Cities as cinematic backdrops

Does the setting of a movie actually matter to you? It does to me. I love seeing cities come to life on screen. The scenery of New York City was absolutely unmatched—just looking at random examples like Marathon Runner, Midnight Cowboy, Fisher King, Taxi Driver, Rosemary, and of course, Woody Allen. Ever since they tore down the Twins, though, things have changed. When I spot them in a movie now, it’s not just set design anymore; it’s a sharp sting of reality, like in Trading Places. I love Chicago. Chicago looks great in The Fugitive. I actually enjoy trying to guess the city where a film is set before the plot reveals it. I recognized New Orleans in Déjà Vu because of Angel Heart.

I adore seeing Washington, D.C. on film. Any movie shot on location in Washington, D.C. automatically gets a higher rating from me—provided the director actually knows how to use the backdrop, because some clearly don't. Generally speaking, I love movies set in cities I know personally.

If you want to check where a movie was shot, IMDb has a section for Filming Locations for every film.

Vienna before dawn.
Barcelona in a Spanish apartment.
Paris in Amélie.

I’ve always had a soft spot for European cities.

...great topic 🙂 👍 though I have to admit I’m probably not the best person to weigh in here—I actually tend to prefer "unreal" architecture (you know, the stuff built purely for the screen, classic film set design) over the "real" thing, like actual cities. That said, there are plenty of brilliant directors who use their own hometowns as backdrops (you pointed out some great 👍), but sometimes I don't even notice it. Or worse, it actually bugs me when a director keeps returning to the same city over and over, especially if it’s somewhere I've never been. It feels almost deceptive—like they're trying to shove their specific vision of a city down my throat and convince me that *this* is what it actually looks like... even if it isn't. Of course, if I already know a place—like how you mentioned Washington, D.C., which I found absolutely captivating in Matanicev Slava—or if I've read about it, seeing it on screen can be a total joy. I remember being so struck by the depiction of those apartment blocks in Summer of Biti following Lethamov's "monastery fortress"—even though those blocks were just background noise to me at the time (not that locations aren't always crucial in Lee-vo's work, obviously)...
...there is one exception to my rule, though: Dogma films. I'll forgive just about any portrayal of a real city or location in those, and honestly, I love them. The irony is that most of the directors behind those movies—not counting the newer ones, because let's face it, the whole movement lost its spark—were actually quite meticulous about using real cities as settings. My favorite exception is Julian and that gritty, almost pathetic way he portrays the city in 👍..I also love filmmakers who show the grime under the fingernails of a city rather than the postcard version. When Refn deconstructs Copenhagen to show us that the stylized world above ground has a dark underbelly, it hits so much harder than just seeing pretty shots of the same city 🙂
...what really gets me, though, is when directors know how to use the landscape—nature itself—as a vital part of the narrative. Just think about Breaking the Waves or Felicia's Journey by Egoyanov... or how Griebe bases half of Heaven on those Italian landscapes, making them feel like an actual character in the story 😍. That's the kind of stuff that's a genuine pleasure to watch 👍

...but nothing beats a film that actually questions its own production design within the story itself. When I think back to that scene where Koteas and his wife show off their "model home" to the "film producer"—complete with those fake books on the shelf—it gives me the chills 😍...but anyway, I've clearly wandered off-topic now, so I'll stop 😳

Rome in William Wyler's film: holiday in Rome!🙂

Venice in Visconti's:DEATH IN VENICE

New York : The Elephant Man

Sam Scott18 said:Vienna in Before Sunrise.

...Vienna in The Pianist...it's the perfect example of how much the setting can actually drive the story 😍
...though—as much as I love the book, the director, and the movie itself—I'll never quite get past the fact that they shot it in French (even if Isabelle Huppert and, surprisingly, a young Melvil Magimel are absolutely stellar 👍), because this is a story that really SHOULD have been told in German...

Personally, my absolute favorite is San Francisco. (Think Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Lombard Street, Chinatown, the cable Cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz... the works, plus all those tempting camera angles.)

Some standout examples include Bullitt by Peter Yates, Dirty Harry from Siegelov, and 48 Hours by Hill. Then there’s Fearless by Peter Weir and Sans Soleil by Chris Marker.

You also have Escape from Alcatraz where—following the "less is more" philosophy—even a single shot over the prison walls and the water is enough to satisfy any viewer. And then there's the newer The Rock, where everything (adhering to that "pretty but soulless" template) from the hotel interiors to the panoramic shots is easy on the eyes.

There's always room for a bit of cinematic glitz and glamour too, like that massive 007 vs. Max Zorin showdown atop the Golden Gate in the Bond spectacle A View to a Kill.

To top it all off: if you want the ultimate (!) cinematic experience of a sun-drenched or fog-shrouded San Francisco, go with Hitchcock's Vertigo; for those moody night scenes, you really can't beat Fincher's The Game.

And of course, the exception that proves the rule—that one set of stairs in front of an art museum and the climb that, for me, forever immortalized Philadelphia on film.

Great topic! 😍

Just a quick rundown of some movies everyone’s probably seen where the city isn't just a backdrop, but practically a lead character:

- Wings of Desire: the title pretty much gives it away, doesn't it?
- La Dolce Vita: The Eternal City 🙂
- Lost in Translation: Tokyo
- The Third Man: Vienna, the city of my dreams—though if we're bundling those up, we might as well toss in Before Sunrise and Before Sunset too.
- Chinatown: set in LA, which makes me wonder if a futuristic version of the city could be captured by something like Blade Runner?
- Midnight Cowboy; Taxi Driver; Manhattan; Annie Hall; Do the Right Thing...: all that Big Apple
- Match Point; The Fallen Idol; Closer; Notting Hill...: good old London
- Don't Look Now; Everyone Says I Love You: Venice
- A Room with a View: Florence

Out of all the fictional cities ever put on screen, the one that really stuck with me was Metropolis by Fritz Lang.

Larry Martin11 As follows:
Vienna, huh? The PianistIt’s such a perfect example of how the setting itself can become a vital character in a story, rather than just being a backdrop where things happen. 😍
Even though I absolutely love the novel, the director, and the movie itself, I just can't bring myself to forgive him for filming it in French—though, to be fair, both Isabelle Huppert and a surprisingly young Melvil Magimel were truly excellent. 👍 Honestly, it’s just one of those stories that absolutely HAD to be told in German...

You're absolutely right! That whole conflict between the mother and daughter, especially that slap from Annie Girardot, was just incredibly powerful. I hear you loud and clear! In German! What a shame. 😕
And what about my favorites?
Paris is just something else, isn't it? Minn Tanenbaum Paris
Paris. Diva
Paris The Aviator

I can't believe it!
👍 😉 🤣

The woman musketeer in Pazin 😁

Mexico City in ''The Killer against The Killer''😎 ...

This is a fantastic starting point for a discussion.

Rio de Janeiro in "City of God"
Medellin, Colombia in "Salvation"
San Francisco in "Bullitt"

New York in Welles' "trial," capturing that Kafkaesque atmosphere of the 1950s and the modern architecture of that era. One could argue that the role of modernism in urban architecture is vastly underrated!

Los Angeles in Soderbergh's "The Limey"

Toronto in Cronenberg's "Crash"

Richmond, Virginia in "The Crow"!

And of course, New York—it’s almost synonymous with Woody Allen films... just off the top of my head.

Ethan Howard45 said:Toronto in Cronenberg's "Crash"

...so, I'm reading through this, and I think I'm following most people—until I hit this... For me, "Crash" feels completely detached from reality. I just can't connect it to any actual city or setting, so this really caught me off guard. Maybe there's a bit of a connection to that sterile vibe you get in certain parts of North America? There's something about that specific atmosphere—even in beautiful places—that seems to prevent even geniuses like Cronenberg or Egoyan from making a location feel truly grounded. Though, to be fair, Egoyan never really seemed to aim for that anyway... Honestly, the strongest image I have of "old" Toronto comes from "Owning Mahowny," which is kind of bizarre when you think about it. But still, that can't be the only explanation...

...I don't know...🙂

Wenders' "Texas, Paris" is such a masterclass in atmosphere; he makes such brilliant use of those massive Houston overpasses and sprawling underpasses...

And then there is Wenders' "Wings of Desire" once again, which feels absolutely essential whenever one wishes to discuss the concept of a city serving as its own cinematic stage.

Walter defends Ottawa.😎

La La Land - Los Angeles

La La Land - Los Angeles