Woody Allen's highly anticipated new film To Rome, With Love, premiered in the city where it was set on Friday and Penelope Cruz stole the spotlight dazzling in a pink, strapless Dolce & Gabbana gown.

The 37-year-old actress, who also stared in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, joined Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Roberto Benigni on the red carpet for the film's world premiere in Rome.

I give you my own interpretation of Rome in the film, and I don't pretend to have any insights about the culture or the politics, Allen said. We set out to make a film set in Rome that's entertaining to watch, and that's what we did, Allen said during a press conference at the event.

To Rome, With Love is Allen's seventh film in seven years set in a major European city, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The film, which was dubbed in Italian for the Rome premiere, received mixed reviews. Critiques said Allen's portrayal of the city was superficial.

Cruz disagreed with the criticism. He's wonderful, unique, a genius, and he always leaves me wanting more, since unfortunately I was on the set for To Rome With Love and Vicky Cristina Barcelona only for three or three and a half weeks each, said Cruz, I could spend hours on the set just watching him work, she added. I could go on and on, she added

Allen calls Rome a feast for a film-maker, according to Reuters. I grew up on Italian cinema. I have always been an enormous admirer of Italian cinema. Anything that appears in the movie that is redolent of Italian cinema is strictly something that I have absorbed through osmosis over the years and it comes out, Allen said speaking at the new conference in Rome.

It would have been impossible in the years that I grew up to not have been influenced by the Italian movies that came to New York. These are the films that I saw, my fiends saw, they were very impressive, he added.

To Rome, With Love is a romantic comedy comprised of four separate episodes of adventures and misadventures.

Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz poses during the premiere of the film "To Rome with Love" by U.S. director Woody Allen in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
Spanish actress Penelope Cruz poses during the premiere of the film "To Rome with Love" by U.S. director Woody Allen in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
U.S. director Woody Allen (2nd L) and cast members, Jesse Eisenberg (L), Penelope Cruz (C), Roberto Benigni (2nd R) and Alec Baldwin, pose during the premiere of the film "To Rome with Love" in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
U.S. director Woody Allen and his wife Soon Yi Previn pose during the premiere of his film "To Rome with Love" in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
Cast member Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas pose during the premiere of the film "To Rome with Love" by U.S. director Woody Allen in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
Italian actor Roberto Benigni poses during the premiere of the film "To Rome with Love" by U.S. director Woody Allen in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
Woody Allens To Rome, With Love Premiere
Cast member Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas look at each other during the premiere of the film "To Rome with Love" by U.S. director Woody Allen in Rome April 13, 2012. Reuters
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