cineturismo, location, cinema, turismo, film tourism, movie tour, Fellini, Rimini, Cinecittà, Amarcord, Corso d'Augusto, Passeggino, Piazza Tre Martiri, Tempietto di Sant'Antonio, Piazza Cavour, Palazzo dell'Arengo, Fontana della Pigna, Fulgor, Piazza Malatesta, Castel Sigismondo, Clown, Borgo San Giuliano, Ponte di Tiberio, Dolce vita, La Strada, Otto e mezzo, Palata, Vitelloni, E la Nave va, Rotunno, Donati, Ferretti

Fellini’s Rimini (real or otherwise)

Federico Fellini shot most of his masterpieces in the studios of Cinecittà, on purpose-built sets, or in the surroundings of Rome, however some places from his childhood and adolescence were also used, evoked or faithfully reconstructed by the set designers from Danilo Donati to Dante Ferretti who worked closely with him over the years. The director wanted to evoke the atmosphere and characters that he loved and had experienced growing up, with detachment, or rather, with a good dose of imagination. Donati imagined and built a borgo in Cinecittà for him which encapsulated many elements of Rimini blended with others that were entirely fictional. A Rimini described by the director as “a dimension of memory”.

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The “passeggino” of Corso d’Augusto Amidst clowns and murals Let’s all go to La Palata

Cinema Fulgor – Rimini

The “passeggino” of Corso d’Augusto

Amarcord is Fellini’s take on the historical centre of Rimini, which represented a “confused, fearful, gentle jumble” to the director. In the film, vintage MilleMiglia cars race down Corso d’Augusto, the main street and setting for the habitual evening stroll or “passeggino” as Fellini dubbed it. Walking along the Corso, one reaches the gathering place of Piazza Tre Martiri, setting for the Tempietto di Sant’Antonio, built in 1518 and rebuilt after the 1672 earthquake, which appears in the scene where the animals are blessed. Another famous gathering place is Piazza Cavour where the external staircase of Palazzo dell’Arengo rises up, identifiable by its Romanesque-Gothic style merlons, which in the film serves as the backdrop to the Fascist celebrations. Also in the piazza is the Fontana della Pigna, again of great importance to Fellini, which appears in several scenes of Amarcord: when the school children do their gym exercises outside and the snowball fight when the children aim at La Gradisca. At number 162 Corso d’Augusto one can still find the Cinema Fulgor which features in the scene where the main character tries to seduce La Gradisca. The cinema today has been completely restructured with its Art Deco splendour brought back to life thanks to a total overhaul by Ferretti, the three times Oscar winning set designer who worked with Fellini in the last phase of his career.

Amidst clowns and murals

Rimini also features Castel Sismondo, a 15th century fortress which stands in Piazza Malatesta, behind Piazza Cavour, and honours Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, the city’s lord at the time. Fellini would go to Castel Sismondo as a child to watch the circus in the castle square and greatly loved the place. The opening sequence of Fellini’s The Clowns features a circus big top being erected outside a fortress that looks very much like the castle of Rimini. Another charming place, today a cult destination for Fellini aficionados, is Borgo San Giuliano, whose atmosphere of seaside borgo is evoked in The Clowns. Just beside Ponte di Tiberio, this historical neighbourhood features alleyways and small streets which have today been repainted in pastel tones and filled with murals inspired by Fellini’s films and characters: evoking films like La dolce vita, La strada, 8½ and characters made unforgettable by great actors of the calibre of Marcello Mastroianni, Giulietta Masina, Roberto Benigni and la Tabachéra.

Let’s all go to La Palata

The walkway with the lighthouse at the end on top of Rimini harbour, known to the residents of Rimini as La Palata, is another beloved setting. It is seen at the opening and ending of Amarcord when Scureza races by on his motorbike, as the shoreline meeting place where the loafing main characters of I Vitelloni gather in the winter, and as the dock where the ships depart to wait for the passing of the transatlantic liner, SS Rex. Giuseppe Rotunno, famous director of photography, described how Fellini chose a place in Fiumicino Harbour, on the coast of Lazio, to recreate it in his films. During an afternoon shoot on And the Ship sails on, Rotunno noted a significant detail: the sun in Rimini would not set in the sea but on the other side. When he mentioned this to the director, Fellini answered: “I am fully aware. That’s why I chose this place”.

Fellini’s Rimini (real or otherwise)

The locations

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Cinema Fulgor – Rimini

The “passeggino” of Corso d’Augusto

Borgo San Giuliano – Rimini

Amidst clowns and murals

La Palata – Rimini

Let’s all go to La Palata