MY POINT OF VIEW 23 (by Tatiana Sisquella)
Last week saw the premiere in Barcelona of one of the most long-awaited films in the city since they brought out the promotional video for the Barcelona Olympic Games. I am of course talking about “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, the latest film by Woody Allen.
During the last twelve months, either through official studio channels or unofficially through gossip in the press, we’ve heard everything, right down to the last detail, about the shooting of this film (where they were filming, what they were eating, how they were dressed, who was kissing who, and so on). Now we’re getting the full blaze of reactions to the work itself, in other words, whether or not it’s a good film, does it remind us of other films made by Woody Allen?, is it a faithful portrait of Barcelona?, what to make of that kiss between Penelope and Scarlett…
Meanwhile, for my part, knowing that we’re going to get all this whatever happens, I’d like to make a different suggestion. Among the numerous tourist trails that can be followed through Barcelona, how do you fancy a trip to the areas of the city where various different films were shot? And by that I don’t just mean “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. I’m also thinking of “All about my mother”, “Perfume” and “Manual of Love”, among others.
The truth is that I don't think you’ll have too much difficulty in identifying some of the places you’ll have seen in some film scenes, since in the last 10 years scenes from over 150 movies have been shot in the city. If on the one hand this seems like a fairly paltry amount compared to many other cities (Paris, New York or San Francisco, for example), it’s also worth bearing in mind that in a relatively short period of time the number of films for which Barcelona has been chosen as the background location has increased enormously.
So, if this seems like a good idea, here are a few of the locations which you’ll find behind the action, and which also have the advantage of being easy to identify:
1. The “Torre del Rellotge”: a really nice walk which lets you enjoy a great view of this clock-tower and at the same time imagine Woody Allen directing the actor Javier Bardem.
2. The “Poble Espanyol” (the “Spanish Model Village”): too easily dismissed, this is in fact a perfect place for a walk and even to sit down and read for a while. What’s more, you’ll be able to re-live some of the scenes from the film “Perfume”.
3. Plaça Duc de Medinaceli: one of many squares in Barcelona that have the added attraction of knowing that Almodóvar and his entire crew filmed there, in this case one of the most emotional scenes in the film “All about my mother”.
Of course, you can also go round and about yourselves and make your own film!
QUESTION: Why Barcelona?
ANSWER: Because everybody can be a character in their own film.
