Imaginary places: 5 locations that aren’t what they seem

How many times have film and TV directors used Italy’s cities, borghi, architectural heritage and landscapes to stand in for other places? Paolo Sorrentino’s new TV series, The New Pope, due for broadcast in several weeks, does this several times, using both reconstructions and real locations: Lourdes is set in Nervesa della Battiglia while the Vatican areas were all built by the expert professionals at Cinecittà, also using the gardens of the largest villas in Lazio. The history of cinema is full of these examples, with locations standing in for other places because of a resemblance, an evocative feel or simply because there was no other option. Let’s take a look at some of them.

France and the Far West

The setting for Ladyhawke, which tells the love story of Etienne and Isabeau hindered by the wicked Lord of Aguillon, is intended to be France, however the film was shot almost entirely in Central and Northern Italy, in Rocca di Soncino (province of Cremona), the Castle of Torrechiara, near Parma, Castell’Arquato (province of Piacenza), the Belluno Dolomites and the famous Rocca Calascio in Campo Imperatore, Abruzzo. The open landscape of Campo Imperatore was also used as the Far West for many spaghetti westerns, including They Call Me Trinity and Trinity is still my name.

Frittole

The famous, imaginary borgo where Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi find themselves after a thunderstorm sends them back in time to “1400, almost 1500” in Non ci resta che piangere, and its surroundings are supposed to be in Tuscany. Frittole was actually created in Cinecittà and other places in Lazio, including Sermoneta, the Selva of Paliano and the Archeological area of Vulci. Intending to stop Columbus, the duo travel to Spain – actually the Parco Naturale della Maremma.

Hydra’s Headquarters

Valle d’Aosta played a key role in the setting of the American blockbuster Avengers – Age of Ultron, which shot in Aosta, in particular at Forte di Bard, a fortified complex rebuilt in the 19th century by the Savoia family which acted as the secret base for HYDRA in the imaginary European nation of Sokovia.

Everest

The film about the tragic expedition to summit Everest of 1996, was shot in Nepal, in Kathmandu and at Everest Base Camp, and in Italy, at Cinecittà Studios, where a 7,000 m² pool filled with basalt rock recreated the Himalayan slopes, and in Val Senales, where a team of about 180 people worked to make the high-altitude scenes as realistic as possible.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem was recreated in the Sassi of Matera for Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel according to Matthew (Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo) and used as the setting for the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. Since then the Sassi have stood in for Jerusalem innumerable times, reaching a peak with the emotive scenes of the Via Crucis shot by Mel Gibson there for his film The Passion. The crew working on the preparation and the exterior shoots of the 2016 remake of Ben Hur spent almost 5 months in the city. Less complicated, but equally evocative, the scenes shot for The Omen in Sasso Barisano.