Calabria, a stage in a region

Plenty of movies have been shot in Calabria, in the villages that are surrounded by beautiful landscapes and the echo of millennial narrations. It’s the Magna Grecia where the Normans, the Byzantines, the Greek, the Romans and the Albanians have marked their presence along the centuries and have inspired many movie genres: dramas, comedies, fiction, documentaries and ads. Since the years of the silent movies the locations spread around the region have been steadily increasing and they have become charming “movie routes” for the tourists featured by unique landscapes. They represent a specific cultural identity related to the tiny villages and they underline a neorealist movie narration far from the “dark” mood Calabria has been too often identified with.

A set of stones, between the skyand the land

The biblical views of Cutro (Crotone) in the movie “The Gospel According to St. Matthew” by Pier Paolo Pasolini, with the “hills that sound the dunes imagined by Kafka and the sunset that sounds pink-blood sails” became the city of Gerico in this movie which is considered the “most beautiful movie about Jesus ever shot ”. The famous caverns of Casabona, in the valley of Neto (in the province of Crotone) were the perfect location of the movie “Il brigante” (The Brigand) by Renato Castellani, while the fairy village of Le Castella, so full of history and legends became famous because of the movie “L’armata Brancaleone” (For Love and Gold) by Mario Monicelli. The ruins and the stones that feature the old abandoned villages of Calabria represent a unique landscape. There is Cirella (Cosenza), where “L’ultimo re” (The last king) by Aurelio Grimaldi was set, then in the heart of Aspromonte there are the villages of Africo and Casalnuovo (Reggio Calabria) where the movie “Anime nere” (Black souls) by Francesco Munzi was set. Lastly in the area of Greci di Calabria, Pentedattilo, a village perched on a rock with the shape of a cyclopean hand with five fingers was the background of the story of “La lettera” (The letter) by Luciano Cannito.

The landscapes of cinema

In the relationship between landscapes, the cinema from Calabria is a real protagonist, very often a merciless one. From Pollino to Aspromonte, from the lakes to the sea, the nature and the landscapes have always been related to specific cultural and geographical identities aiming at being used for some specific movies genres. The “landscapes of contemplation”, also called the landscapes of “experience” can mainly found in this region and were used in some interesting movies. We can mention a few examples. The lucky RAI fiction “Gente di mare”, was shot in Tropea (Vibo Valentia) and Scilla (Reggio Calabria), the movie “L’uomo che sognava con le aquile” (The man who dreamt with eagles) starring Terence Hill was set in the mountains of Aspromonte, another famous RAI fiction, “Artemisia Sánchez” taken from the homonymous novel by Santo Gioffré was entirely shot between Sibari, Bivongi and Palmi.

Calabria and movies

Calabria keep astonishing thanks to its thousands facets, its magic and its imagination and it has become a true “diva” of the big screen in the third millennium. Its amazing landscapes have been used by the old and the new movie industry and the natural sceneries, the cities and the villages have become the added value in many important famous movies. The villages of Scilla, Palizzi, Diamante, San Giovanni in Fiore, Oriolo, Rocca Imperiale, Roseto Capo Spulico, Riace, Gerace and San Luca featured many movies: “Un ragazzo di Calabria” (A boy from Calabria) by Comencini; “L’abbuffata” (the binge) by Calopresti; “Lure of the Sila” by Coletti; “Le nozze di Laura “ (Laura’s wedding) by Pupi Avati; “Il volo” (the flight) by Wim Wenders; “L’ultimo padrino” (The Last Godfather) by Marco Risi and “Outlaw Girl “ (The bandit Musolino) by Camerini. Moreover, Reggio Calabria and Gioia Tauro (Reggio Calabria) left their influence in some intellectual awarded movies like “Fabio Mollo “ (South is nothing) by Fabio Mollo, “Il giudice meschino“ (The indolent Judge) by Carlo Carlei, “Asino vola” (Donkey flies) by Marcello Fonte and “A ciambra” by Jonas Carpignano.