ePrivacy and GPDR Cookie Consent management by TermsFeed Privacy Generator The Hand of God | The locations of the movie on Italy for Movies
Cineturismo, location, cinema, turismo, film tourism, movie tour, Paolo Sorrentino, Sorrentino, È stata la mano di dio, mano di dio, Hand of God, Maradona, Stadio San Paolo, Diego, Mondiale, Argentina, gol di mano, Napoli, Naples, Stromboli, Eolie, costiera Amalfitana, Conca dei Marini, grotta dello smeraldo, Cetara, Roccaraso

The Hand of God

Genre

Film drama

Cast

Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi, Biagio Manna, Ciro Capano, Enzo Decaro, Lino Musella, Sofya Gershevich, Monica Nappo, Cristiana Dell’Anna

Directed by

Paolo Sorrentino

The Hand of God

Genre

Film drama

Cast

Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri,

Directed by

Paolo Sorrentino
Save
Share

Where it was filmed 'The Hand of God'

“I don’t’like reality anymore. Reality is lousy. That’s why I want to make films”
Fabietto Schisa

Exactly 20 years after his directorial debut One Man Up, Paolo Sorrentino has returned to the city of his birth to set a personal story, a tale of fate and family, sport and cinema, love and loss, inspired by his own experience. Set in a tumultuous Naples in the 1980s, Fabietto Schisa (Filippo Scotti) has various experiences that will change his life: soccer legend Maradona comes to the city where he is acclaimed like a god and a tragic accident involves his family.

It is a quote from the city’s idol that opens the film: I did what I could, I don’t think I did too badly, as a water-skimming sequence across the Gulf of Naples by day presents the city as, indisputably, a main character, framing her almost as if she is considering her reflection in the Bay: Castel dell’Ovo on the right slowly fades to reveal the shorelines of Chiaia and via Caracciolo, where a vintage car is travelling.

Piazza del Plebiscito full of parked cars as it was in the 1980s

It’s night in the following scene. In piazza del Plebiscito (full of parked cars as it was in the 1980s), Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri) accepts a lift from “St. Gennaro”. Some minutes later he takes her to the courtyard of Palazzo Zapata, several metres distant in adjacent piazza Trieste e Trento, to show her o munaciello, a child monk from the Neapolitan folk tradition who promises to solve all her problems. However, the room where Patrizia is taken is in the 17th century Villa del Cardinale in Torre del Greco: an enormous crystal chandelier lying in ruins on the floor at the centre of this space decorated with precious marble and stuccowork, damaged in the earthquake of 1980, gives the scene a special atmosphere.

Fabietto’s world is his happy family, whose love for life overcomes any problem: their harmony is on full display in a night scene on the coastal via Francesco Petrarca, as father, mother and son head to Aunt Patrizia’s house, smiling and tightly huddled together on a single motor-scooter, driving into the wind with the sea in the background. His father Saverio (Toni Servillo) works for the Bank of Naples and one scene shows its headquarters in via Toledo. The set for the Schisa family home is an apartment in via San Domenico in the Vomero neighbourhood, in the same building where the director once lived on the floor below.

Soccer in Naples is Maradona, an event that paralyses the city and brings family and friends together even when the teams playing are neither their home team nor Italy. Vomero is the location for the apartment where the family gathers to watch the Argentina-England 1986 Fifa World Cup quarterfinal match when the ‘hand of God’ goal that gives the film its title took place. Computer graphics recreates the former stadium of San Paolo (later renamed for the city’s unforgotten soccer idol who died in 2020) as it was in the 1980s, making it one of the most significant locations in the film along with the Collana stadium.

Galleria Umberto I is a recurring location: for his father Saverio’s childhood recollection, for solitary walks and for a film shoot which fascinates Fabietto so much that it points the way to his future. That path becomes even clearer to him on the night he meets the director, Antonio Capuano, with whom he has an illuminating conversation at Villa d’Abro in Posillipo, a Neo-Romanesque residence built by architect Alfonso Guerra in 1870.

Family meets at Villa Giusto Astapiana - Sorrento peninsula

Naples is the centre of Fabietto’s life but some scenes take him out of the city. The villa in Acerola where the family attends the arrival of Saverio’s sister with her new boyfriend is Villa Giusso Astapiana actually in Vico Equense overlooking the Sorrento peninsula at an altitude of 400m.  Frames that follow show the Protected Marine Area of Punta Campanella, where the family takes a boat trip near Massa Lubrense and stops to swim off Isolotto Isca, once the property of Eduardo De Filippo who is quoted by Saverio Schisa as he makes a grand declaration of love for his wife Maria (Teresa Saponangelo); a short while later, while everyone on board is admiring Aunt Patrizia’s nudity, Fabietto watches police chase a motorboat of smugglers. The entire family disembarks in the harbour of Cetarawhere Fabietto spots Armando, one of the smugglers, later to become his friend.

Capri, her famous piazzetta uncannily empty, is the destination for a crazy night for Fabio and Armando, which begins in Naples Harbour with a provoked fight, continues with their escape on a motor-scooter and a sea-crossing in a motorboat where the city once again shines in the water. The night ends on the Amalfi Coast in Conca dei Mariniwhere Fabio and Armando seal their friendship with a swim in the evocative Emerald Grotto. Lastly, the island of Stromboli in the Aeolian archipelago, with its smoking volcano and dark sand, welcomes Fabietto and his brother Marchino for their holidays.

The scenes in Roccaraso, (province of L’Aquila) where Fabietto’s parents buy a house, were actually shot in the mountain town and in nearby Castel di Sangro.

Where it was filmed 'The Hand of God'

“I don’t’like reality anymore. Reality is lousy. That’s why I want to make films”
Fabietto Schisa

Exactly 20 years after his directorial debut One Man Up, Paolo Sorrentino has returned to the city of his birth to set a personal story, a tale of fate and family, sport and cinema, love and loss, inspired by his own experience. Set in a tumultuous Naples in the 1980s, Fabietto Schisa (Filippo Scotti) has various experiences that will change his life: soccer legend Maradona comes to the city where he is acclaimed like a god and a tragic accident involves his family.

It is a quote from the city’s idol that opens the film: I did what I could, I don’t think I did too badly, as a water-skimming sequence across the Gulf of Naples by day presents the city as, indisputably, a main character, framing her almost as if she is considering her reflection in the Bay: Castel dell’Ovo on the right slowly fades to reveal the shorelines of Chiaia and via Caracciolo, where a vintage car is travelling.

Piazza del Plebiscito full of parked cars as it was in the 1980s

It’s night in the following scene. In piazza del Plebiscito (full of parked cars as it was in the 1980s), Patrizia (Luisa Ranieri) accepts a lift from “St. Gennaro”. Some minutes later he takes her to the courtyard of Palazzo Zapata, several metres distant in adjacent piazza Trieste e Trento, to show her o munaciello, a child monk from the Neapolitan folk tradition who promises to solve all her problems. However, the room where Patrizia is taken is in the 17th century Villa del Cardinale in Torre del Greco: an enormous crystal chandelier lying in ruins on the floor at the centre of this space decorated with precious marble and stuccowork, damaged in the earthquake of 1980, gives the scene a special atmosphere.

Fabietto’s world is his happy family, whose love for life overcomes any problem: their harmony is on full display in a night scene on the coastal via Francesco Petrarca, as father, mother and son head to Aunt Patrizia’s house, smiling and tightly huddled together on a single motor-scooter, driving into the wind with the sea in the background. His father Saverio (Toni Servillo) works for the Bank of Naples and one scene shows its headquarters in via Toledo. The set for the Schisa family home is an apartment in via San Domenico in the Vomero neighbourhood, in the same building where the director once lived on the floor below.

Soccer in Naples is Maradona, an event that paralyses the city and brings family and friends together even when the teams playing are neither their home team nor Italy. Vomero is the location for the apartment where the family gathers to watch the Argentina-England 1986 Fifa World Cup quarterfinal match when the ‘hand of God’ goal that gives the film its title took place. Computer graphics recreates the former stadium of San Paolo (later renamed for the city’s unforgotten soccer idol who died in 2020) as it was in the 1980s, making it one of the most significant locations in the film along with the Collana stadium.

Galleria Umberto I is a recurring location: for his father Saverio’s childhood recollection, for solitary walks and for a film shoot which fascinates Fabietto so much that it points the way to his future. That path becomes even clearer to him on the night he meets the director, Antonio Capuano, with whom he has an illuminating conversation at Villa d’Abro in Posillipo, a Neo-Romanesque residence built by architect Alfonso Guerra in 1870.

Family meets at Villa Giusto Astapiana - Sorrento peninsula

Naples is the centre of Fabietto’s life but some scenes take him out of the city. The villa in Acerola where the family attends the arrival of Saverio’s sister with her new boyfriend is Villa Giusso Astapiana actually in Vico Equense overlooking the Sorrento peninsula at an altitude of 400m.  Frames that follow show the Protected Marine Area of Punta Campanella, where the family takes a boat trip near Massa Lubrense and stops to swim off Isolotto Isca, once the property of Eduardo De Filippo who is quoted by Saverio Schisa as he makes a grand declaration of love for his wife Maria (Teresa Saponangelo); a short while later, while everyone on board is admiring Aunt Patrizia’s nudity, Fabietto watches police chase a motorboat of smugglers. The entire family disembarks in the harbour of Cetarawhere Fabietto spots Armando, one of the smugglers, later to become his friend.

Capri, her famous piazzetta uncannily empty, is the destination for a crazy night for Fabio and Armando, which begins in Naples Harbour with a provoked fight, continues with their escape on a motor-scooter and a sea-crossing in a motorboat where the city once again shines in the water. The night ends on the Amalfi Coast in Conca dei Mariniwhere Fabio and Armando seal their friendship with a swim in the evocative Emerald Grotto. Lastly, the island of Stromboli in the Aeolian archipelago, with its smoking volcano and dark sand, welcomes Fabietto and his brother Marchino for their holidays.

The scenes in Roccaraso, (province of L’Aquila) where Fabietto’s parents buy a house, were actually shot in the mountain town and in nearby Castel di Sangro.

Browse the gallery

Data sheet

Genre
Film drama
Directed by
Paolo Sorrentino
Cast
Filippo Scotti, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Marlon Joubert, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi, Biagio Manna, Ciro Capano, Enzo Decaro, Lino Musella, Sofya Gershevich, Monica Nappo, Cristiana Dell’Anna
Country of production
Italy
Year
2021
Setting year
1980s
Production

The Apartment

Awards
Venice Film Festival 2021: Grand Jury Prize to Paolo Sorrentino – Marcello Mastroianni Award to Filippo Scotti / David di Donatello 2022: Best Film – Best Director to Paolo Sorrentino – Best Supporting Actress to Teresa Saponangelo – Best Cinematography to Daria D'Amico – David Giovani / Nastri D'Argento 2022: Best Film - Best Actress to Teresa Saponangelo - Best Supporting Actress to Luisa Ranieri - Best Photography to Daria D'Antonio - Best Casting Director to Annamaria Sambucco and Massimo Appolloni - Guglielmo Biraghi Award to Filippo Scotti
Plot

Set in a tumultuous Naples in the 1980s, 17-year-old Fabietto Schisa has various experiences that will change his life, as he struggles to find his place in the world:  the soccer legend Maradona comes to the city where he is acclaimed like a god and his family has a tragic accident.

The locations

Capri
Region: Campania Type: Island Territory: Sea
Emerald Grotto
Region: Campania Type: Cave Territory: Sea
Aeolian Islands
Region: Sicilia Type: Island Territory: Borgo (walled/fortified village), Sea
Naples
Region: Campania Type: City Territory: City, Sea
Archaeological Park of Campi Flegrei
Region: Campania Type: Archaeological site Territory: Hill, Sea
Sorrento Peninsula
Region: Campania Type: Seafront Territory: Small town, Sea
Piazza del Plebiscito – Naples
Region: Campania Type: Square Territory: Historical centre, City
Port of Naples
Region: Campania Type: Port Territory: City, Sea

Discover the works shot in the same places

All works
7 Hours to fall in love
Film comedy, romantic
Directed by: Giampaolo Morelli
Love and Bullets
Film musical, comedy, action
Directed by: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti
Anacapri The Dream (Game)

Graphic adventure

C'era una volta il crimine
Film comedy
Directed by: Massimiliano Bruno
Caccia al tesoro
Film comedy
Directed by: Carlo Vanzina
Capri - Revolution
Film drama
Directed by: Mario Martone
Caracas
Film drama
Directed by: Marco D'Amore
Caro diario (Dear Diary)
Film comedy
Directed by: Nanni Moretti
Come prima
Film drama
Directed by: Tommy Weber
Stromboli
Film drama
Directed by: Michiel van Erp
Ten Minutes
Film drama
Directed by: Maria Sole Tognazzi
Dive in the Past
Adventure/Educational
Falchi
Film drama
Directed by: Toni D'Angelo
Father and Son (Game)
Graphic adventure
Fort Apache Napoli
Film drama, biographical
Directed by: Marco Risi
Cinderella The Cat
Film animation
Directed by: Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri, Dario Sansone
The Best Years
Film drama
Directed by: Gabriele Muccino
Gomorrah
Film drama
Directed by: Matteo Garrone
Gomorrah 2 – The series
TV series – 12 episodes
Directed by: Stefano Sollima, Claudio Cupellini, Francesca Comencini, Claudio Giovannesi
Gomorrah 5
TV series - 10 episodes
Directed by: Marco D'Amore - Claudio Cupellini
Gomorrah – The series
TV series – 12 episodes 
Directed by: Stefano Sollima, Claudio Cupellini, Francesca Comencini
Gorbaciof
Film drama
Directed by: Stefano Incerti
Grand Tour. Viaggio in Italia
Docuseries - 6 episodes
Hey Joe
Film drama
Directed by: Claudio Giovannesi
I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone
TV Series - 6 episodes
Directed by: Carlo Carlei
I fratelli De Filippo
Biographical film
Directed by: Sergio Rubini
I Peggiori
Film comedy
Directed by: Vincenzo Alfieri
Il caso Enzo Tortora - Dove eravamo rimasti?
TV mini-series - 2 episodes
Directed by: Ricky Tognazzi
Il Commissario Ricciardi
Tv series – 2 seasons, 10 episodes
Directed by: Alessandro D'Alatri (st.1), Gianpaolo Tescari (st.2)
Il divo
Biographical film
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Leopardi
Biographical film
Directed by: Mario Martone
Il padre d'Italia
Film drama
Directed by: Fabio Mollo
Il Postino: The Postman
Film drama
Directed by: Michael Radford, Massimo Troisi
Il principe abusivo
Film comedy
Directed by: Alessandro Siani
The Seed of Discord
Film comedy
Directed by: Pappi Corsicato
The Mayor of Rione Sanità
FIlm drama
Directed by: Mario Martone
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Film drama
Directed by: Anthony Minghella
In fila per due
Film comedy
Directed by: Bruno De Paola
Indivisible
Film drama
Directed by: Edoardo De Angelis
Inganno
Tv series - 6 episodes
Directed by: Pappi Corsicato
Into Paradiso
Film comedy
Directed by: Paola Randi
My Brilliant Friend
TV series — 8 episodes
Directed by: Saverio Costanzo
My Brilliant Friend 3
Tv series - 8 episodes
Directed by: Daniele Luchetti
Dark Love
Film drama
Directed by: Antonio Capuano
L'intervallo
Film drama
Directed by: Leonardo Di Costanzo
L'intrusa
Film drama
Directed by: Leonardo Di Costanzo
Caravaggio’s Shadow
Film drama
Directed by: Michele Placido
One Man Up
Film drama
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
la cura
Film drama
Directed by: Francesco Patierno
Kryptonite!
Film comedy, drama
Directed by: Ivan Cotroneo
The best of Youth
FIlm drama
Directed by: Marco Tullio Giordana
My House is Full of Mirrors
TV mini-series - 2 episodes
Directed by: Vittorio Sindoni
La Nuova Squadra
TV Series - 84 episodes - 3 seasons 
Piranhas
Film drama
Directed by: Claudio Giovannesi
La Storia
Tv series - 8 episodes
Directed by: Francesca Archibugi
Holding Hands
Film drama
Directed by: Gianni Amelio
The Lying Life of Adults
Tv series - 6 episodes
Directed by: Edoardo De Angelis
Le seduzioni
Film drama
Directed by: Vito Zagarrio
Leopardi. Poet of the infinity
Tv miniseries Episodes
Directed by: Sergio Rubini
The White Space
Film drama
Directed by: Francesca Comencini
Love Is All You Need
Film comedy
Directed by: Susanne Bier
M - Son of the Century
Tv series - 8 episodes
Directed by: Joe Wright
What a Beautiful Surprise
Film comedy
Directed by: Alessandro Genovesi
Eat Pray Love
Film drama
Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Mare Fuori
4 seasons – 48 episodes
Directed by: Carmine Elia, Milena Cocozza, Ivan Silvestrini
Martin Eden
Film drama 
Directed by: Pietro Marcello
Marriage Italian Style
Film comedy, drama
Directed by: Vittorio De Sica
Medal of Honor: Heroes (Game)
First-person shooter
Mia moglie, mia figlia, due bebè
TV Film
Directed by: Eugenio Cappuccio
Mimì, il Principe delle Tenebre
Film horror
Directed by: Brando De Sica
Mina Settembre
Tv series – 2 seasons, 24 episodes
Directed by: Tiziana Aristarco
Mixed by Erry
Film comedy
Directed by: Sydney Sibilia
Napoli milionaria
Film tv
Directed by: Luca Miniero
Naples in Veils
Film drama
Directed by: Ferzan Ozpetek
Nata per te
Film drama
Directed by: Fabio Mollo
Noi
Tv series - 12 episodes
Directed by: Luca Ribuoli
Don't Tell My Boss
TV series - 2 seasons - 24 episodes
Directed by: Giulio Manfredonia
Nostalgia
Film drama
Directed by: Mario Martone
Parthenope
Film drama
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Passione
Music documentary
Directed by: John Turturro
Anna
Film drama
Directed by: Giuseppe M. Gaudino
Perez.
Film drama
Directed by: Edoardo De Angelis
Pesci piccoli – Un'agenzia. Molte idee. Poco budget
Tv series - 6 episodes
Directed by: Francesco Ebbasta
Piano piano
Film drama
Directed by: Nicola Prosatore
Posso entrare? An ode to Naples
Documentary
Directed by: Trudie Styler
The King of Laughter
Biographical film
Directed by: Mario Martone
Reality
Film drama
Directed by: Matteo Garrone
Rino Gaetano - Ma il cielo è sempre più blu
TV mini-series – 2 episodes
Directed by: Marco Turco
Ripley
Tv series - 8 episodes
Directed by: Steven Zaillian
Ritorno al crimine
Film comedy
Directed by: Massimiliano Bruno
Rose Stone Srtar
Film drama
Directed by: Marcello Sannino
Se mi lasci non vale
Film comedy
Directed by: Vincenzo Salemme
Miracles Accepted
Film comedy
Directed by: Alessandro Siani
Sirene
TV series – 6 episodes
Directed by: Davide Marengo
Song ‘e Napule
Film comedy
Directed by: Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
Tv serie - 2 seasons
Directed by: Satiyesh Manoharajah, Neil Ferguson, Chiara Messineo, Archie Powell, Chloë Avery
Take Five
Film drama
Directed by: Guido Lombardi
Tatanka
Biographical film
Directed by: Giuseppe Gagliardi
The Equalizer 3
Film thriller, action
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
The Trip to Italy
Film comedy
Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
The Wholly Family
Short Film
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Bets & Wedding Dresses
Film drama
Directed by: Vincenzo Terracciano
Troppo napoletano
Film comedy
Directed by: Gianluca Ansanelli
War
Action film, thriller
Directed by: Siddharth Anand