NO PASSPORT REQUIRED!
It’s off-limits for now but these classic movies will bring sunny Italy into your home
FEEL like a much-needed fix of Italian sunshine, f ood and scenery? Well, there’s one way around the current travel restrictions: watch a film set in Italy. For escapism without leaving the front door, here are our favourites . . .
TUSCAN STAR
UNDER The Tuscan Sun is based on the true story of American Frances Mayes who travelled to Italy in search of happiness after her divorce and ends up settling in the hill town of Cortona in Tuscany. Positano, on the Amalfi Coast, steals the show.
O VERONA!
LETTERS To Juliet is a lighthearted romance set in Verona and Tuscany. Casa Giulietta, home of Juliet’s balcony, is included, but the best scenes are against the backdrop of beautiful Tuscan countryside. Montalcino, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Siena all feature, and the hotel is Borgo Scopeto Relais, with Siena views ( borgoscopetorelais.it).
007 DOES ITALY
BEGINNING with a car chase around Lake Garda, Quantum Of Solace showcases some wonderful Italian spots. Strada della Forra (Road of the Gorges) is a narrow, winding road through the charmi ng villages of Malcesine and Limone. The second half of the chase is set in Carrara in Tuscany. There are also scenes in Siena, where Bond i s chased across rooftops, and Orbetello, where 007 visits the ancient watch tower of Torre di Talamonaccio.
MINI HEAVEN
THE Italian Job shows off Turin brilliantly, with the famous Mini chase taking in a drive down the baroque staircase in the Palazzo Madama and ending on the legendary Fiat factory rooftop racing track in Lingotto. Lots of Alpine shots of the Val d’Aosta, too.
AREZZO ON SCREEN
THE first part of the awardwinning Life Is Beautiful is set in Arezzo in Tuscany and the locals are proud of the fact. There are numerous signs dotted around the town explaining each location. Other settings in the film include Montevarchi and Cortona.
ISLAND ESCAPE
BASED on true events, Il Postino tells the story of a shy postman who becomes friends with exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda on a remote Italian island. It was shot on Procida in the Bay of Naples and the Aeolian island of Salina.
ACTION! ALPS
I AM Love is a mesmerising film about a wife t hrowing of f the shackles of her unhappy m marriage. There are g great scenes in Milan, b but the sequences in the glorious Liguri rian Alps are the ones to watch.
GO G WITH THE FLO
R ROOM With A View is i ni t i al l y s et in be beautiful Renaissance Fl Florence. It’s about a yo young woman who falls fo for s o meone her pa parents don’t approve of. f You can stay in the room where it was filmed in Hotel degli Orafi ( hoteldegliorafi.it).
COMEDY CLASSIC
JACK LEMMON and Juliet Mills star in Avanti!, a comedy set on the rugged island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples. Many scenes were shot at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Terme ( excelsiorischia.it).
WHEN IN ROME
COMEDY Come September stars Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigi da. Set i n Rome, Milan and Portofino, its locations will fill any Italophile with joy.