Our videographer Elena Parker -- a serious food and film buff -- is really good at throwing movie-themed dinner parties. She and her friends cook together, serve up, and eat while they watch.
We've asked her to start sharing the menus for her favorite films with us -- here's the second installment: Vicky Cristina Barcelona. (To see what Elena's serving with The Age of Innocence, go here.)
- Elena
“We’ll eat well, we’ll drink good wine, we’ll make love.”
Ah, such a promise. Of course, the fact that it comes from the lips of Javier Bardem in Woody Allen’s perfectly sun-lit film Vicky Cristina Barcelona only makes the suggestion more enticing. For what more can you ask? Food. Wine. Javier Bardem ... shirtless.
In all seriousness, Vicky Cristina Barcelona has more to offer than just Javier and his proposals for sumptuous weekends in the Spanish countryside. The tale of romantic Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) and analytic and practical Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and their encounters with seductive painter Juan Antonio (Bardem) has something to enjoy at every turn.
From the incredible supporting cast—with a particularly wonderful Penélope Cruz as Juan Antonio’s ... ahem ... passionate ex-wife—to the gratuitous but incredible shots of Gaudí architecture, to the Spanish guitar-laced soundtrack, the film can merely be watched as a gift to your senses. Yet, Woody Allen also has a sneaking talent for injecting uncomfortable truths into his narratives. The women’s anticipations for what the summer will bestow and the final shot as they walk back to their respective lives encourages you to consider exactly what "intentions" are worth.
Having never been to Spain, I cannot judge whether that the film accurately or inaccurately reflects an experience there, but what I can say is that it perfectly encapsulates what I imagine it feels like in Spain. Similarly, this menu is not meant to reflect an actual meal from the film (for many reasons, including the fact that while we see many a wine glass consumed, we never seem to really get a look at one of the meals). What you see below is based on my glorious expectations of a meal consumed in the film ... expectations which perhaps Allen would suggest that I temper ...
[Note: I would also include a rather healthy dose of Rioja]
A Sexy Spanish Dinner with Vicky, Cristina and Juan Antonio
Smoky Fried Chickpeas by Aliwaks
Blood Orange Salad with Olives by amanda
Burnt Caramel Pudding by Midge
Written by: elenakathryn
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