As the last part of the novel is based in Vienna, I was looking for a framework as an excuse for the heroine to flit around various places in this wonderful capital – apart from the obvious reason of being there for the grand dénouement. To jump straight into the dénouement would have deprived the reader of the anticipation, which I would hate to do. So I thought it would be rather a splendid idea for her to follow in the footsteps of The Third Man; not only is it one of the best films of all time, but most of the locations are fairly central, so she can skip around them in a day or two.
I saw an exhibition here a few years ago about different films that had been either set or shot in Vienna and I’d forgotten just how many there are. Amadeus, for example, was based in Vienna but shot in Prague; Firefox, on the other hand, was set in Russia but, on account of the Cold War, was shot in Vienna.
As the novel is not about films in Vienna (although there could always be a sequel), there won’t be space to detail them all there, but I think it might make for an interesting photographic project in the future. So a couple of tasters … the main pic shows Mölker Steig from The Third Man and the side pic shows the record shop from Before Sunrise.
And the great thing about undertaking a project on film locations is that someone somewhere has done most of the identification work for you, as a few minutes surfing reveals. But for first timers to Vienna, choose your film wisely. In Before Sunrise, it appears that a quick stroll is all that is required to get to the Friedhof der Namenlosen – the lovely little cemetery where nameless souls found in the Danube are laid to rest. To get there takes 25 minutes by car, more than two and a half hours to walk and an eternity by public transport, particularly on a Sunday, where there is a bus that will take you there, but not one that will bring you back, as MisterMac and I discovered when we ‘strolled’ out there.
The Final Cut from The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
As the last part of the novel is based in Vienna, I was looking for a framework as an excuse for the heroine to flit around various places in this wonderful capital – apart from the obvious reason of being there for the grand dénouement. To jump straight into the dénouement would have deprived the reader of the anticipation, which I would hate to do. So I thought it would be rather a splendid idea for her to follow in the footsteps of the Third Man; not only is it one of the best films of all time, but most of the locations are fairly central, so she can skip raound them in a day or two.
I saw an exhibition here a few years ago about different films that had been either set or shot in Vienna and I’d forgotten just how many there are. Amadeus, for example, was based in Vienna but shot in Prague; Firefox, on the other hand, was set in Russia but, on account of the Cold War, was shot in Vienna.
As the novel is not about films in Vienna (although there could always be a sequel), there won’t be space to detail them all there, but I think it might make for an interesting photographic project in the future.
So a couple of tasters … the main pic shows Mölker Steig from The Third Man and the side pic shows the record shop from Before Sunrise.
And the great thing about undertaking a project on film locations is that someone somewhere has done most of the identification work for you, as a few minutes surfing reveals. But for first timers to Vienna, choose your film wisely. In Before Sunrise, it appears that a quick stroll is all that is required to get to the Friedhof der Namenlosen – the lovely little cemetery where nameless souls found in the Danube are laid to rest. To get there takes 25 minutes by car, more than two and a half hours to walk and an eternity by public transport, particularly on a Sunday, where there is a bus that will take you there, but not one that will bring you back, as MisterMac and I discovered when we ‘strolled’ out there.
The Final Cut from The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
