As seen in the Movies...

Kat Mackintosh photo by flickr user nathanaels

For some film lovers sprinkling their conversations with quoted dialogue, buying action figures or dressing in the garb of their favourite character isn’t enough to prove their PASSION for the silver screen. Apart from a film being re-made and getting cast in it, the closest most people can get to reliving their favourite cinema moments is to visit the places (called locations in the business) where key scenes were shot.

The newly coined term for this is set-jetting, meaning: to visit or holiday in a place because you’re crazy about a film or book which was set there. Tourist boards and governments everywhere love seeing their city romanticised on the big screen - flying into New Zealand during the peak of Lord of the Rings mania the pilot welcomed you not just to New Zealand but to Middle Earth. But it isn’t just big obvious locations that people are interested in, small, poky out of the way places are also attractive to set-jetters; many women, the partners of Quadrophenia fans, have been swept off their feet in seemingly spur of the moment embraces in the same Brighton alley just off East Street, romantically located besides a bin store (sorry if you haven’t see the film and I just spoiled your special moment of passion.).

I’ll have what she’s having
Film inspiring travel isn’t a new phenomena, if you watch Roman Holiday you’ll probably feel the urge to leave your humdrum daily life and lose yourself in Rome, but recent movies like The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Da Vinci Code have held many imaginations hostage, and themed tours where all the work is done for set-jetters have been spawned. Real buffs will tell you the big thrill is in making your own discoveries, pouring over scenes fame by frame (film is shot traditionally at 25 frames per second) and arguing with like minded enthusiasts in online forums about where each scene was shot.

Use the Force
The first key step is to decide which film or scenes you want to venerate. Depending on your collection this could take a while, but the good thing about this kind of travel is that you may not have to travel to far to find your first location. You can even start inversely by looking for local locations which appear in less well known films. To help you get started a 2007 poll voted Big Ben’s Clock Tower as the most iconic British film location for the scene in The 39 Steps where the main character, Richard Hannay, hangs precariously from the clock face, and so many people want to visit Harry Potter’s Platform 9 ¾ that they’ve put a sign in and there is a good chance you’ll see a kid run into a wall. My personal favourite would have to be Harry Lime’s Ferris Wheel from the Third Man, I can help but love a gritty war time spy drama and the reason I first went to Vienna was because I thought it was gracefully minimalist yet beautiful in the film - it even looks beautiful sans colour.

Top Film Locations to visit » Locations from some of my favourite films

	Harry Lime's Ferris Wheel (The Third Man) Film Locations in Vienna, Austria The Third Man (Dir: Carol Reed, 1949). Prater Amusement Park, Prater, Vienna, Austria . This was one of the first film locations to warrant a pilgrimage. War ravaged Vienna is so well cast in this film that many reviewers have said the city is like another character - so I won’t say that. I will say that the shadowy Vienna of the film with it’s strange silences opposing it’s loud echoes, shot from drunken angles and in stark black and white lighting is as priceless to the suspense and mystery of the film as the narrative or the acting. The most iconic location is the ferris wheel at Prater Amusement Park where Harry Lime delivers the monologue about the Swiss and their cuckoo clocks: “in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love. They had five hundred years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” While following Harry Lime’s footprints through Vienna you should also visit the cemetery where Harry was supposedly buried, the Zentral-Friedhof, Simmeringen Hauptstrasse, there you can stop off and visit the graves of Beethoven, Schubert and Strauss. And the Hotel Sacher Wien, Philharmonikerstrasse 4, where British Intelligence put Holly Martins up after he hears of Harry’s death. The hotel looks pretty much as it does on film, but it’s now very very pricey. The Harry Lime trail is so popular now that you can actually join a walking tour and visit all the locations used. This would usually defeat the purpose of discovery for me but in this case it allows you into the famous sewer (if you want to spend your holiday in Vienna traipsing round a sewer) so it was worth it. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user tttaaaooo
	Amelie's Cafe Film Locations in Paris, France Amelie (Dir: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001). Café des Deux Moulins, 15 Rue Lepic, Rue Cauchois, Montmartre, Paris, France This is a great film and Paris is a unique place to visit, especially the film’s director’s manor, Montmartre, so I was very disappointed to hear that most of the internal locations were shot in a German studio. The externals are all real though, and you can go to the Café des Deux Moulins where Amelie works and have a cognac and a crème brulee , it just doesn’t look how you want it to look. The metro station Amelie escorts the blind man from is Lamarch-Caulaincourt, you’ll know it for the double flights of staris, and the carousel from where Ameile leaves a trail for Nino is located at Place St. Pierre near the Basilica of Sacre-Cour. To help you get into the feel of things bring your orange tinted lenses and positive attitude. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user Bryce Edwards
	Roman Holiday Apartment Film Locations in Rome, Italy Roman Holiday (Dir: William Wyler, 1953). Via Margutta 51, Rome, Lazio, Italy Most of the locations in ‘Roman Holiday’ are obvious, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain and the streets of the city itself. The three locations really worth visiting as ‘Roman Holiday’ locations are Joe Bradley’s bohemian apartment, Via Margutta 51, the Mouth of Truth Fountain where Bradley pretends his hand has been bitten off by the big carved stone face, which is part of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (the fountain is translated to Bocca della Verita) and the Palazzo Brancaccio which is where a lot of the scenes at the beginning of the film before Ann runs away are shot. More is made of the Mouth of Truth fountain in the film than it really is, and locals may mot be sure what you’re talking about, but if you make it to the church someone will help you out. I was told it’s more like a roof drain cover than a fountain, bit it’s still a unique and memorable prop. Bradley’s apartment building is still there, though not quite as romantic as I remembered it in black and white (the film was actually shot in black and white so as not to be upstages by the city!). I’m reliably told (after touring Rome.) that Fellini lived on the same street as Bradley’s apartment. Obviously hire a scooter and retrace the film's Roman tour properly, but bear in mind that not all the routes will be up to the standards of continuity purists. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user permanently scatterbrained
	Tiffany & Co. for alfresco breakfasts Film Locations in New York, United States Breakfast at Tiffany's (Dir: Blake Edwards, 1961). Tiffany & Co., 727 Fifth Ave., Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Strangely, in Truman Capote’s novel, Holly Golightly says she calms down by visiting Tiffany & Co. on 57th Street, which is where I went looking for the film location from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany‘s‘, only to find that the most common name for Holly's Tiffany's is Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue, which is a far grander name that I’m sure Holly would have much preferred (but a long way from where I started looking.). It is actually a calming experience inside as long as you don’t get too paranoid about people watching you thinking you can’t afford to buy anything… The external shots of Holly’s apartment building were filmed at 169 East 71st St., Manhattan, it’s a private residence so you can’t go in, but there’s nothing to see, all the internal apartment scenes were filmed in the studio (is that why New York apartments in films always seem so big?). Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user EVIE1013
	Bridget Jones' Apartment (Bridget Jones' Diary) Film Locations in London, United Kingdom Bridget Jones’ Diary (Dir: Sharon Maguire, 2001). Above ‘The Globe’ pub, 8 Bedale St, Borough Market, London, UK. Mysteriously enough, characters in films who are single, with what you would imagine to be a modest incomes still manage to live in fantastic sized and situated apartments, and Bridget Jones has one of the best, above the Globe pub in Borough Markets, right near London Bridge Station. The shops in the area (mostly trendy bars and cafes) were transformed into Bridget’s street including the Greek restaurant Daniel and Mr Darcy fight through the window of. The restaurant locations where Bridget meets her friends are Momo’s 25-27 Heddon St. and the Restaurant at the Tate Modern, Bankside. The Institute of Contemporary Arts was used to shoot the launch of the novel Kafka’s Motorbike and Bridget and Daniel took their mini break at Stoke Park Club, Buckinghamshire. Though Momo’s is expensive it’s not out of the question and the Tate Modern restaurant is a lot less swankier than the set dresses make it look - so if you’re looking to impress a first date who’s about the right age it could be a good option… If you’re going to visit Bridget go on Friday or Saturday for the fresh produce markets. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user Glen Bowman
	Pricilla's Journey Film Locations in Northern Territory, Australia The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Dir: Stephan Elliot, 1994) Lasseters Hotel Casino, Barrett Drive, Alice Springs This film could easily be an advert for Australia. It covers some of the countries best landscape on a proper road trip from cosmopolitan Sydney to Alice Springs. I wasn’t originally going to include it because all the locations are named, mining towns, Coober Pedy (which I’m told translates to ‘white man down a hole’?) and Broken Hill are just as they appear in the film, as is the gay area of Sydney (Darlinghurst) and of course Alice Springs and Kings Canyon where a triumphant Bernadette performs her overture (and the famous line, ‘That’s just what this country needs, a cock in a frock on a rock’ is delivered.). But I wanted to add it to my list of the best locations because it’s such a great town and country juxtaposition that you almost need to check for yourself if the locations are really as rough as they seem… And they are. Broken Hill and Coober Pedy especially are amazing places to visit. The endless red desert I found I was almost expecting but that there would be towns of people really living out here was a bit of an eye opener. There is literally nothing for miles and miles around and there they are with their pub and cars covered in red dust, flat, single storey weatherboard houses, covered in red dust, barely there tarmac and hard stubbie (that’s beer) drinkers in stubbies (that’s shorts). I didn’t stay in Lasseters but I did have a drink in the bar and it’s not as backward as it looks in the film, lots of tourists know about it from the film and they now have a drag act once a month. The best trivia about Pricilla is that in a lot of the scenes filmed while the bus is moving, crew members are hiding under the beds to stay out of shot. There is also rumour that the original script called for the Kings Canyon scene to be shot on Ayers Rock but the tribal owners wouldn’t have it, hence the cock in a frock on a rock line. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user geoff Heaton
	Lucy's Room without a View Film Locations in Florence, Italy Room with a View (Dir: James Ivory, 1986). Hotel degli Orafi, Lungarno degli Archibusieri 4, Florence, Italy. Lucy’s room without a view beside Florence’s Arno River was in the Pensione Bertolini which closed in the 1990’s to be renovated and reopened as the Hotel degli Orafi. The knife fight scene was shot in the Piazza della Signorina, which obviously looks identical, seeing as it’s playing itself in the film, and the extras try to revive the victim of the knife fight in the nearby Neptune Fountain. If you’ve been to the National Gallery in London you may recognise it as the spot where Cecil in all his (and Daniel Day Lewis’) grandness invites the family to visit. Cecil’s own London home is probably the prize for location visitors, the house is called the Linley Sambourne House, 18 Stafford Terrace W8, London and is a specially preserved late Victorian property used in lots of films and open to the public. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user echiner1
	The English Patient's Villa Film Locations in Tuscany, Italy The English Patient (Dir: Anthony Minghella, 1996) Pienza, Tuscany, Italy I have included ‘The English Patient’ because not only does it use expansively beautiful and truly eloquent locations, it would have been a particularly tricky film to chose locations for because the book (by Michael Ondaatje) is so descriptive and photo realistic. I felt nervous about seeing the film because I had such a firm idea of what the villa, especially, but other locations as well, would look like. Though set in Italy and Egypt, Tunisia is shot for Egypt. De Almay’s (Ralph Fiennes) archaeological dig is near Onk Jemal, which I haven’t visited, but apparently you can go there on a four wheel drive tour. For me, the most important locations, the villa and nearby village were filmed in Tuscany (so adaptation purists will be happy.) in and around the town of Pienza, which is a quiet, rural and picturesque place to visit, the largest nearby town is Siena. I can’t give a precise address for the villa, we got directions from one of the local cafes, but it’s about 15mins out of town. Some of the interior scenes were filmed at a studio and we couldn't go inside the villa so I'm not sure which ones, possibly the majority. The church Kip takes Hana to is the Church of San Francesco in Arezzo. The chapel with it’s painted roof had just been restored when I visited, but it originally dates from the 13th Century. These places aren’t at the top of the Tuscan tourists list, so you can expect, what I would call, a more authentic experience with less souvenir stands and people standing in front of things taking photos. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user rayced
	Edgar Wight’s Sandford (Hot Fuzz) Film Locations in West Country, United Kingdom Hot Fuzz (Dir: Edgar Wright, 2007) Edgar Wright could pretty much be my friend. If I was him I would make exactly the same kinds of film referencing my own favourites in a similar homage-o-fest. Wright grew up in Wells and uses it as “Sandford” in “Hot Fuzz”. It’s all about details with these guys - Sandford is the name of the town used in police training manuals. It’s all Wells and the surrounds - drive into the centre, or as they call it locally, The Market Square, and you’re on the spot for the final showdown, Wells local, “The Crown” becomes the Sandford pub and the local Somerfield is the local Somerfield etc. To keep it looking small town they had to take out Wells Cathedral, but apart from that it is all as is. What I want know is do they really have a miniature village? I’m thinking no but if they do I will be so impressed. This is on my list of film pilgrimages for this year so I’ll be able to give, more info on a trip to Sandford after I visit… The police training scenes were filmed at the Hendon Police Training College, NW4. This stuff is all clearly lined out in the credits so it doesn’t take a genius to work out the locations, but I wanted to include it because I love the film and I’d love for someone else to review it after already having been there - or even better if they live there…so come on…it’s really near Glastonbury if that helps anyone out? Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user Andrew*
	Deckard's Apartment (Blade Runner) Film Locations in Los Angeles, United States Bladerunner (Dir: Ridley Scott, 1982) Ennis House 2655 Glendower Ave., Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, USA. The Ennis House (also known as the Ennis-Brown House) is an wholly unique piece of architecture, built entirely out of square, ornately carved concrete blocks, and though it was built in 1923, it fits perfectly into Deckard’s strange, sordid art deco styled future. It’s design and carvings are based on that of an ancient South American temple and it‘s internal spaces are wide, open plan and angular, with several internal balconies. The house is a famous place in it own right, but has been used over and over again as both an internal and external location. In Blade Runner, Deckard drives up to the house so you get a glimpse of the outside (but it’s dark and you might be distracted by his futuristic car), then some of the internal apartment shots are location and some are in a studio where a portion of the house was rebuilt, complete with cast patterned concrete tiles. Incidentally you can buy the faux concrete block tiles and re-create your own Blade Runner set… The films closing scenes at J.F. Sebastian’s house were shot in another iconic building, the Bradbury Building, 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles (which was also used in the film Chinatown.). Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user jplouis
	Lost in Translation Hotel Film Locations in Tokyo, Japan Lost in Translation (Dir: Sofia Coppola, 2003) Park Hyatt Tokyo, 3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan The smooth lines and warm lighting of the hotel that serves as Bob and Charlotte’s Tokyo Island are actually the smooth lines and warm lighting of the Park Hyatt Tokyo. All the internal shots were shot here as are most of the views, the pool and the lounge and bars. Everything in elegant and stylish, soft earthy colours, subdued lighting and unassuming perfection. If you can afford to stay here do - if not you can have a ‘Sofia’ cocktail in the bar. Sofia Coppola wrote this film will Bill Murray in mind and says that if he hadn't wanted to do it she wouldn't have made the film. Bill Murray says it's his favourite film that he appears in. Francis Ford Coppola made a Suntory whisky advert with Akira Kurosawa in the 70's. Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user SolGrundy
	Gosford Park Film Locations in London, United Kingdom (Dir: Robert Altman, 2001) In this brilliant upstairs/ downstairs English country murder the action takes place pretty much in one manor house a la parlour room theatre. Two main houses were used for filming with the majority of the downstairs scenes being shot on soundstages at Shepperton. Syon House, Syon Park was used for the upstairs bedrooms and Wrotham Park, Barnet for the exteriors and the staircase entry hall and dining and drawing rooms which come off it. Syon House is near London’s Kew Gardens and is opened to the public (though still the personal residence of the Duke of Northumberland.) and Wrotham Park isn’t open to the public. For those of you treating my recommendations like a little column you may like to hear a little story about the production. It’s common knowledge that Altman used multiple cameras to get the actors to play more naturally, but keeping to the realism, the jewellery worn above stairs was the real deal as well and had to be escorted around by armed guards - crazy, and none of the servants are supposedly wearing any make up (don’t know how true that one is…). Review by Film Fan Photo by flickr user p_c_w

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