Sarah Baxter - Cinematic Places (Inspired Travellers Guides)

CINEMATIC PLACES

SARAH BAXTER

ILLUSTRATIONS BY
AMY GRIMES

SPOILER ALERT! Sometimes, when you watch a movie, the most interesting character isnt the guy in the sharp suit, the kid with the wand, the tenacious elf or the sassy woman with purple hair its the world theyre in. The town, the city, the region, the country; the particular environment at a particular time; the desert that echoes the lead characters inner desolation; the oppressive jungle that becomes more horrifying than any monster could ever be. In many films, the location not only sets the scene but dictates the action, affects the flow, influences the entire mood.

Sometimes these locations are so powerful and so compelling that they leave audiences desperate to dive into those worlds themselves; perhaps places with spectacularly good looks, fascinating cultures or a strange, otherworldly feel. Whole tourist industries have boomed (for better or worse) off the back of a single feature film: think New Zealand after The Lord of the Rings, Thailands islands after The Beach or Salzburg after The Sound of Music () its reckoned the nuns-and-Nazis musical classic is what draws 75 per cent of all American tourists to the Austrian city. Sometimes its more specific sites that attract the crowds after their moment of fame on screen from When Harry Met Sally pilgrims keen to have what shes having at New Yorks Katzs Deli or Harry Potter fans desperate to ride Scotlands Jacobite Steam Railway aka the Hogwarts Express.

Inspired by 25 diverse films, in the following pages we explore some of cinemas most alluring locations and even venture off into galaxies far, far away. Indeed, we take in seething Asian metropolises () that convincingly stands in for another planet.

We also travel around movie genres, from creepy folk horror and arthouse thrillers to triumphal sports flicks, pioneering sci-fi, quirky rom-coms and lush period dramas. There are, of course, a few road-trip movies, too the ultimate way to roam far and wide on celluloid. However, though varied in place and tone, what these 25 movies have in common is their very particular sense of place; its almost impossible to imagine any of them being set anywhere else.

In some cases, its all about the scenery. The Revenant (), for example, is a visual feast albeit one served cold. Watching this ravishingly captured tale of revenge played out in the wintry North American Wild West, you can smell the tang of snow-crisp air, feel the sharp slap of the icy river and sense the chill seep into your bones. As youre swept along on Leonardo DiCaprios quest for survival and retribution, you realise the real star is the brutal, beautiful landscape through which he moves.

However, The Revenant, which is supposedly set in Montana and South Dakota but largely shot over the border in Alberta, Canada, is not necessarily typical of this book. Many of the locations included here play themselves. For instance, the only way to do proper justice to the life of Lawrence of Arabia () occurs on the streets and OF the streets, the cultural backdrop of 1980s New York as important as the movies authentic neighbourhood and brownstone stoops.

Some of the locations are like muses to their creators. For instance, Ingmar Bergman didnt only make Persona (), 007s screen debut, involved the suave spy gallivanting around the Caribbean isle.

One note of caution: there are plot revelations ahead. Some chapters reveal what becomes of the characters and their wonderful worlds, so its best to watch the movie first and then dip into this book afterwards. But then, I would recommend watching all the films anyway, if you havent already. Each has its own appeal, no matter what your usual movie tastes. You dont need to be a martial arts buff to appreciate the super-human skills of Bruce Lee battling the baddies of Hong Kong, China ().

Movies can allow us to travel in our armchairs. They can whisk us to city chaos, soothing wilderness, historic moments and even other galaxies; they are the ideal way to get away when all youve got is a damp afternoon and a spare hour or two (or three). But they can also be the inspiration for planning actual adventures to these intriguing places, where you can put yourself in the picture and be the star of your own story.

COLOSSAL SPANS of steel and glass curve way above, seemingly high as the sky; ornate tracery etches the ironwork, light floods in. This cathedral of transportation a grande dame of a railway station was built not only for practical purpose but for visual oomph. Below this dizzying roof, tens of thousands of people rush daily, soles clacking on the polished limestone floors, dashing to and fro between trains that shuttle them out, or deliver them home. An interesting place, then, for a little bear dwarfed by Victorian engineering and a city of nine million to be looking for a home of his own...

Paddington Station was built as the showpiece London terminus of Isambard Kingdom Brunels Great Western Railway. The biggest train shed in the world when it opened in 1854 the largest of its three roof spans measuring 31m (102ft) across its design was inspired by the shimmering Crystal Palace that had hosted the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park three years earlier. In the intervening years, the station has remained one of the UK capitals major stations, and has also lent its name to one of Londons most endearing (if fictional) adopted sons.

Writer Michael Bond created the character of Paddington, a bear from darkest Peru taken in by the Brown family, in 1958. In 2014 a movie version brought Bonds beloved bear and the London he inhabits to life. It provides a charming tour of the citys icons, including everything from Big Ben and Beefeaters to red phone boxes and Tube stations. But its also a fable about immigration, xenophobia and the treatment of strangers which is nowhere more appropriate than here, in this 21st-century melting pot: these days more than one-third of Londoners are foreign born, comprising 270-plus nationalities.

If you ever make it to London you can be sure of a warm welcome. So says explorer Montgomery Clyde to Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo when he meets these intelligent bears in Peru in the films opening scenes (filmed, incidentally, in Costa Rica). When Paddington does first land on British shores, its at Tilbury Docks on the River Thames in Essex. Long the principal port for London, it was here that the HMT