'El 47' becomes the most-watched Catalan film in the last 40 years

When opinion is divided between those who liked Demi Moore's The Substance and those who didn't, a story of Barcelona's forgotten neighborhoods and the struggle of its residents continues to break records. El 47 has become the most-watched Catalan-language film in the last 40 years, after filling movie theaters with almost 458,000 viewers and grossing over 2.9 million euros. The film, written and directed by Marcel Barrena and starring Eduard Fernández, is still in theaters two months after its premiere.

After the cinematic fervor always experienced with the Cinema Party, held last week, El 47 has surpassed the viewership of other star titles of Catalan cinema such as Pa Negre (2010) by the late Agustí Villaronga and Alcarràs (2022) by Carla Simón, who is already immersed in the filming of the third title about her family biography. A race in which it competed with Casa en Flames by Dani de la Orden, also released this year.

To find a Catalan title seen by more viewers, one has to go back to 1982. It was then that Francesc Beatriu's La Plaza del Diamante managed to reach almost 504,000 viewers, according to data from the Ministry of Culture's Cinema Yearbook.

Produced by The Mediapro Studio and distributed by A Contracorriente Films, El 47 narrates the determination of TMB bus driver Manolo Vital, a resident of Torre Baró who was fed up with his neighborhood having no public transport. It is the story of the many Barcelonans forgotten for years by a city that turned its back on all those citizens who had emigrated from other towns in Spain and had had to subsist as best they could, conquering rights that were denied to them. With a luxury cast, completed by names such as Clara Segura, Carlos Cuevas, and David Verdaguer, for now, El 47 is nominated for the Forqué Awards in the Best Fiction Feature Film category, as well as for the Cinema and Education in Values Award.