Of course, soon after I posted yesterday's blog about favourite movies set in Venice, I began to think of other movies with some Venetian content which I should have mentioned in my original post. I've also had some great reminders from my fellow bloggers!
Kim had suggested Bread and Tulips (2000) which I had almost forgotten! And I had really enjoyed this movie, for the kindness the heroine was shown by strangers (especially in contrast to her nasty, ungrateful family!) and for the dream of running away to rebuild one's life.
I would love to run away, except I know full well that I would end up dragging all my belongs with me and so, it would be less "running away" and more "schlepping away" and at a very slowed and laboured pace....
Right. Back to film and Venice.
Girasoli reminded me of the 2003 remake of The Italian Job, with Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron, which at least opens with a great robbery in Venice. Fantastic scenery, including Donald Sutherland (again), for the opening shots.
Speaking of great scenery, who can forget Daniel Craig in the 2006 thriller Casino Royale, which ends in Venice, once more with crime and the collapse of a beautiful palazzo. Venice wasn't really a key part of the movie, but it still features in a few great scenes.
And Annie remembered Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You. D'oh! How could I forget? I loved that movie and I actually bought the DVD because the music was so fantastic (altho not all the actors can sing -- Goldie Hawn was a happy exception!) I also loved the scenery, both in New York (how Allen loves New York and its privileged families) and the many great Venice scenes, where he falls in love with Julia Robert's character, an art historian studying the Tintorettos at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco.
I have often heard that the 1973 thriller Don't Look Now, with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland (again!) is great thriller, set entirely in Venice, so I'll have to put that on my Ziplist and take a look.
It's kind of curious, though, that almost all of these movies are, of course, English-language films. I'm a lightweight, it seems, on Italian productions, and especially in terms of movies set in Venice. I'll have to do more research and start looking for Italian films set in the Veneto.
Before doing that, however, I must watch The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978, documenting peasant life in Lombardy) I got the DVD through Zip, and haven't yet sat down to begin the film. It's 3-plus hours long, so that has been a bit daunting!
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Favourite movies set in Venice, Part 2
This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on February 12, 2008 9:17 PM.
The previous post in this blog was Favourite movies set in Venice.
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Comments (7)
"Italian for beginners" is a very sweet Danish movie that is worth watching - parts of it are set in Venice.
Posted by Chiocciola | February 12, 2008 10:47 PM
Posted on February 12, 2008 22:47
I saw a movie on TV (and I'm blanking on the name of it) but it was Diane Lane when she was a teenager and Sir Lawrence Olivier and they all ended up in Venice. Ring any bells? I remember a gondola ride under the Bridge of Sighs.
And again, I'm blanking but one of the Indiana Jones movies ended up at the church of San Barnaba?
Posted by Annie | February 13, 2008 6:53 PM
Posted on February 13, 2008 18:53
Chiocciola, you're so right! How could I have forgotten Italian for Beginners. It really was sweet, when the two sisters found each other. And the one who worked in the bakery was so unfortunate!
Annie, I googled the Diane Lane movie set in Venice, 1979, A Little Romance. Apparently it was her debut...I think I'll have to Zip it, and take a look! And I remember seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade but I don't even remember scenes that were shot in Venice --however, Google says you're absolutely right, there is a scene at San Barnaba! I'll have to look more closely at the movie -- I recently put the entire Indiana Jones collection in my Ziplist (I need some adventure this winter!)
Posted by Sandra | February 13, 2008 9:07 PM
Posted on February 13, 2008 21:07
With a user name like mine, how could I not mention Joseph Losey's "Don Giovanni"? It's a film version of the opera, with Ruggero Raimondi in the title role and Kiri Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira.
Not much (if any) of it is set in Venice itself, but there are lovely shots of La Malcontenta and the Villa Rotonda in Vicenza.
Posted by Zerlina | February 13, 2008 9:48 PM
Posted on February 13, 2008 21:48
Thanks for the suggestion, Zerlina, I've just put that film version at the top of my Ziplist! I love that opera; I saw a pretty good version here in Ottawa late last year.
Posted by Sandra | February 14, 2008 9:16 PM
Posted on February 14, 2008 21:16
Hmm...wow I think you covered many of the movies I can think of - though wasn't there a James Bond movie that started off in Venice, in Piazza San Marco? Oh and there was a made for TV movie based upon a Judith Michael book that had scenes shot in Venice.
Hmm...could that be another post - favorite books set in Venice?
Posted by Kim | February 15, 2008 1:18 PM
Posted on February 15, 2008 13:18
Hallo to everybody...
I am Mary and I start to red your blog just today.
Regarding venetian sets there are two grat movies that are in my heart: Dead in Venice by Luchino Visconti and overall Once upon a time in America by Sergio Leone that was entirely made in Venice. The hotel in which De Niro dance with his woman is Grand Hotel Excelsior in Venice-Lido!!!!
Posted by mary | May 29, 2008 12:32 PM
Posted on May 29, 2008 12:32