Film industry location scouts go weak at the knees as they round another lovely bend in the Amalfi Coast and see the tall pale buildings of Positano nestle into the cliffs, rising like a stairway from the bright blue sea towards the citrus and olive groves. Yes, this town really is THAT photogenic. And even better: because the cliffs are so steep, the houses and villas poke their top windows over the roofs of the house in front, offering lots of opportunities to look over the bay to Capri and panoramic pans of the coast. Magenta flashes of bougainvillea dot the houses with color to complement the bright ocean.

To that image, movie makers will want to add girls in floaty florals (Positano is famous for Moda Positano fabric popular in bright fifties fashions), and wearing cloth and leather sandals, another home grown fashion specialty, as they wander down cobbled streets where no cars are allowed - the narrow roads won’t fit them. The types of girl who fall in love with poor fishermen’s sons, who spend their summer days having to ferry rich American visitors between the town's clear watered beaches in colourfully painted boats.

Art directors may want to use the defence towers of the Villa Romano - or show their hero and heroine catching glimpses of each other entering the cathedral of St Maria Assunta, with its beautiful dome; or meeting by the Grotto la Porta cave - before the scriptwriters let their love flower on day trips to Capri, Naples, Sorrento and Pompeii, and during long languid evenings spent listening to the outdoor concerts of Ravello.

To check out the pedigree of these cinematic suggestions look no further than the films which have been shot here, 'Only You' (1994) and 'Under the Tuscan Sun' (2003).

Written by  World Reviewer Staff.

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