Vicky Cristina Barcelona Quotes

Juan Antonio Well, now that the day's almost over, is it reasonable of me to ask you if you'll both join me in my room?

Vicky Oh, come on, I thought we'd settled that.

Cristina Vicky's just trying to say that she's engaged to be married, that's all.

Juan Antonio Great. Then these are her last days of freedom.

Vicky No. Look, I'm not free. I'm committed. You know what my theory is? And when I drink, I get brutally frank. I think that you're still hurting from the failure of your marriage to Maria Elena, and you're trying to lose yourself in empty sex.

Juan Antonio Empty sex? Do you have such a low opinion of yourself?

Cristina I'll go to your room, but you'll have to seduce me.

Maria Elena You're still searching for me in every woman.

Juan Antonio That is not true, Maria Elena. I was in Oviedo some weeks ago with a woman who was the antithesis of you. An American, and something beautiful happened with her. So you're mistaken.

Maria Elena You'll always seek to duplicate what we had. You know it.

Maria Elena You speak no Spanish?

Cristina No, I uh-uh studied Chinese.

Maria Elena Chinese? Why?

Cristina I thought it sounded pretty.

Maria Elena Say something in Chinese.

Cristina Me?

Maria Elena Mm-hm.

Cristina Um... ni hao ma?

Maria Elena You think that sounds pretty?

Narrator Vicky returned home to have her grand wedding to Doug. To the house they finally planned to settle in. And to lead the life she envisioned for herself, before that summer in Barcelona. Cristina continued searching... certain only, of what she didn't want.

Vicky So, uh, tell me why, why won't your father publish his poems?

Juan Antonio Well, because, ungh, he hates the world and that's his way of getting back at them, to create beautiful works and then to deny them to the public, which I think it's...

Vicky My god.

Juan Antonio Hmmm.

Vicky Oh, what makes him so angry toward the human race?

Juan Antonio Because after thousands of years of civilization they still haven't learned to love.

Cristina How long is she going to stay here?

Juan Antonio Christina, I know - this is not what you had in mind.

Cristina No.

Juan Antonio But, she has to stay with us.

Cristina I understand. I understand.

Juan Antonio She has no one else.

Cristina I understand. It's only for a short time.

Juan Antonio Yes, a few months, at most.

Cristina She's staying for a few months?

Cristina If you don't start undressing me soon this is going to turn into a panel discussion.

Juan Antonio We are meant for each other and not meant for each other. It's a contradiction.

Juan Antonio American?

Cristina I'm Cristina, and this is my friend Vicky.

Juan Antonio What color are your eyes?

Cristina Uh, they're blue.

Juan Antonio Well, I'd like to invite you both to come with me to Oviedo.

Vicky To come where?

Juan Antonio To Oviedo. For the weekend. We leave in one hour.

Cristina What- Where is Oviedo?

Juan Antonio A very short flight.

Vicky By plane?

Juan Antonio Mmm-hmm.

Cristina What's in Oviedo?

Juan Antonio I go to see a sculpture, that is very inspiring to me. A very beautiful sculpture. You will love it.

Vicky Oh, right. you're asking us to fly to Oviedo and back.

Juan Antonio Mmmm. No, we'll spend the weekend. I mean, I'll show you around the city, and we'll eat well. We'll drink good wine. We'll make love.

Vicky Yeah, who exactly is going to make love?

Juan Antonio Hopefully, the three of us.

Cristina Are you very religious?

Juan Antonio No, no, no, no, I'm not. The trick is to enjoy life, accepting it has no meaning whatsoever.

Cristina No meaning? You don't think that authentic love gives life meaning?

Juan Antonio Yes, but love is so transient. Isn't it? I was in love with a most incredible woman... and then in the end...

Vicky Yes?

Juan Antonio She put a knife into me.

Cristina My God, that's terrible!

Vicky Well, maybe you did something to deserve it.

Juan Antonio Life is short. Life is dull. Life is full of pain. And this is a chance for something special.

Narrator Vicky and Cristina decided to spend the summer in Barcelona. Vicky was completing her master's in Catalan Identity, which she had become interested in through her great affection for the architecture of Gaudí. Cristina, who spent the last six months writing, directing, and acting in a 12-minute film which she then hated, had just broken up with yet another boyfriend and longed for a change of scenery. Everything fell into place when a distant relative of Vicky's family who lived in Barcelona offered to put both girls up for July and August. The two best friends had been close since college and shared the same tastes and opinions on most matters, yet when it came to the subject of love, it would be hard to find two more dissimilar viewpoints. Vicky had no tolerance for pain and no lust for combat. She was grounded and realistic. Her requirements in a man were seriousness and stability. She had become engaged to Doug because he was decent and successful and understood the beauty of commitment...Cristina, on the other hand, expected something very different out of love. She had reluctantly accepted suffering as an inevitable component of deep passion, and was resigned to putting her feelings at risk. If you asked her what it was she was gambling her emotions on to win, she would not have been able to say. She knew what she didn't want, however, and that was exactly what Vicky valued above all else.

Juan Antonio Maria Elena used to say that only unfulfilled love can be romantic.

Cristina I just have to come face to face with the fact that I’m not gifted. I can appreciate art and I like music, but it’s sad, really because I feel like I have a lot to express, and I’m not gifted.