with his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents in Paris. Gil is in love with the “idea” of Paris. He sees himself living there and fantasises about how it would be to live in Paris in the twenties when the great intellectuals like Ernest Hemingway and Picasso were living. During his trip to Paris, Gil is working on his own novel, about a man who works in a nostalgia shop. Inez dismisses his ambition as a romantic daydream and
prefers him to remain with screenwriting instead of writing a novel.46 One night, Gil gets
becomes lost in the streets of Paris. At midnight, a Peugeot Type 176 from the twenties drives beside him, and the passengers ask him to join them. They go to a party where Gil realizes that he has been transported back to the twenties.47 It is the era that makes Paris famous, and the era that developed the image of Paris as a city where all the artists and intellectuals stayed.
The visual representation of the city: locations
The film opens with a three and a half minute montage of Paris, showing the usual iconic tourist sites: The Eiffel tower, Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge, Arc du Triumph, Notre Dame, and the river Seine. French cars are seen, like Renault and Peugeot, and brands such as Dior that represents Paris as a fashion city. This shot is a stylistic montage, used simply to establish
44 R. Florack, “French”, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007), 154. 45 Ibid. 46 “Midnight in Paris (2011)”, last modified on June 27, 2016: http://cinemalit.weebly.com/story-analyses/midnight-in-paris-2011-synopsis-and-analysis. 47 Ibid.
location.48 Therefore, the audience knows immediately at the opening scene that the film is located in Paris, and that is exactly the aim of this montage. The scene visualizes the image that people have in their minds when they think of Paris. It is a representation of the urban landscape of Paris because it emphasises people’s mental images, like impressions, beliefs, ideas, expectations, and feelings, connected to Paris.
The way in which Allen visualizes the image of Paris is repeated in the rest of the film as well, as shown by some locations he used. One of the first scenes, where Gil and Inez are kissing on the bridge and Gill is talking about how great Monet was, was shot at Claude Monet’s Water Garden, the famous gardens of impressionist painter. Hereby, Allen demonstrates the link between Paris and its famous artists, like Monet. This link is again emphasized in the scene where Paul argues with the tour guide (Carla Bruni) about Rodin’s wife at the Rodin Museum and at Musée de l'Orangerie, where Gil argues about the painting with Paul (Michael Sheen).
Another scene where the cultural heritage of Paris is shown is where Gil argues with Paul at Versailles. The palace of Versailles represented the wealth of Paris during the period when Louis XIV held power in France. Versailles was the centre of political power in France at that time and is, therefore, a remarkable and important building because it stands as a symbol for the Ancient Regime, which is why it represents part of France’s national history.
The scene where Gil is in the past and meets Ernest Hemingway is at the Polidor. The Polidor is one of the most popular restaurants on the Left Bank. Its interior has been basically
unchanged since the late nineteenth century49. Many famous artists and literary figures, such
as James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Antonin Artaud, and Henry Miller, visited it.Allen
probably chose this place because the Polidor was a famous phenomenon in the twenties and thus should not be missing in the picture of Paris that Allen creates for to the audience.
When Gil is again with the tour guide from the Rodin museum, and he asks her to translate the passage from Adrianne’s memoirs, they are at Square Jean-XXIII, located behind the Notre Dame cathedral, a tourist attraction famous for its French Gothic architecture. The last scene of the movie, when Gil meets with Gabrielle (Lea Seydoux), is shot at the Pont
Alexandre III. Gil and Gabrielle are walking on the west side of the bridge, and the camera is
looking north toward the Grand Palais. In many movies, this bridge symbolizes love, and in this scene, it symbolizes love again.
48 K. Turan, “Movie Review: Midnight in Paris”, The LA Times, last modified on June 27, 2016: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/20/entertainment/la-et-midnight-paris-20110520.
Examining the locations indicates that almost all the tourist attractions of Paris are visualized. Allen presents beautiful images of the city, which could be seen as a great
example of branding the city through the moving image: the cultural heritage and the artistic side are shown, and Paris is represented from the perspectives and the expectations of the audience. These perceptions are constructed from Allen’s own imagination as well: "I just
wanted it to be the way I saw Paris, Paris through my eyes".50 The image of Paris expressed
in the film can, therefore, be considered an idealized version of the reality. Nowhere in the film is any description of the working-class quartiers or of the rich diversity of multi-cultural immigrant neighbourhoods. Paris as a multicultural society with additional problems and disadvantaged districts is not represented here.51 Midnight in Paris shows the city’s pride and maintains the image of Paris as a culturally civilized city with a rich history. Thus, the movie promotes the national history to show what Paris has achieved over time. On the one hand, Paris was already branding itself through the building of monuments, museums, and statues and by filming on these specific locations. On the other hand, the film is used as an agent to underline the cultural identity of the city. Allen is presenting the national hetero- and auto-image of France and Paris because it emphasizes the cultural elements, like the historical memories and narratives that are seen in the architecture, monuments, and museum. Therefore, it seems that Allen is showing a pretend reality of Paris that matches the expectations of the audience and tourists who visit Paris.52
Characters and Themes
I have thus far only examined the locations used in the film. However, to fully understand how Woody Allen presents images and how he plays with them, I have to examine the characters, themes, and stereotypes of the film. Midnight in Paris is not only about Paris as a city, but also about the American fascination with Paris.53 This fascination for Paris can be found in several themes. The first one, and also the main theme of the film, is nostalgia. This theme, explored in diverse academic fields, is described as “a feeling of loss and anxiety
about the passage of time, accompanied by a desire to experience again some aspect the past.”54 The theme is established especially in the character of Gil with his obsession with the past: “Imagine this town in the twenties- Paris in the twenties – in the rain – the artists and
50K. Fusco, “Love and Citation in Midnight in Paris: Remembering Modernism, Remembering Woody,” in A Companion to Woody Allen, ed. P.J. Bailey & Sam B. Girgus (Wiley, 2013), 315. 51 K.S. Szlezak, “Hi Mr. Hemingway: Time and Space, Travel, and literary Heritage in Midnight in Paris” in Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen, (New York : Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), 205. 52 Ibid., 215. 53 P. Eubanks, “Memory and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris”, Revista de Humanidades, 10, (2014): 170. 54 K.S. Szlezak, “Hi Mr. Hemingway: Time and Space, Travel, and literary Heritage in Midnight in Paris” in Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen, (New York : Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), 205.
the writers- I was born too late. Why did god deliver me into the world in the 1970’s and in a Pasadena yet” is one of his first sentences in the film and is also related to the scene where
Gertrude Stein is reading the first page of Gil’s novel: “Out of the Past was the name of the
store and its products consisted of memories. What was prosaic and even vulgar to one generation had been transmuted by the mere passing of years to a status at once magical and also camp.”55 In addition to his own novel, Gil refers many times to one of his favourite books, the memoir A Moveable Feast of Ernest Hemingway, which is about Hemingway’s years as a struggling young writer in Paris in the twenties. Gil’s life shows similarities with Hemingway’s because Gil is also a writer who is in Paris struggling with his life and his identity.56
Because of the idealized image Gil has of Paris, he can be characterized as an American tourist who believes in the Paris myth: The timeless attractions of Americans to Paris.57 Gil is living in his own dream and wants to fulfil that dream to stay in the twenties. Because of that attraction to Paris, this can also be seen as a form of escapism, another theme of the film. Just like the American Hemingway and the other intellectuals were escaping from in the twenties. Paris became the new heart of many writers and artists because Paris
introduced a new culture in which everything was possible, in contrast with the United States
during prohibition.58 This can be related to the United States during George Bush, represented
in Gil’s conservative right wing parents from whom Gil tries to escape.59
Their characters can be portrayed as American stereotypes that are the opposite of Gil’s artistic, freedom-thinking character. They do not speak French, they expect locals to fulfil their needs, they watch Hollywood films in Paris, and they do not embrace the Parisian culture, because it is not the American one.60 Inez says that she "could never live outside the
United States", which is related to the stereotype of a patriotic American who cannot imagine
that other places in the world offer something positive or better.61 John, specifically, is the stereotype of a Francophobic American patriot. As shown in his dislike for French politics, he is only drinking wines from California because those are the best, and his privileging of the commercial over the artistic: “I will always take a California wine, but the Napa Valley is
55 Midnight in Paris, DVD, directed by Woody Allen, (2011; Paris: Sony Picture Classics, 2011). 56 J. H. Jackson, Midnight in Paris, Fiction and film for French historians, A Cultural Bulletin, 2, (2011): http://h-france.net/fffh/the-buzz/midnight-in-paris/. 57 Ibid. 58 A. Greenberg, “Paris Jazz Age: New Generation Explodes in Paris (1920)”, last modified on June 22, 2016: https://bonjourparis.com/archives/paris-jazz-age-new-generation-1920s/. 59 P. Eubanks, “Memory and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris”, Revista de Humanidades, 10, (2014): 170. 60 P. French, “ Midnight in Paris Review”, last modified on June 22, 2016: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/oct/09/midnight-paris-woody-allen-review. 61 P. Eubanks, “Memory and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris”, Revista de Humanidades, 10, (2014): 172.
6000 miles away”.62 He does not understand why Gil is longing for experiences that do not have materialistic value, like writing and making promenades at midnight. He, therefore,
becomes suspicious as to whether Gil is faithful:63 “I don’t know. I see what he earns but
sometimes I think he’s got a part missing. And I didn’t like his remark about the tea party Republicans. They’re decent people who want to take back the country – they’re not crypto-fascist, airhead zombies.”64 Thus, he ascribes communism to Gil for his disinterest in commercial and materialistic values and for his artistic interests, which is presented in what John says and in one of the last scenes where Gil leaves Inez and her parents, and John tells
him to say ‘hi’ to Trotsky.65 Peter Eubaks described this in his article: “Communism, an
ideology which he (falsely) ascribed to Gil for his disinterest in commercial ventures and for his artistic sensibilities, is thus revealed to be, for john, a thing of the past, a political and economic system that has run its course an has bee revealed by human progress to be grossly deficient. To be communist is thus not only to subscribe to a system inimical to the capitalism which has led to such great prosperity in John’s own life; it is also to reject the progress of the present, to be mired in a backward, unenlightened ideology that belongs essentially to the past.”66 Therefore, John’s character can be also ascribed to someone who rejects the present
in favor of an idealized past, like Gil, and this character contributes to the nostalgia theme of the film: “the rejection of the painful present and impending mortality which nostalgia
represents”.67
The nostalgic feelings of Paris in the twenties that Allen wants to create could also be related to the theme of surrealism. Surrealism is a cultural movement that was developed in the early twenties, and its aim is to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream
and reality".68 What Gil is going through, when he is suddenly back in time is not real, but he feels like it is real, as if he is in a dream world. However, at the same time, he can bring his belongings from the present to the past, and Adriana writes about him in her diary, which he discovers in the present. This surrealistic world in which he lives in is also presented in the scene where Gil sits with Dali and Man Ray, both surrealists. Gil says he has the feeling he
lives in two worlds, and Man Ray finds this understandable: “you inhabit two worlds”.69
62 P. Eubanks, “Memory and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris”, Revista de Humanidades, 10, (2014): 172. 63 Ibid.,173.
64 Midnight in Paris, DVD, directed by Woody Allen, (2011; Paris: Sony Picture Classics, 2011).
65 P. Eubanks, “Memory and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris”, Revista de Humanidades, 10, (2014): 172. 66 Ibid., 173.
67 ibid.
68 “ Surrealism”, last modified on 22 June, 2016: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism. 69 Midnight in Paris, DVD, directed by Woody Allen, (2011; Paris: Sony Picture Classics, 2011).
However, the surrealistic theme is not only seen in the storyline but also in how Allen visualizes the setting of Paris in the twenties. It is an idealized version of the twenties, with all the positive imagery of that time. Allen used dark red and brown colours, with dimmed light, and the people are wearing Bohemian styled clothing. He accomplishes this through his use of montage and setting, but he reinforces the image through his use of music. The music in the opening scene, and the soundtrack of the film, is from the American jazz saxophonist,
clarinettist, and composer Sidney Bechet, who was probably chosen by Woody Allen because he was a famous jazz musician and he had several performances at the famous Bricktop Club Paris where Gil finds himself later in the film. 70 An artist like Bechet is an understandable choice, so Allen can transport the feelings of living in the twenties to the audience. In addition to Sidney Bechet, Josephine Baker was a famous American singer that often performed in Paris and at Bricktop. Prohibition came the United States in the twenties, and many people
went to Paris because of that.71 Other famous songs, such as “Let’s Fall in Love”, are coming
by.
Allen represents a perfect romanticised version of Paris in the twenties that is seen in all the details. When Gil enters this world, he cannot believe it; it is real and a dream at the same time. However, he accepts it and starts to sing along to “Let’s Fall in Love”. Because of how Allen idealizes the past, he reproduces a surrealistic image that becomes a theme. The world that Allen is presenting can be also be related to the American fascination with Paris because he shows the Paris of the American community during the twenties; the audience sees nothing of the French Parisian community of that time. The Paris that Allen shows to the audience is the Paris that only exists in Gil’s imagination. It is his Paris, a Paris that he has built for himself in his fantasy, his idealized version, and he cannot share it with anyone else. Comparing this surrealistic image of Paris in the twenties to the Paris of 2010, which I have analysed by looking at the film locations, Allen created a Paris from his own perception, his mental picture of Paris. It seems that two idealized versions of Paris come together in the film.72
Love is another theme in the film. On one hand, love concerns the romance Gil has with Adriana. Gil is in engaged to the wrong woman and realizes that when he meets Adriana and falls in love with her. However, Adriana lives in the twenties, and therefore, his love for Adriana can be seen as a metaphor for his feelings about Paris. Adriana is like Paris, beautiful
70 “Midnight in Paris: Soundtracks”, last modified on June 22, 2016: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/soundtrack.
71 Greenberg, A., “Paris Jazz Age: New Generation Explodes in Paris (1920)”, last modified on June 22, 2016: https://bonjourparis.com/archives/paris-jazz-age-new-generation-1920s/.
and everyone wants to be connected with her, but he cannot have her because she lives in another time.73
Throughout the story, the other characters are critical about Gil’s nostalgic feelings and about nostalgia as a phenomenon in general. For example, in the scene at Versailles, Inez says this about Gil: “Brands him one of the who live in the past, people who think their lived
would be happier if they lived in an earlier time”. Also Paul analyses nostalgia: “Nostalgia is denial. Denial of the painful present.” Gil answers with, “golden age thinking- the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one one’s living on”. Szelzak argues that
Paul described nostalgia as “a negative phenomenon because he personified the dominant
discourse of rationality that suggests scepticism toward nostalgic impulses”.74 He can be seen as a symbol for the bad conscience many have when they give into nostalgic fantasies.
However, whether this phenomenon is right or wrong does not matter in the end. 75 In the end,
Gil can be recognized as a realistic idealist instead of a nostalgic, who, according to Cohen, is a person who is “willing to concede that even the most ideal place, society or culture have
shortcomings and thus able to achieve self-realizations at the centre without deluding
themselves of its faultlessness.”76 After Gil travels back with Adriana to the Belle Époque, his
conclusion is to “realize that the past can feel perfect because the present is a little
unsatisfying, because life is a little unsatisfying”. 77
Allen created a portrait of Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century that is romanticized, the Paris of intellectuals, which can be related to the Paris myth and the idealized version of Paris that does not really exists. Allen did this as well in the way he shot beautiful images of Paris with all the tourist attractions in them. The Paris myth stays alive.
73 P. Eubanks, “Memory and Nostalgia in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris”, Revista de Humanidades, 10, (2014): 176. 74 K.S. Szlezak, “Hi Mr. Hemingway: Time and Space, Travel, and literary Heritage in Midnight in Paris” in Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen, (New York : Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), 205. 75 Ibid., 205. 76 K.S. Szlezak, “Hi Mr. Hemingway: Time and Space, Travel, and literary Heritage in Midnight in Paris” in Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen, (New York : Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), 210, 77 E. Cohen, “A Phenomenlogy of Tourist Experiences”, Sociology,13,(1979): 190.
Chapter 3
Barcelona: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
For many years, Spaniards were associated with ethnocentric exoticism and represented as
barbarians.78 Later, during the romantic period, Spain was described as a country of
passionate women, bandits, and colourful customs.79 Writers, such as Washington Irving and
Prosper Mérimée with Carmen, represented Spanish identity with images of Spain in literary
works that became popular. This affected the auto-image and hetero-image of Spain.
However, these auto-images and hetero-images were changing over time. This is for example seen a few centuries later. Franco was in power and a totalitarian regime was implemented in Spain, and citizens were oppressed. Therefore, in the years after Franco, freedom became a central concept and characteristic of the Spanish identity and gave a new image to the Spaniards. This is especially emphasised in the films of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. He had a great influence on the Spanish film industry because he refers in his film to the
Spanish identity and what the new Spain looked like in a post-Franco society.80
One of the main cities that exemplifies these images and is representative of the national hetero-image of Spain is Barcelona. At the same time, tourism has functioned to
promote and make a certain brand of Spanish modernity visible.81 Barcelona, as a tourist
destination, has positioned itself in several internationally promoted films.82
One of these films, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) by Woody Allen, conditions the
foreign perceptions of Barcelona.83 When one thinks of Barcelona as a holiday destination, he
or she mostly thinks of images like the Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas, Gaudi, Picasso
Museum, Parque Guell, Barrio Gotico area of Barcelona Camp Nou, and Casa Mila. Typical stereotypes like Spanish guitar music and passionate men and women with exotic appearances rise in people’s minds. These images are attractions and characteristics that are unique or distinctive to Barcelona and Spain.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) is a romantic comedy-drama film that tells the story
of two American women: Vicky, played by Rebecca Hall and Cristina, played by Scarlett Johansson, who are spending the summer in Barcelona. During their stay, they meet the
78 José Manuel López de Abiada, “Spaniards”, Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of National Characters – A Critical Survey, ed. Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2007) 246. 79 Ibid. 80 M.A. Allison, A Spanisch Labyrinth, The Films of Pedro Almodóvar, (New York: J.A. Allen & Co Ltd 2001), 3. 81 S. Amago, Spanish Cinema in the Global Context: Film on Film (New York: Routledge, 2013), 145. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid.
Spanish artist Juan Antonio, played by Javier Bardem, who is attracted to both women but is still involved with his ex-wife Maria Elena, played by Penelope Cruz.
The visual representation of the city: locations
The main characters of Vicky Cristina Barcelona move though the Spanish landscape, while
viewing landmarks.84 Hence, the locations and attractions of Barcelona that are presented in
the film can be seen as examples of how the moving image emerges as a crucial marketing concept in the tourism industry, just as in Midnight in Paris. It influences tourism-related attitudes and behaviours by confirming and reinforcing existing images and creating new and changing images of certain places.85 For this reason, the practice of tourism can be seen as a
thematic and narrative structuring element.86 Woody Allen says this about making this movie:
“I wasn’t thinking of anything other than creating a story that had Barcelona as a character. I wanted to honour Barcelona, because I love the city very much, and I love Spain in general. It’s a city full of visual beauty and the sensibility of the city is quite romantic.”87
In the opening scene, the audience hears a Spanish song, “Barcelona”, that indicates, because of the title of the film as well, that the setting is in Barcelona. The importance of the song will be analysed in the next section. Vicky and Cristina arrive at the Barcelona airport, and walk out of Terminal 2, which is designed by the famous surrealist Joan Miro. In the shot, they then meet Vicky’s family, Mark and Judy, with whom they are going to stay during the summer. In the next shot, the theme song “Barcelona” is played again and, Vicky and Cristina visit the tourist attractions of Barcelona, with the Sagrada Familia in the first shot. This is the most famous building in Barcelona and attracts most of the tourists. In the next shot, they are on the roof of Casa Mila, designed by Gaudi, and the narrator says, “Vicky and
Cristina drank in the artistic treasures of the city, they particularly enjoyed the works of Gaudi and Miro” to outline the landmarks.88
Allen presents Barcelona as a cultural city of art, which is seen in the next scenes as well. The works and architecture of Gaudi, especially, are seen, which indicates that Gaudi is used as a tourist attraction for Barcelona. When Vicky meets Juan again after their night together, they are at Parque Guell, in front of Gaudi’s salamander fountain. When Vicky has doubts about her marriage, she is with the American student from her language class, Ben,
84 S. Amago, Spanish Cinema in the Global Context: Film on Film (New York: Routledge, 2013), 145. 85 Rodriguez Campo, L., Fraiz Brea, J.A., Rodiguez-Toubes Muniz, D., “Tourist Destination Image formed by the Cinema: Barcelona positioning through the feature film Vicky Christina Barcelona,” European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation,1, (2011): 138-139. 86 S. Amago, Spanish Cinema in the Global Context: Film on Film (New York: Routledge, 2013), 146. 87 “Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Spain According To Woody Allen”, last modified on June 22, 2016:http://www.spain.info/en/reportajes/vicky_cristina_barcelona_espana_segun_woody_allen.html. 88 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, DVD, directed by Woody Allen, (2008; Barcelona: Cineart La Collection, 2008).
and they are standing in front of the grand arched entrance of Hospital de Sant Pau, designed
by Catalan modernist Lluís Domènech i Montaner, where he invited her to go the film
Shadow of Doubt from Alfred Hitchcock.89 This can be related to the fact that Vicky keeps her night with Juan a secret. The former hospital is now resorted as a museum and cultural centre.90
The scene where Maria Elena teaches Cristina about the art of photography is shot in
Parc de la Ciutadella, near another Gaudi fountain. In one of the last scenes, where Cristina is
beginning to have feelings of doubt and disaffection and is sitting alone overlooking the
water, is at the harbour Port Olimpic.91 Looking only at the locations that Allen shows the
audience, art is presented everywhere, even in the scene where Judy encourages Vicky to pursue Juan Antonio as they walk down the steps of the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the national museum of Catalan visual art.
The locations show that Allen has chosen he wants to promote Barcelona as a city of
art and culture, since the cultural perception of the city is shown. However, at the same time, Barcelona is shown as a tourist destination where the sun is always shining. By shooting these kinds of locations, Allen gives the viewer substantial information about a place in a short period of time. He reaches a large audience, and the movie is, therefore, an example of how a city or tourist destinations influences the tourism decision-making process, which relates to what John Urry defined as the tourist gaze: “‘The tourist gaze’” is directed to features of
landscape and townscape, which separate them off from everyday experience. Such aspects are viewed because they are taking to be in some sense out of the ordinary. The viewing of such sights often involves different forms of social patterning, which a much greater
sensitivity to visual elements of landscape or townscape than normally found in everyday life. People linger over such a gaze which is then normally visually objectified or captures
through photographs, postcards, films, models and so on. These enable the gaze to be endlessly reproduced and recaptured.”92 This was one of the aims of the film because the destination financed the movie with a million euros, because of its international projection, the cast, and the importance of the director, with the objective of bringing the image of
Barcelona to millions of people.93 These images can therefore be seen as an example to show
the importance of film to the construction of place imagery.
89 “Vicky Cristina Barcelona Film Locations”, last modified on June 27, 2016: http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/v/Vicky_Cristina_Barcelona.html#.V3EPCFfSrgI. 90 Ibid. 91 Ibid. 92 S. Amago, Spanish Cinema in the Global Context: Film on Film (New York: Routledge, 2013), 145. 93 Rodriguez Campo, L., Fraiz Brea, J.A., Rodiguez-Toubes Muniz, D., “Tourist Destination Image formed by the Cinema: Barcelona positioning through the feature film Vicky Christina Barcelona,” European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation,1, (2011): 138.
On the other hand, critically, Allen views Spain as a cultural destination for
Americans. However, the working class and the immigrant communities are totally absent from his images. Again, just as in Midnight in Paris, Allen does not present today’s reality. He is, in this way, promoting Barcelona and the Catalan identity of Barcelona by showing Gaudi almost everywhere. This can be considered one of the reasons that he chose Barcelona, except from being financed by Barcelona, instead of for example Madrid; because Barcelona is situated in Catalonia, and related to Catalan artists such as Gaudi. However, this image is, in reality, displaced by being in the constant stream of the traveller’s gaze, and does not show the cultural and political problems in Barcelona. The inhabitants of Barcelona would probably look very different from the image of Barcelona that Allen created. Barcelona is situated in Catalonia, which cultivates its own identity, and therefore Barcelona has complex identity issues. This may be related to the fact that Allen wants to criticize the American naivety towards their perception of the culture of Barcelona. To a broad public there is no difference between the Catalan and Spanish culture; they see everything as one whole, as the Spanish culture. This is seen in the film, in which Gaudi is used as a Spanish landmark despite the fact that Gaudi is a Catalan artist. Vicky’s research into the Catalan identity is limited to Gaudi in Miro. This is in contrast to the inhabitants of Barcelona who consider themselves Catalan rather than Spanish. According to Anna Wilson, it is “in response to such complex identity
issues, Barcelona has become increasingly self-obsessed with its own image and the way this image might be mirrored by outside portrayal”.94 We can conclude from this that for an
American public this distinction is irrelevant, but for a Spanish public, and especially the inhabitants of Barcelona, this difference would be very meaningful.
Characters and Themes
The main characters of the film are Vicky and Cristina, who, according to the narrator, have decided to spend their summer in Barcelona. The characters are introduced by the narrator as follows: “Vicky was completing her master’s in Catalan identity, which she had become
interested in through her great affection for the architecture of Gaudi. Cristina, who spent the last six months writing, directing and acting in a twelve-minute film, which she then hated, had just broken up with yet another boyfriend, and longed for a change of scenery”.95 Again,
just like in Midnight in Paris, the main characters are American tourists who are seeking something different than their own ordinary lives. Because Barcelona has a reputation as a
94 A. Wilson, “A Broken Mirror? Global-Local Images of Barcelona,” in Barcelona: Visual Culture, Space and Power, ed. by H. Buffery and C. Caulfield, (Wales: University of Wales Press, 2014), 206.
sunny, beautiful, romantic city, it seems to be a good destination to spend time during the summer.
In addition to the importance of the locations, Barcelona presented as an artistic city of painters and music is involved in the characters, themes and music as well. The main theme of the movie is love and the complex relationships of love. This theme goes along with other themes, such as exoticism, escapism, and identity crisis.
The music of the film plays an interesting role here. The local music drives the action
of Vicky Cristina Barcelona and that observation confirms the story.96 The presence of
acoustic guitar music sets numerous scenes and clarifies the cultural journey of the two American women who fall into romance while they visit Barcelona during the summer. The guitar music can be seen as a metaphor for the emotional nature of the narrative’s exotic
environment.97 This exploration of Vicky Cristina Barcelona clarifies Allen’s use of music,
which functions to reinforce the visual and textual aspects of the film.98 It is the idyllic version of the summer of love.
Furthermore, analysing the soundtrack of the film Barcelona, from Giulia y los
Tellarini, shows the idea of Barcelona is emphasized in it.99 According to Wynter, “it comments on the fluidity of this great cosmopolitan city and the ease of movement along the boulevards and up the staircases of love.” Further, the lyrics of the song suggest that although
the characters may search for themselves in Barcelona, in the mirror of the exotic Other that is represented in Juan, they eventually are not able to find who they are. Embracing the exotic Other is nothing more than a fantasy. The only way to love the Other is by memory in a
nostalgic way.100 For this reason, Allen exploits the influence of music, moving images, and
narrative since they complement each other.101
In addition to in the sunny picturesque images and the Spanish acoustic guitar music, Spanish stereotypes are seen in the characters of Juan Antonio and Maria Elena: “The soulful
Latin lover and the tempestuous Latina”, as described by Jason Bailey.102 However, they are
not overwhelming.103 The character of Maria Elena as a passionate woman has some
similarities with Carmen from Prosper Mérimée. She is beautiful and smart but also
96 Havis, A., “Guitar and Cultural Tresspass in Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” in: in Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen, ed. by Klara Stephanie Szlezák & D.E. Wynter (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), 185-186. 97 Ibid. 98 Havis, A., “Guitar and Cultural Tresspass in Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” in: in Referentiality and the Films of Woody Allen, ed. by Klara Stephanie Szlezák & D.E. Wynter (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), 187. 99 Ibid., 188. 100A. Wilson, “A Broken Mirror? Global-Local Images of Barcelona,” in Barcelona: Visual Culture, Space and Power, ed. by H. Buffery and C. Caulfield (Wales: University of Wales Press, 2014), 216. 101 Ibid. 102 Bailey, J., The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion (Minneapolis: Voyageur Press 2014), 158. 103 Ibid.
dangerous, crazy, and suicidal. She is defined as a Femme Fatal.104 She usually speaks in Spanish and yells and fights with Juan. However, at the same time, she is an artist and an intelligent woman. Her beauty is set out in the scene where Cristina is photographing her in front of the graffiti with the cigarette in her mouth. The audience can understand how she gets on Juan nerves, but at the same time, why he cannot resist her and why Cristina cannot
either.105According to Juan, she has troubles with the reality as well. Analysing the characters further shows all the characters have their own problems with the reality of life.
Juan Antonio, who appears for the first time at the scene in the art gallery, has an exotic appearance with his dark hair and red shirt, which can be symbolic for passion and love. His presence is not unnoticed, and Cristina asks who he is: Mark says, “He had that
fiery relationship with that beautiful woman who was nuts” about Juan Antonio, which the
audience sees in some scenes later where Juan Antonio is fighting with Maria Elena in
Spanish.106 Cristina is immediately attracted to him because of his appearance. This matches
the love story of American girls who fall in love with Latin lovers. Juan Antonio is the opposite of the men from the west; he is manly, exotic, creative, and an artist.
Even Vicky cannot resist him, not necessarily because of his appearance but rather because of her love for the Spanish culture. She starts becoming deeply interested him. For example, in the scene where Juan brings her to a performance of a Spanish guitarist, Allen’s script reads thus: “Vicky listens intently to the music. Vicky turns and looks emotionally at
Juan Antonio. She then looks back at the guitar player”.107 Juan Antonio represents the kind
of reckless romanticism that she had long presumed was beyond her capacity.108
Later, Cristina has a passionate relationship with Juan Antonio. His whole life is the opposite of her life in America, where everybody is stiff and stressed; Juan and his friends are all artists, poets, and musicians. They are free. This is representative of the Spanish identify nowadays, the identity after Franco, the identity of freedom. Cristina is in love with the European soul, like the thinkers and artists have, a freethinking view of life. Allen presents the Spanish as if they are all free thinkers and passionate artists who do whatever they want and feel like doing and are happy, which is not considered possible in the American lives of Vicky and Cristina.
This fascination with Juan is related to the fact that he can be represented as the exotic Other. Exoticism can be described as the fascination with everything that is different, and that
104 Bailey, J., The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion (Minneapolis: Voyageur Press 2014), 158. 105 Ibid. 106 Vicky Cristina Barcelona, DVD, directed by Woody Allen, (2008; Barcelona: Cineart La Collection, 2008). 107 Ibid. 108Bailey, J., The Ultimate Woody Allen Film Companion (Minneapolis: Voyageur Press 2014), 159.
is what Juan and Maria Elena represent. They from another culture and have another lifestyle than that of Vicky and Cristina. By embracing the exotic life, Vicky and Cristina escape from American culture. 109 Therefore, the exotic Other could be indicated as a specific motif in Allen’s storyline and, at the same time, remarkable for Allen’s characters, which are participating only for a brief period in activities that break their moral life code. They are escaping from reality, but for a short period, because after a while they will return to reality. It was, for both Vicky and Cristina, a passing thing that is now over.110 Escapism is, therefore, a theme as well because both characters escape for the real world into love affair with the Spanish artist Juan Antonio, but in different way. Just like Gil in Midnight in Paris, they want to live a dream life in a surrealistic world that does not really exist, which points out the contrasts between American and Spanish cultures. One could relate this the definition of ethnotypes, a discursive commonplace pretending to characterize a certain nation, people, or ethnicity, because ethnotypes concern how countries differ. The escape to the surrealistic world can also be related to the theme of identity crisis, with questions as “Who am I?” and “What do I want?” because that is where Cristina and Vicky find themselves.
On the one hand, the film provides the Spanish identity and Barcelona to the audience by Allen’s usage of images, where Barcelona is characterized through its art, culture, and authentic Spanish guitar. On the other hand, it is about themes that lie in the characters; they want to understand and perceive love. In addition to the beautiful pictures, there is a
pessimistic picture underneath the story. By the end of the film, Juan Antonio and Maria have split again, Cristina still uncertain about what she wants from life and love, and Vicky stays with her husband in a passionless marriage. Just like Judy chose security over passionate love, Vicky does too eventually. Vicky and Cristina had a trip in the dream world, but then reality returned, just like in real life. This is also similar to the ending of Midnight in Paris, where Gil comes to the same conclusion of reality and the present time: “the present is a little
unsatisfying”. The narrator ends the film thus: “…to the house they both finally settled on, and to lead the life she had envisioned for herself before the summer in Barcelona. Cristina continues searching, certain only of what she didn’t want.” 111
109 A. Wilson, “A Broken Mirror? Global-Local Images of Barcelona,” in Barcelona: Visual Culture, Space and Power, ed. by H. Buffery and C. Caulfield (Wales: University of Wales Press, 2014), 216.
110 Ibid.
Chapter 4
Rome: To Rome with Love
When we think of Italy and Rome, we mostly think of the old Rome; the Rome of the
Classics, Ancient Rome. Images like the Coliseum, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain rise before us. Names of artists, such as Michelangelo, spring to mind. Thus, when we picture Rome, we almost always think of the cultural heritage that Ancient Rome left behind. But we also have mental images of food like pizza and spaghetti, and romantic adventures with lovely Italian men who barely speak English. And Italy is associated with fashion and style because of their brands as Gucci, Prada and Versace and their stylish furniture and design. It can be said that we associate these images with the city of Rome, and therefore Rome is known as a cultural city.
It boasts a great variety of architecture and buildings, many historical sights and museums, a vast array of cultural activities, and a good and varied gastronomy. This is
why Rome established itself in the popular imagination as one of the most desirable places for foreigners to visit. To maintain this image, Rome is a famous location for films to be made to further this image. Rome is a city with modern and sophisticated people, as well as people who are very traditional. It attracts numerous visitors, from businessmen to tourists, who all enjoy what the city has to offer. 112
Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love (2012) is a comedy film set in Rome. Allen won financial backing for To Rome with Love from distributors who offered to finance a film for Allen as long as it was filmed in Rome. Allen accepted the offer so he could work in the city. Regarding his film style, he says: “it was the traffic and chaos of Rome that inspired his style
in the film: everyone out on the streets, sitting on steps or in cafés. The constant motion… all the romance and emotion – it needed a number of stories”113 He originally titled the film The
Bop Decameron, suggesting that the film is related to Boccaccio’s medieval collections of
tales that were filmed by Pasolini in 1971.114
The film tells us a few stories: one of a well-known American architect who is reliving his youth; an average middle-class Roman whose life is taking a dramatic turn because
suddenly he is a famous person; a young couple drawn into romantic encounters; and a travelling American student who falls in love with a Roman lawyer and flies her parents in to visit. We also see her father, an American opera director who has problems with getting older, has a fear of the dead, and who wants to put a singing mortician on stage.
112 “To Rome With Love: About The Production”, last modified on June 22, 2016: http://sonyclassics.com/toromewithlove/mobile/about.html
113 J. Solomons, Woody Allen Film by Film (London: Carlton Books Ltd, 2015), 236.
