Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ON LOCATION
You can fall in love with Barcelona all over again with a stack of DVDs and a giant bucket
of popcorn. Major movie event of recent years for the city was Woody Allen's extended
homagetoitsphotogeniclandmarksin
VickyCristinaBarcelona
(2008),afrothylovetri-
angle - partly financed by the city administration, who definitely got their money's worth
- that bounced from the Barri Gòtic to the Sagrada Família. However, film buffs point
backto1975andMichelangeloAntonioni's
ThePassenger
asthefirstmajorfilmtoshow-
case the city's attractions, as Jack Nicholson negotiates Gaudí rooftops and cable cars in a
cryptic case of stolen identity. Madrid's inimitable Pedro Almodóvar gave his own seedy,
oddball take on Barcelona in
All About My Mother
(1999) - an Oscar winner for Best
Foreign Language Film - while in Tom Tykwer's
Perfume
(2006), the city's atmospheric
old town stood in for eighteenth-century Paris in the adaptation of Patrick Süskind's cult
novel. However, the two most arresting Barcelona movies to date show not a single col-
ourful landmark or famous sight, being set entirely within the confines of a Rambla de
Catalunyamansionblock.AllyougleanofthecityfromJaumeBalagueròandPacoPlaza's
zombie-virus-shockers
Rec
(2007)and
Rec2
(2009)isnevertojointheBarcelonafirebri-
gade, and never to take a hand-held camera (
rec
= record) into a locked-down apartment
building…
CINEMAS
Cinema Maldà
c/del Pi 5, Barri Gòtic 933 019 350,
cinemamalda.com
,
Liceu;
place for independent movies and festival winners, all in V.O.
FilmoTeca
Pl. Salvador Seguí 1-9, El Raval 935 671 070,
filmoteca.cat
; Liceu;
map
.
Run by the Catalan government, the FilmoTeca (now in its new location in El Raval) shows
three to five different films (often foreign language, and usually in V.O.) every day - the
programme changes every couple of weeks, and themed seasons, classic films, retrospect-
ives and obscure world cinema releases are its stock-in-trade. Tickets are just €4 per film, or
there's a €50 pass allowing entry to twenty films
.
Méliès Cinemes
c/de Villaroel 102, Esquerra de l'Eixample 934 510 051,
cinesme-
art-house), with three to five different films daily in its two salas. Discount night is Mon.
Verdi/Verdi Park
Verdi c/de Verdi 32, Gràcia; Verdi Park, c/de Torrijos 49, Gràcia 932
387 990,
cines-verdi.com
;
Fontana;
map
.
Gràcia's popular sister cinemas are in adja-
cent streets, showing independent, art-house and V.O. movies from around the world on nine
screens. Daily discount for first screening; reduced price Mon-Thurs last screening
.
