Phyl of Phyllis Loves Classic Movies tagged me with the Pick My Movie Tag 2, and she challenged me to post about a favorite movie that was filmed in Europe. I decided to do a list of ten instead ;-) So here are my ten favorite movies that take place in Europe that are actually filmed entirely in Europe! (As far as I can tell from their IMDB.com pages, anyway.)
All titles are linked to my reviews if I've reviewed that particular movie.
1. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) -- filmed in Italy and the UK. An American (Henry Cavill), a Russian (Armie Hammer), and a German (Alicia Vikander) team up during the Cold War to stop neo-Nazis from creating a nuclear bomb. This is an unabashedly fun movie, and I love it ever so dearly.
2. The Princess Bride (1987) -- filmed in Ireland and the UK. After Buttercup's (Robin Wright) true love Westley (Cary Elwes) is murdered by pirates, she agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), but gets kidnapped before the wedding. I'll never forget the first time I saw this movie -- it changed my ideas about humor and fantasy forever.
3. The Great Escape (1963) -- filmed in Germany. The Nazis brilliantly put all their worst eggs (Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, James Garner...) in one prison camp, and naturally all those escape artists work together to escape. I love this on so many levels, from the whole band-of-misfits-working-together angle to the clever planning to the actual escape itself. And it's based on a true story!
4. Chocolat (2000) -- filmed in France and the UK. A mysterious woman (Juliette Binoche) opens a chocolate shop in a sedate French village and teaches its inhabitants to reexamine their attitudes and customs. The yummiest Johnny Depp movie ever -- do not watch this without a good supply of chocolate on hand!
5. A Knight's Tale (2001) -- filmed in the Czech Republic. Penniless commoner William Thatcher (Heath Ledger) pretends to be a knight so he can win jousting tournaments and feed himself and his friends (Paul Bettany, Alan Tudyk, and Mark Addy). Rollicking good fun, with a crazy soundtrack and some awesome jousting scenes.
6. Emma (1996) -- filmed in the UK. Meddlesome young Emma (Gwenyth Paltrow) tries her best to make matches for all her friends and acquaintances, then falls in love herself.
7. North and South (2004) -- filmed in the UK. A woman (Daniela Denby-Ashe) from the pastoral south of England moves to the industrial north and spends months ignoring the fact that a wealthy manufacturer (Richard Armitage) is in love with her.
8. Pride and Prejudice (2005) -- filmed in the UK. Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) can't fall in love with each other until they both come to understand themselves first.
9. The Three Musketeers (1993) -- filmed in Austria and the UK. Young d'Artagnan (Chris O'Donnell) just wants to be a Musketeer, but he ends up embroiled in unmasking a plot against the king. His three Musketeer friends (Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, and Oliver Platt) are hilarious and awesome too. I actually like this better than Alexandre Dumas' book!
10. Jane Eyre (1983) -- filmed in the UK. A young governess (Zelah Clarke) teaches her employer (Timothy Dalton) about love and honor. My favorite adaptation of my favorite novel.
Since this is a tag, here are the rules for it:
- Nominate one or more people to review the film or films of your choice. Or you can request they review something from a certain year, genre, or star. Everyone can review the same thing, or you can request each person cover something different. As long as it’s something they haven’t written about yet, you’re good.
- Nominees are allowed to request a different pick for whatever reason no more than five times. Stuff happens. We all know it.
- Nominees must thank the person who nominated them and provide a link their blog.
- Nominees may nominate others to keep the tag going. Picking the person who nominated them is allowed, or they can nominate someone else. Or both.
- All participants need to include these rules in their post, whether they’re nominees or picking nominees.
- All participants should use the “Pick My Movie” banner or something similar in their posts.
- Have fun!
I hereby tag Caffeinated Fangirl, I'm Charles Baker Harris (and I Can Read), and Meanwhile, in Rivendell... to write about one or more movies that they have changed their mind about somehow. Reviews, musings, lists, whatever!
I need a new blog post idea and your tag challenge is really fun!
ReplyDeleteAnd The Great Escape was filmed entirely in Germany? That's super cool and I didn't know that!
Eva, well, great timing, then!
DeleteYes, it was filmed in Germany! Mostly the Bavarian region.
Thanks so much for the tag! This is going to be fun :D
ReplyDeleteHuh, I wouldn't have guessed some of these filming locations (Ireland for the Princess Bride, for example).
You're welcome, Katie. Enjoy :-)
DeleteI love your take on this tag! It was fun reading about all the different film locations.
ReplyDeleteAlso: You will be happy to know that several months ago I tried A Knight's Tale again, for the first time since childhood, and I enjoyed it much more. (It may even make an appearance in my post for this tag...)
Thank you so much for the tag! I'm really looking forward to answering it. :D
Olivia, I *am* happy to hear that! I am starting to feel drawn to watching it myself. For years after we lost Heath Ledger, I couldn't even listen to the soundtrack without mourning, but I think I have finally gotten to the point where I can watch it to celebrate him instead. We shall see.
DeleteI completely understand that. It's always a little bittersweet to watch anything of his. I recently saw an interview clip where Paul Bettany was talking about Heath, particularly his time making AKT with him, and how it's still difficult for him to remember that he's gone because he was so full of life and light.
DeleteI completely understand that. It's always a little bittersweet to watch any of his shows. I recently saw an interview clip where Paul Bettany was talking about Heath -- particularly their time together making AKT -- and he said it's still hard for him to remember that he's gone because he was the most alive person he ever met.
DeleteI think losing him hit me really hard because he was about a year older than me, and we were at similar stages of life, with having small children and so on, and it just... has broken that part of my heart forever. In fact, I have only managed to watch one of his movies once since then, and it's been what, like 14 years? Sigh. But I really am starting to feel more ready. I've at least gotten to where I can listen to the soundtracks for A Knight's Tale, The Patriot, and 10 Things.
DeleteThat's such a sweet anecdote about Paul Bettany. Whom I am also exceedingly fond of.
I hadn't even realized that the two of you were so close in age, life situation, etc. I didn't even know that he had children. :'(
DeleteWell, don't rush yourself. I still get emotional watching the Oscars posthumous tribute to him, and I barely had any context or familiarity with him for years.
It was a very sweet clip. I really valued one thing he said in particular, where he was talking about all the speculation that was circulating after Heath's death, "about darkness" and such -- and Paul just said, "No." I'll have to try to find the clip and send you the link.
Olivia, yeah, he and Michelle Williams were engaged and had a little daughter -- she's about a year and a half older than my son.
DeleteI don't think I've ever managed to watch his Oscars tribute again, after the first time.
Definitely find and send me the link to that clip, when you get a minute :-)
Love the first two <3 Just scored a 2 disc special edition boxed set of The Great Escape at the library book sale for $1!! Out of the rest of your list I’ve only seen the Austen ones!
ReplyDeletePhyl, oh, what a lucky find! What kinds of extras does that Great Escape boxed set have?
DeleteThis?
ReplyDelete"9. The Three Musketeers (1993) -- filmed in Austria and the UK. Young d'Artagnan (Chris O'Donnell) just wants to be a Musketeer, but he ends up embroiled in unmasking a plot against the king. His three Musketeer friends (Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, and Oliver Platt) are hilarious and awesome too. I actually like this better than Alexandre Dumas' book!"
Granted, the movie is fun at times, and isn't terrible, but it doesn't favorably compare with the Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, and Frank Finlay (which is my favorite movie version), nor with the book -- in my less than humble opinion. This book in the original French is one of my favorites. I re-read it every few years, and I've probably mentioned the fact before. As for Chris O'Donnell, I just couldn't buy him in the D'Artagnan role, nor Sutherland as Athos for that matter. I was amused by the "surfer boy" portrayal of Porthos by Oliver Pratt. I didn't even remember than Sheen was in the movie.
Stanley, well, the truth is I find the 1970s version kind of a weird mix of campy and dark, and even Richard Chamberlain isn't enough to make me want to rewatch it.
DeletePerhaps the book is better in the original French? It's not that I don't enjoy Dumas, because I definitely do -- The Count of Monte Cristo has been my second-favorite book for thirty years, and I had the most glorious time rereading it last year. But The Three Musketeers just... didn't charm me. Perhaps I should reread it. I know I would still find d'Artagnan's love affair with a married woman repulsive, though -- and that's one of the reasons I like both the 1995 and 1948 versions better than the book.
Ooo! I spy so many favorites! 'Musketeers' and "A Knight's Tale" are both so much fun. Love "Pride & Prejudice," too. Also, "Chocolat" is so good and oddly, probably the most normal and grounded role I've ever seen Depp play!
ReplyDeleteRissi, high five for having many similar favorites! Yeah, Roux in Chocolat is remarkably normal, you're right. There's always Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express too, who's not terribly unusual. They're definitely anomalies for him, though!
DeleteRachel, I too like the Chris O'Donnell 's version better. No doubt Chamberlain's version did better at the box office. I found the swashbuckling action in the former more exciting than the latter.
ReplyDeleteChrisk, so cool you like the O'Donnell version of Three Musketeers. Though I'm not surprised -- it's just so well done and so FUN!
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