Maps of Movies
The Great Beauty (2013)
Where The Great Beauty says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
A film about Rome as a character: a giraffe in the Baths of Caracalla, a gallery that fakes its length, and a lighthouse on an island.
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Scenes and places
The opening at the Janiculum fountain
The film opens on Rome and its beauty, and on a quote about travel as an imaginary journey. Before Jep appears, the city itself sets the scene: a place seen by visitors who have come to look.
Set in Acqua Paola fountain, Janiculum Hill, Rome — The film's opening sequence, with the scene of Japanese tourists in front of the fountain. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A monumental fountain on the Janiculum Hill, with a wide view over Rome.
Filmed at Fontana dell'Acqua Paola — The opening sequence was filmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Jep's birthday party
Jep celebrates his birthday among friends, the self-appointed king of Rome's high society. Under the noise of the party he recalls what he once wanted to be: a writer, though he published only one book.
Set in Jep's birthday party, a terrace near Via Veneto, Rome — The party where Jep is toasted as the king of society.
Via Veneto is the Rome street made famous by the city's postwar nightlife.
Filmed at Via Vittorio Veneto — Parties of Jep were filmed on Via Veneto; the party terrace building is not named by the sources. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The performance at the aqueducts
Jep watches an artist's violent performance in front of the Roman arches, and afterwards he is asked what he thought of it. The scene shows how Jep judges the art world with irony.
Set in Aqueduct park, Rome — An art performance watched in front of the ancient aqueduct arches. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A park of ruined Roman aqueduct arches south-east of the centre.
Filmed at Parco degli Acquedotti — Filmed in this park. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Stefano's night tour of Rome's closed palaces
Jep follows Stefano through Rome's most beautiful buildings after dark. A city that Jep knows only as a stage turns into a place of silence and art, if only for one night.
Set in Palazzo Spada, Rome — A night tour with Stefano, who has the keys to Rome's most beautiful buildings. Google Maps · Apple Maps
Palazzo Spada holds Borromini's false-perspective gallery, which looks far longer than it is.
Filmed at Palazzo Spada, Borromini's Gallery of Perspectives — The perspective gallery was filmed here. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Filmed at Musei Capitolini, Palazzo Nuovo — Statues scene on the tour. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Filmed at Villa Medici — The tour's end point at dawn. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The vanishing giraffe
Jep finds the magician Arturo rehearsing a vanishing giraffe, then meets Romano, who has decided to leave Rome. Romano says the city has disappointed him and that Jep is the only one who deserved a goodbye.
Set in Baths of Caracalla, Rome — A magician rehearses a trick in which a giraffe vanishes. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The vast brick ruins of an imperial bath complex.
Filmed at Terme di Caracalla — Giraffe scene, named as Baths of Caracalla by one source and as Piscina dei Mercati di Traiano (Terme di Caracalla) by the other. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
The island of the shipwreck
Pushed by his editor Dadina, Jep leaves Rome for Giglio Island to report on the Costa Concordia shipwreck.
Set in Giglio Island, Tuscany — Jep goes to Giglio Island to report on the Costa Concordia shipwreck. Google Maps · Apple Maps
A small Tuscan island, known for the Costa Concordia wreck of 2012.
Filmed at Faro di Capel Rosso — Closing sequences of the film were shot at this lighthouse. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there:
Filmed at Tempietto del Bramante, San Pietro in Montorio — Girl hides in the temple passage Google Maps · Apple Maps
Filmed at Basilica di Santa Sabina / Giardino degli Aranci — A walk on the Aventine Google Maps · Apple Maps
Filmed at Palazzo Sacchetti, Via Giulia — Viola's house Google Maps · Apple Maps
Filmed at Museo di Villa Giulia — An exhibition gallery Google Maps · Apple Maps
Filmed at Basilica di San Lorenzo in Lucina — A funeral Google Maps · Apple Maps
Characters
- Jep Gambardella — A 65-year-old journalist and theater critic who wanders Rome's social events and wrote only one book.
- Romano — A playwright and friend of Jep, who later leaves Rome disappointed.
Questions answered on the map
- Where was the vanishing giraffe of The Great Beauty filmed?