Where it was filmed 'Before the Revolution'

I thought I was living the years of revolution, but instead I was living the years before the revolution because it is always before the revolution when you’re like me.

Fabrizio (Francesco Barilli)

The city of Parma has a starring role in Before the Revolution, a film where the names and tales of the characters recall those of Stendhal’s 1839 novel The Charterhouse of Parma. We meet Fabrizio (Francesco Barilli) immediately, at the entrance to the city’s Cathedral where he intends to see Clelia, the long-time fiancé he does not want to marry, for the last time. Just a few steps away from the Cathedral and the octagonal Baptistery, is his residence, the Palazzo della Rosa Prati. A few minutes’ walk from piazza Duomo is piazza Garibaldi, the civic heart of the city, where the Governors Palace is often seen with its Baroque tower and central sundial.
Fabrizio becomes closer to his young aunt Gina (Giovanna Asti), recently arrived from Milan, after the death of a dear friend to drowning in the river Po. An intense love story begins which features the couple walking in the city centre and near the evocative Rocca Sanvitale in Fontanellato where they experiment with the camera ottica which allows them to observe passers-by on the street with a system of mirrors.

Fabrizio spends time at the home of his Marxist friend Cesare in via Vittime Civili di Guerra (Villetta neighbourhood), where they often discuss politics. When the short love story between aunt and nephew comes to an end, Cesare walks her to the station from where she will return to Milan, passing by piazza della Pilotta. And again, Cesare, the day after the Festa dell’Unità held in the Ducal Park, confides his anguish in Fabrizio about his failed ideals, past loves and disappointed expectations.

There follows a long sequence where the change in Fabrizio is seen: inside the Teatro Regio in via Garibaldi during a performance of Verdi’s Macbeth. In the following scene, Fabrizio marries Clelia as his parents wish, at the Monastery of St. John the Evangelist in piazzale San Giovanni.