Woody Allen and the stars of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" walk the
red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere of the film.

MGM/THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY - 
Woody Allen was in Los Angeles for the premiere of "Vicky
Cristina Barcelona." This is the 71-year-old director's 39th film.
Members of the film's ensemble cast along with other Hollywood stars took to
the red carpet for the film's premiere.
    One of the biggest roles of the film went to the city of Barcelona.
Allen wrote the film with the Spanish city in mind. And he also had his cast
in mind. When casting a film set in Spain, he aimed for what he calls
"the Rolls Royce" of Spanish actors: Penelope Cruz and Javier
Bardem.
    "I will always pick Scarlett because she's one of my favourite
actresses and she'll always make me look good. Penelope Cruz is a brilliant,
brilliant .. If you need a Spanish actress or a Spanish actor, Penelope Cruz
and Javier Bardem it's like the Rolls Royces," Allen said. "Of
course I picked them and they make me look good. You know they act. I tell
them to improvise, they improvised in Spanish and I don't speak a word of
Spanish and I'm watching them improvise and I don't know what's going on. And
then the picture comes out, and people liked it and I say, "Yes, well,
you know, I wrote it.""
    The film tells the story of two American friends (Scarlett Johansson
and Rebecca Hall) who travel to Barcelona for the summer, both with very
different approaches to love and life. The pair become entangled with a
Spanish artist (Javier Bardem) who is still in love with his sometimes-crazy
ex-wife (Penelope Cruz).
    Although Woody Allen says he wanted to make an American film,
the movie's script switches between Spanish and English within sentences and
Allen even allowed Bardem and Cruz to improvise in Spanish, a language he
doesn't know. 
    The movie first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and will reach
American theatres on August 15th.