An endless source of inspiration for European film makers

Since its invention by the French Lumiere brothers, cinema has used cities as an endless source of inspiration. The most beautiful cities of Europe have been depicted by all the best directors from Europe and America. Year after year the attraction of European cities for film makers is not denied.
 

The European cities provide a wonderful décor with their stunning architecture, streets, piazza, shops and many picturesque and vivid scenes of the every day life. But above all, each European city has a distinctive atmosphere with its culture and way of life.

 

A city is a scene setter, in itself it can form a big part of the story: love has not the same taste in Paris, Helsinki or Barcelona, burglars are different in London, Rome or Vienna, loneliness has not the same meaning in Dublin, Lisbon or Warsaw.

Directors often use the energy of cities as a key element in their scenario, their heroes wander through streets and places that reflect their state of mind and determine who they will encounter, what action will happen. The way of filming cities, the places chosen, the lighting is also very important to create the atmosphere and help the viewers understand the context and what is happening.

 

Cities are not only paradisiacal places, they can be depicted as very despairing or violent. In certain science fiction films, the city is transformed, all its modern tendencies becomes exacerbated and sometimes frightening. Buildings are taller, streets are bigger and full of cars, people have more difficulties to communicate with each others, capturing in their metamorphosis the fears of city dwellers brought by modern urbanism.

 

The way of using and filming cities is linked to the history of cinema. At cinema\'s debut, cities were merely decors for an action of a group of characters, a kind of documented truth, often reconstructed in studios. Before world war II, some directors started to use the personality of cities to create a certain atmosphere mysterious, poetic or very romantic and sometimes futuristic.

 

After World War II the cinema started to become realist and true cities, not the most beautiful parts of them, were filmed nearly as for a documentary.

 

During the sixties, the new wave of directors used the cities as a key element of their film, not only as a décor but as a powerful generator of feelings and memories. In the seventies, many films used transformed cities to increase a feeling of dehumanization and abandon of the traditional way of life. Most recently many films were situated in one famous city and the culture of this city played a key role in the film to such an extent that some film included the name of the city in their title.

 

The selection of films presented in the panorama reflects each of these various periods and styles.