Theatre Awards Most Promising Newcomer, Andrew Garfield. Unlike Lurman’s radical rethinking, though, this simply gives rise to a curious juxtaposition of rapiers and scooters, as well as audience concern about just how lenient sixties Italy is likely to have been to the concept of marriage at 14.Īlso problematic is the interpretation of Romeo by last year’s M.E.N. Murray has opted for a setting of Italy in 1961, the era immortalised by Federico Fellini’s classic La Dolce Vita and the Italian neo-realist movement of the fifties and sixties. Over the centuries, the setting of the play has altered wildly as new directors tried to put their own stamp on the play – film director Baz Luhrman, for instance, famously set his film in an MTV-inspired Verona Beach, where guns flashed instead of swords.
But, as Jacob Murray’s new production, opening the autumn season at the Royal Exchange, shows, it’s actually a raw and passionate piece, full of danger, rage, blood and death.
This place was close to the director’s heart, and the chosen setting for his masterpiece “8 and ½”.SHAKESPEARE’S Romeo And Juliet has become a by-word for tragic, “star-crossed” romance. Meanwhile, Carlo Verdone, Francesca Neri and Sergio Rubini enjoyed a nocturnal dip in the thermal baths of Piazza delle Sorgenti, in the comedy film “Al Lupo al Lupo” (Wolf! Wolf!) (1992).įor those who want to experience the dreamlike atmosphere evoked by Federico Fellini, a visit to Chianciano Terme is an absolute must. Impressed by the evocative scenery of Bagno Vignoni, Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky used it as the setting for many scenes in “Nostalgia” (1983). There are numerous thermal springs in the unique landscape surrounding Siena. In 1999, the famous Tuscan director was inspired to shoot his autobiographical film “Tea with Mussolini” in this town. Francis, Zeffirelli transforms San Gimignano into the town of Assisi. Similarly, in “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” (1972), a feature film about the life of St. “Obsession” by Brian de Palma features shots of the frescoes in the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta, although in the film they are depicted as being in the Florentine church of San Miniato al Monte.
Although it has its own special charm, the town has often been used to represent other places. Perched on a hill and with its 14 towers etched against the skyline, San Gimignano is one of cinema’s favourite villages in the Siena area. If you go to Piazza Grande, you will soon recognise the setting for the moving embrace between Edward and Bella in “New Moon” (2009). Film-goers will remember the exciting chase over the roofs of the old city centre, and the daring escape during the Palio in Piazza del Campo.įans of the “Twilight Saga”, on the other hand, will definitely want to visit Montepulciano. In “Quantum of Solace” (2008), cinema’s most famous secret agent paid a visit to Siena. If you want to explore the film’s locations, the most significant places are the Villa di Geggiano in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the Castello di Brolio in Gaiole in Chianti and the Terme di Acqua Borra. On the other hand, the Sienese countryside formed the backdrop for “Io Ballo da Sola” (I Dance Alone) by Bernardo Bertolucci (1996). In 1968, Franco Zeffirelli used Palazzo Piccolomini, near Piazza Pio II, as the home of the Capulet family in his film adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet”. Minghella also used the central square in Pienza as the setting for the party to celebrate the end of the war. Indeed, the evocative Monastery of Sant’Anna in Camprena served as the focal point for the flashbacks which formed the basis of the narrative. And it was also here, between San Quirico d’Orcia and Pienza, that Ridley Scott shot the final sequence set in the Elysian Fields.Īnother award-winning film set in the Siena area was “The English Patient” (1996) by Anthony Minghella. The splendid landscape of the Val d’Orcia, with its rows of cypresses and fields of wheat, was used as the setting for the home of the main character. One of the most famous films shot in the Siena area was “Gladiator”, winner of 5 Oscars in 2001.
Lights, camera, action! When the Siena area becomes a film set Oscar-winning settings