Where it was filmed 'A Pure Formality'

A gunshot, pouring rain, and a man running breathlessly through the woods of Manziana. Police officers stop him and take him to a rundown police station. A place out of time in the middle of nowhere, near Calascio. In the police station, built in the Cinecittà studios, what appeared to be a pure formality becomes an interrogation. The man is confused and contradicts himself several times. Why was he in a wood at night? Why was he running? Is he involved in the murder that took place near his home? The commissioner comments, his kindliness alternated with rough methods, as he attempts, aided by his team, to shed some light on the man’s state of mind. The presumed murderer is Gérard Depardieu, his interrogator Roman Polansky.

Near the end of the film, a white van drives through the National Park of Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga. The mystery has been solved; the sky has finally opened. In the background, like a cameo set amidst the mountains, is the skyline of Santo Stefano di Sessanio; a medieval borgo near the high plain of Campo Imperatore dominated by an imposing crenelated cylindrical tower.