Europe on film

 

I watched Before Sunrise last night, and apart from turning me slightly soppily romantic for a couple of hours, it served as an excellent piece of propaganda for the city of Vienna. If you’ve not seen it, the premise is that a French girl meets an American guy on the train from Budapest to Paris. They get on well and decide to get off the train in Vienna and explore until, well, the eponymous sunrise.

For the hour of the film that is in Vienna it serves as a cinematic tour of the city. Not the obviously touristy bits, but the more normal but special places. The funfare, walks along the river, grungy pubs and clubs, street corners and open air cafes. I’ve not yet been to Vienna, but I want to go now! It got me thinking what other films should have been sponsored by a European city’s tourism board…

 

France

Paris – Obviously it’s been in numerous films, but it’s at its most beautiful in Amelie. I can’t help but as soon as I start watching, wishing I was in Paris. A less fantastical, glossy version of Paris is seen in 2 Days in Paris, but still a great snapshot of Paris in all its cafe culture and artisan bars.

 

Germany

Berlin – Goodbye Lenin! It may be 1989 Berlin, but it still looks fabulous. Also in a Cold War chic kinda way, The Lives of Others also makes me long for one of my favourite cities on earth.

 

Belgium

Bruges – Slightly obvious, In Bruges. Brilliantly mocks the twee elements of this small Belgian city, whilst conversely showing how pretty and charming the place is.

 

Ukraine

Although it paints a bleak and rather agricultural picture, Everything is Illuminated shows a country which probably doesn’t have too many Western cinematic moments.

 

Italy

Venice – I suppose all Bond films do a great promotional job on all the exotic locations they film in, but for me, the scenes in Venice in Casino Royale really stuck out. The water and the city looked beautiful, crisp, clean and exciting. Whereas in reality, I think Venice is a little more overcrowded and pigeon infested.

 

Greece

Mamma Mia! certainly does a good job at promoting a holiday on a Greek island. It looks stunning – clear water, sandy beaches and friendly locals. In reality, there is usually a terrible sewage problem, the streets smell of vomit from the British binge-drinkers the night before and the locals aren’t so friendly.

 

I’ve tried to think of places that are representing themselves (rather than the cheapo method of film production where they film in the Czech Republic or Hungary and pretend it’s medieval France). I’ll add to the list as more films hit me…

A European amble through modern architecture

First it was Monday’s G2 and then yesterday it was BBC’s Imagine – I feel my week is being punctuated by Richard Rogers. He’s an architect who I’ve often appreciated but without really thinking of his work overall, nor assessed my own interest in modern architecture. Whilst watching Imagine, I realised I had been lucky enough to experience some of Europe’s most exciting architecture, and that most of it had been constructed in my lifetime.

I’ll say now that I have never studied art or architecture, my knowledge of it academically is poor. However, it is something that excites me and often when mooching around a new city, if it is diverse and creative in its buildings it will subconsciously appeal to me.

Starting off with Rogers, his most memorable work is probably the Pompidou centre in Paris, which celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year (and thus is seven years outside my lifetime). I first visited the Pompidou when I was six years old and was captivated by its ‘inside-out’ approach with the escalators on the outside. It just struck me as a really fun building – and I imagine probably still has great appeal to kids.