Photo © Benson Kua

Florence and its films: the city as an open-air set

A Florentine itinerary in great cinema

In over a century of cinema, Florence has been used by countless directors as a film set exalting the richly evocative exteriors and interiors, precisely because of its architectural and old-world charm, on the city streets and in the piazzas and palaces that tell of an illustrious and evocative past, capable of arousing unique emotions in the viewer.

Strolling along the streets of the historic center, any good cinephile will be able to recognize the settings of some of the most beautiful scenes that the 7ᵗʰ art has given us.

John Malcovich and Nicole Kidman in “The Portrait of a Lady”

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore was chosen by Jane Campion for one of the most evocative and ambiguous scenes in the film “The Portrait of a Lady” (1996), based on the novel by Henry James, starring John Malcovich and Nicole Kidman, in the scene where the enigmatic adventurer Gilbert Osmond seduces the young Isabel Archer.

Both Roberto Rossellini for “Paisan” (1946) and William Dieterle for “September Affair” (1950) filmed in Piazza Duomo.

Leonardo Pieraccioni, Florentine by birth, has also set most of his films in his city, most notably “The Graduates,” a bittersweet comedy about a group of young students that is somewhat reminiscent of Monicelli’s “My Friends”.

A scene from “A Room with a View”

Another famous film shot in Florence is James Yvory’s “A Room with a View” (1985), which stars two young, love-struck English characters, played by Helena Bonam Carter and Julian Sands. The two protagonists visit the Tuscan capital, stay in the historic Pensione Bertolini and visit Piazza della Signoria, the Lungarno and the church of Santa Croce.

Even Hannibal Lecter, in the second installment of the saga filmed by Ridley Scott (2001) chooses Florence as his favorite home. We see him strolling through Piazza Santissima Annunziata in an unusually Gothic Florence.

“My Friends” by Mario Monicelli - Credit: Mario Monicelli

Finally, it is impossible not to mention Mario Monicelli’s “My Friends” shot in the historic San Giovanni district, while the splendid San Miniato al Monte Basilica was chosen for two almost antithetical films: “The Elective Affinities” by brothers Vittorio and Paolo Taviani, based on Goethe’s masterpiece, and Brian de Palma’s “Obsession,” a tacit remake of Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.”

Florence and its films: the city as an open-air set

A Florentine itinerary in great cinema

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