Once upon a time in Venice
Fog fading away in the labyrinthine alleyways, views out from the boat launches, people coming and going, falling in love and getting lost in the sparkling and melancholy waterways. What Venice leaves behind after visiting it, however briefly, is perpetual change, in the way we see it and remember it. Sergio Leone reconstructed a luxurious hotel on Long Island for Once Upon a Time in America not in the States, but using the unique façade, with its view over the Lido, of the Hotel Excelsior in Venice. It is here that Noodles (Robert De Niro) is reunited with his love Deborah (Elizabeth McGovern) to the verses of the Song of Songs: “your breath, sweet-scented as apples”, only to lose her soon after. The narrow waterways are instead where Woody Allen, staging a frantic race at dawn, finds the one (Julia Roberts) who, then and there, appears to him as a calming counter to his ‘controversial writer’s’ anxiety. Woody Allen, a great bard of cities, comes to Venice with Everyone Says I Love You. The film opens in New York, but then shifts to Italy as the protagonist goes on holiday, taking up a room overlooking the Grand Canal, with Tintorettos to admire at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco and kisses to be had along the Fondamenta Barbaro. Straying away from the romantic mood for just one second, there is Indiana Jones’ fleeting visit to Venice in Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The archaeologist, played by Harrison Ford, arrives in the city outside the Church of San Barnaba and, thanks to the power of cinema, accesses the catacombs under the city via a library here. We also meet a fugitive, Al Pacino’s anxious Shylock in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. With him we discover and visit the former Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore (on the island of the same name, across from St. Mark’s Square). Adventure, last but not least, is the name of the game for Giacomo Casanova, played by Heath Ledger, the star who will stay forever young following his tragic death. As the lewd and snide Casanova, the Australian star moves around a haughty 18th-century city, with the magnificent St. Mark’s Square featuring the Doge’s Palace (where he strolls around with the Doge) and the gilded Basilica, as the city prepares for the pomp and splendour of the most famous, played by Heath Ledger, the star who will stay forever young following his tragic death. As the lewd and snide Casanova, the Australian star moves around a haughty 18th-century city, with the magnificent St. Mark’s Square featuring the Doge’s Palace (where he strolls around with the Doge) and the gilded Basilica, as the city prepares for the pomp and splendour of the most famous Carnival in Europe. Perfect for flying over on board a hot-air balloon.
