Downtown hotels to visit the movie locations shot in Barcelona 

A Spanish actor hot in Hollywood and wrapped up in the exclusive American film scene used to make headlines.

Today, Barcelona is at center-stage in the movie market, for both world-renown actors as well as prestigious directors of international prestige. Proof of that is the great many films that have used the city of Barcelona for a set.
 
The first film to show the city was Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger (1975), starring Jack Nicholson and the wonderful Maria Schneider. The movie catches glimpses of the streetcars of the period, as well as the terrace of la Pedrera, with its chimneys and 'characteristic' shapes, quite different from how it is today.
 
The film that put Barcelona in style was the 7th-art film All About My Mother (1999), directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It marked the first time the director filmed in Barcelona, capturing the city's natural essence. The film stars Penelope Cruz and Cecilia Roth.

After that, the film industry began to look much more often to Barcelona as a film set.
 
Previously, and far removed from the current cine-mania, Uncovered (1994), from Director Jim McBride, was filmed in Barcelona. A cinematic adaptation of the novel of the same name by Author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, the movie stars Kate Beckinsale, and artfully features the architecture in the Ciudad Condal, particularly, that of Gaudí.

Auberge Espagnole (2002), from director Cédric Klapisch, is one of the most popular French movies of recent years, particularly among young audiences. Filmed in Paris and Barcelona, it tells the story of a French exchange student in the Erasmus Program, played by Romain Duris, and marvelously captures the Rambla, Parc Güell, the Sagrada Familia, the beaches of Barcelona, and other sites of this youthful, open-minded, and dynamic city.

Another recent filming was that of The Machinist (2004), directed by Brad Anderson and with world-renowned film stars including Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and the Spanish Atiana Sánchez Gijón. The film features gorgeous sets from the city of Barcelona, including exterior shots of the Port and the Tibidabo Amusement Park.
 
In 2005, Fragile, from Spanish Director Jaume Balagueró, presented a horror story filmed in Barcelona and set in the Mercy Falls Children's Hospital. The film features popular TV star Calista Flockhart and other famous actors, among them, Richard Roxburgh and Elena Anaya.

But Barcelona had to wait until just last year to serve as the set for a major, big-budget Hollywood motion picture-- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), a cinematic adaptation of the best-seller of the same name by German author Patrick Süskind. Directed by Tom Tykwer and adapted by screenwriter Andrew Birkin, the film stars actors Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman.

The filming of The Perfume went on in rather emblematic parts of the city, particularly featuring the Barrio Gótico and el Pueblo Español (central plaza). Set in the 18th century, the film involved the participation of about 5 thousand extras, while more complex scenes were choreographed by Fura dels Baus Theatre Co.

And we can’t forget the restored and remastered Manuale d’amore 2 (2006), from Italian director Giovanni Veronesi. This highly anticipated sequel takes us to Barcelona and Rome, making an interesting comparative study of Spain and Italy, and stars the wonderful Monica Bellucci and Elsa Pataky.
The movie dazzles audiences with its beautiful shots of the city of Barcelona, illuminated by the Sagrada Familia, the Gothic Neighborhood, the Olympic Port, and the beaches.

Another excellent, though perhaps less well-known, movie filmed in Barcelona, is Salvador (2006), based on the life of anarchist Salvador Puig Antich. Director Manuel Huerga artfully portrays the Gothic neighborhood, the University, Modelo prison and the Montjuïc cemetery in a time period where freedom was fought for at all costs.

But in the summer of 2007, the foremost movie-making event in the city was the work of Woody Allen, who paid tribute to Barcelona in his film Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Featuring the internationally-beloved stars Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, the film premiered in August 2008, and received great acclaim from American audiences.

Woody Allen, together with Director of Photography Javier Aguirressarobe, sought out the best locations in the city to use in the film. Among the spots Woody most traversed were: the Columbus monument, the Maremagnum commercial center, the Maritime Club, the Barceloneta neighborhood, Pla de Palau, the Sagrada Familia, the striking Santa María del Mar church, Montcada Street, the Picasso Museum, Las Ramblas, and the old city altogether.

Shot between Tokyo and Barcelona, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009), from director Isabel Coixet was filmed partly in Plaça Rius i Taulet, in the neighborhood of Gràcia, and the La Llibertat marketplace.

Oscar winner Javier Bardem struggle to maintain and fix the lives of his two children in Barcelona, while having to deal with his bipolar wife before dying of terminal cancer in Biutiful (2010), the drama of Spanish-Mexican production by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Barcelona… Action!