Movies News

A kiss that Penelope Cruz did not miss

May 18, 2008, 12:45 GMT

Cannes, France - It may have been a big moment in veteran American director Woody Allen's latest film - the kiss between Spanish actress Penelope Cruz and Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson.

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz poses for photographers during a photocall for US director Woody Allen's film 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' running out of competition at the 61st edition of the Cannes Film Festival, 17 May 2008, in Cannes, France. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABABut at a press conference Saturday marking the debut of the film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, at the Cannes Film Festival, Cruz seemed rather underwhelmed by her romantic moment in the movie which is about two young American women, Vicky and Cristina, who come to Barcelona for a summer holiday. 'I don't have a good answer,' said Cruz explaining that she had been asked several times about the kiss. 'I am still not inspired to give a good answer.' Scheduling meant that Johansson could not be in Cannes for the film's launch. The kiss between the Cruz's character, an emotionally charged Spanish painter called Maria Elena, and Cristina played by Johansson launches them into a three-way relationship with another Spanish painter, Juan Antonio played by Spain's Javier Bardem. The story is a little more complicated as Juan Antonio has also had a fling with Cristina's friend Vicky, played by British-born Rebecca Hall. But Juan Antonio, Maria Elena and Cristina somehow find that together they are able to balance out each others' emotions and meet their desires consequently building for a brief period a rather harmonious relationship. However, not even Allen, who both wrote and directed the film, believed that such a relationship would stand much of a chance of success off screen in real life. Asked at the press conference whether he also adhered to what appeared to be an enduring male fantasy of life with two attractive women, Allen - now in his seventies - said: 'It is hard enough to get one person. ... In trying to figure solutions in life two would tend to make it more complicated.' The chemistry between the characters in Vicky Cristina Barcelona worked so the relationship somehow functioned, he said. But he said: 'Most people could not survive that situation in real life. There would too many difficulties to surmount.' 'It is hard to get a life with one person but with two it becomes geometrically fatal,' he said.