‘Uncharted’ arrives in cinemas, the film in which the city is the main setting for the adventures of one of the actors of the moment
The actor, who embodied the last Spiderman and who is a declared Barça fan, describes the Catalan capital in this way: “My house outside my house”
This is not a film review, for that there are already professionals like Quim Casas. It is simply the finding that Not everything is bad for Barcelona, despite the fact that so many, from soccer players to PSOE ministers, see the Catalan capital in decline. And not just any decadence: they say it is worse than Madrid, and that hurts especially in the eternal classic among cities.
The people of Barcelona were worried, stopped on some corner looking at their shoes while they thought what they had done wrong, or if all this is only the fault of the independence movement, or of Ada Colauor of both, when Tom Holland came with his smile, his actor’s halo of the moment, with the image of being the boyfriend of Zendaya, the actress of the moment. He arrived with ‘Uncharted’, a film shot largely in Barcelona in which the protagonists look for a treasure. The city has found its own in Holland itself.
Holland and the Mobile
And with all this, yes, a joy is unleashed that some will judge provincial, but it is that it painted that the city fell to the third division, and the support of the last Spider-Man is comforting. Not as much as the realization that the Mobile World Congress hasn’t gone away yet, but it’s still an accolade.
Yes, Holland is also kind to Madrid, and he does not disdain a nod to Andorra when exhibiting his friendship with the ‘youtuber’ El Rubius. But right now he is the most Barcelonan famous ‘Barcelonaian’ of those who are not Barcelonans that we have at hand.
In view of all of the above, this newspaper went this Friday to a well-known room to attend the first commercial session of Holland’s new film, ‘Uncharted’, which is the basis of this provincial chronicle, because the film is full of city scenes. The issue was to see how the public experienced that sharing their locality in images that the whole world will see. There was no crowd, but there was quite a public, most of them young, you recognize them because they speak loudly, and some older ones, appreciable because they look for their seat with the mobile flashlight on.
murmurs and applause
At the end, there was some applause. Y a moderate murmur was heard when at the beginning, in the initial scenes shot in New York, the first date to Barcelona appears, to a cross carved in the city, already the Moncada family, presumed financier in this fiction of the expedition of Fernando de Magallanes and Juan Sebastián Elcano.
For the most part, the Barcelona scenes of ‘Uncharted’ take place in the Gòtic, which is a film in itself, since the neighborhood was partially rebuilt like a movie set by people who thought it was prettier that way, even if it turned out to be somewhat falsified. The difference with the movies is that the stage has remained and in recent decades it has been a source of amazement for so many visitors who are ignorant of the truth.
Holland spent this week in the Catalan capital on the occasion of the premiere of ‘Uncharted’ and left a message on Instagram to make us cry. Next to a photo of him in the city, wrote: “My home away from home. Força Barça”. Take it, footballer! Here, PSOE minister! It is true that a parakeet could now feel partially hurt or only partially happy about Holland’s devotion to Barcelona, but it is time to join forces to combat the bad image.
The Moncadas read THE NEWSPAPER
The initial half of ‘Uncharted’ runs through Barcelona, largely Ciutat Vella, the church of Santa Maria del Pi, decisive in the plot, and Santa Maria del Mar, the Plaza de Sant Felip Neri, el Born. The Sagrada Família also appears, it would seem that before it was crowned with the star. To begin with, there is a chase a few hundred meters above the Montjuïc fountain, on the roof of the Queen Victòria Eugènia pavilion.
The Moncada family, which, if it existed, would surely be financing some mayor for the 2023 elections, deserves a separate paragraph. The son appears, a role played by Antonio Banderas, and the father, played by Manuel de Blas. It is striking where they have the office: in the Born, above the discovered ruins. Who might not like recreation would be former director of the Born Center Cultural that turned the ruins into a museum, Quim Torra, later president of the Generalitat. Because the film exhibits the Barcelona brand, and the Spanish context, but Catalonia does not exist in it.
Passing a second from the provincial chronicle to the corporate hype, it is worth mentioning that during one of the scenes in the Born office, father and son pass a copy of EL PERIÓDICO.
Eight million for the city
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It is not easy to predict, but it would not be surprising if, if it were to be a worldwide success, the film would end up bringing more tourists to Barcelona. It is something that perhaps the Colau government would not have seen favorably in 2015, when it began its journey. But now, after the years and with the pandemic, nothing is left on the plate.
Far from showing resentment, the city council has highlighted the places where scenes of ‘Uncharted’ were filmed and has offered the data of how much the city has entered for the filming: eight million euros. In short, it is not about making any Madrilenian a complex, but here we have beach and Tom Holland.