Your city in film

[Ek weet nie]

I saw Kisses at the weekend. It's a new Irish film that received some Scandinavian funding as well as from the Irish film board. It's a story of two kids/ young teenagers experiencing a rough home life with abusive parents on one hand and abusive uncles on the other.

The main filming location in the first third of the film is Glenshane Drive, Tallaght. It's close to Fettercairn and Jobstown. By close I mean less than a ten minute walk. This area would regularly be namechecked as one of the absolute worst in Dublin. As it happens I now live relatively close by on the other side of Tallaght and have relatives living in the area so I know it quite well.

It isn't a great film by any means and I wouldn't particularly recommend it to anyone not from Dublin. However, as the story progress and they go to the city and traipse around familiar streets I was entranced. I don't think I've ever seen the city I know captured as well on camera. This wasn't an idealised Tourist Board image or a nondescript street masquerading as a representation of the real Dublin. If they said they were going to Gardiner St. they went there.

It's unlikely many have gone to see this but to avoid a nil thread can other OTFers mention a film that they believe captures the city that they experience on a day to day basis?

[ursus arctos]

Your city in film

I'm fortunate to have a huge number of possible candidates, but I still tear up at the opening credits of Manhattan.

Though for "day to day" of the city when I was growing up, Taxi Driver takes some beating.

[Incandenza]

Your city in film

This will take some serious thinking for me.

[Wyatt Earp]

Your city in film

In one way, though not of course in others, Shaun of the Dead actually comes pretty close, I reckon.

[Ginger Yellow]

Your city in film

Excellent call - much as Spaced captured my and my friends lives perfectly in some ways and of course not in others.

[Guy Profumo]

Your city in film

I.D.
I didn't know you cared.
A Very British Coup.
The Manageress
When Saturday Comes

(I'm sure there's at least one more, somewhere, but can't quite think of it...)

[My Name Is Ian]

Your city in film

The towns that I have spent my adult life in:

St Albans: Erm, various external "Eastenders" shots and "Birthday Girl", a fairly wretched Nicole Kidman was set there.

London: "Spaced" for me, too. "Meteor Street" was a road in Tufnell Park which was about a five minute walk from where I lived at the time, and a lot of the filming was done in and around Kentish Town, Holloway and Camden.

Brighton: Well, you've got your "Quadrophenia" and "Brighton Rock" (the most surprising thing about which is how little Brighton has changed since 1947), obviously. Considerably more importantly than this, the outdoor scenes for "Carry On At Your Convenience" and "Carry On Girls" were shot in Brighton and, most significantly of all, Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest at The Dome in Brighton:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lRJVXszKu4Q

[Heliotrope]

Your city in film

Guy: The Full Monty? (Or maybe you meant to leave that out.)

[evilC]

Your city in film

I can only think of one appearance by Farnham in recent film:

When the four 'survivors' camped by a ruin in '28 Days Later' and the main character had his 'dream sequence', that was at Waverley Abbey, about 2 miles from where I live.

About 4 miles down the A287 is Frensham Little Pond, where the forest sequences of 'Gladiator' were filmed. One of my mates was an extra in it, as well as 'Gladiatress' - the 'Smack The Pony' spoof of the blockbuster. Frensham Little Pond also appeared in parts of an episode of Doctor Who. (Yeah, I've got your attention now, haven't I?! Actually, that DoctorWhoLocations.net will provide endless minutes of entertainment for some of you, I'm sure.) It's a well-known location for filming forest sequences now and I've stumbled across one shoot there, myself.

I work in Guildford and Guildford Cathedral featured in an early sequence in 'The Omen', where Damien is getting spooked as they approach the huge place of worship. Perfectly normal childhood reaction, if you ask me!

[Amor de Cosmos]

Your city in film

Vancouver's been the location for so many films where it's playing somewhere else (pick your favourite X-Files episode)I've lost count. The best recent "show it like it is" productions have been Chris Haddock's TV series's: Intelligence, Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall but, outside Canada, I imagine you have to beat the bushes to find them which is a shame.

The only movie I'm aware of that featured Stevenage as Stevenage was Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and it looked much, much, more salubrious than it ever was, and it's got much worse since.

[Taylor]

Your city in film

I have to say, going on what you see of Stevenage from the train, it looks like the single most soulless and depressing place in the world. People go on about grim Northern towns, but at least in places like Macclesfield and Middlesborough you get a few nice old buildings or at least a sense of history. When your train pulls into Stevenage station, you look out of the window and think "oh Christ, look at that horrible tacky retail park" - then you pull out of the station, the valley opens up so you can see for a mile or two, and you realise that's not a horrible tacky retail park, it's Stevenage.

I agree about "Shaun Of The Dead", re. north London. Thought the film was sort-of-OK but nothing amazing, but I enjoyed seeing London as I know it. I've never paid much attention to "Spaced", but I can believe it's similarly evocative of, er, what I see every day. I used to see that ginger bloke (whose name I've just forgotten) around my way quite a bit, in pubs and shops, so even that part was accurate.

As for the olden days, a few scenes in "The Professionals" were shot just round the corner from me but, this area being what it is, the places are 100% identical now. It's quite unnerving to see the street you walked down yesterday, looking like it did then, with Bodie and Doyle screeching round a corner on the trail of some Maoist students who are going to let off a nuclear bomb or something.

[Guest]

Your city in film

For Southeast London: Winterbottom's Wonderland; also, Intimacy

currently I actually brought Le petit soldat DVD with me to watch, but I'm ambivalent about Godard so haven't got round to it yet.

[Reed John]

Your city in film

Tons of films set in Washington. The only recent ones I can think of that is not a spy caper, military thriller, and not about the president or politics are Wedding Crashers and Minority Report.

St. Elmo's Fire, a brat-pack coming of age thing from the 1980s is set in Georgetown. The Exorcist was set there too.

In Idiocracy, there's a shot of FDA's Parklawn headquarters. That's right across the street from my office.

[trimster]

Your city in film

Plenty of big Australian movies have been filmed in rural South Australia- Breaker Morant, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Sunday Too Far Away, Gallipoli- but not that many in Adelaide itself. One scene in Gallipoli was shot at Adelaide Railway Station. And a great early Peter Weir movie, The Plumber, was shot entirely in Adelaide: one scene at Flinders University; another in my favourite Italian restaurant on Hindley St (sadly now demolished); the block of flats where the main characters lived was actually the Home for Incurables at Fullarton.

[Guest]

Your city in film

Picnic at Hanging Rock's an interesting one given that the rock itself is just outside Melbourne. Apparently, the local town, Woodend, looked too modern for the period setting so most of the filming was done in SA.

There have been a huge number of films shot in Melbourne in the last few years including Charlotte's Web and almost everything with Nicholas Cage in it.

The most famous Made in Melbourne film would have to be Mad Max although, from a local perspective, everyone here loves The Castle.

In 1959, On the Beach was filmed on Phillip Island, south of Melbourne. In a few weeks, I'll be staying in the same hotel that Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck were based in while much of the filming was done on the stretch of beach at the bottom of the hotel gardens.

[Wyatt Earp]

Your city in film

If we're allowing ourselves TV series, my life was once pretty much completely described by the first series of Teachers. The NUT slagged it off for being inaccurate; apart from the fact that no-one ever does any work, though, I thought it was practically a documentary.

Not really "my city", though: apologies for derailing.

[San Bernardhinault]

Your city in film

My home city, Oxford, is covered in all kinds of places in all kinds of detail. And almost none of them get it. Something like Oxford Blues is entertaining but is parody even of 1980s colleges, and seems to pretend the city doesn't exist. Morse is much the same - although he allows both the university and the pretty Cotswoldy villages to exist.

I really can't think of anything set in Oxford that isn't basically focussed on the university.

[Spearmint Rhino]

Your city in film

Another Brighton film is a terrible Michael Winner sexploitation flick from the 90s called Dirty Weekend. Avoid.*

For Barry, can I have Gavin & Stacey? Cos there's fuck all else.

In London, I used to enjoy walking around pretending I was in The Professionals. There were only a handful of neighbourhoods where it was feasible, mind.

*edit: There's also Julie Burchill's teen lesbo series, Sugar Rush. Didn't think much of that either.

[Gangster Octopus]

Your city in film

Guy Potger wrote:

I.D.
I didn't know you cared.
A Very British Coup.
The Manageress
When Saturday Comes

(I'm sure there's at least one more, somewhere, but can't quite think of it...)

Out Of The Blue

[Stumpy Pepys]

Your city in film

The only film set in Bolton I know of was a kitchen sink drama called The Family Way, which was set where my Nan used to live. Otherwise it has to be Phoenix Nights.

A fair chunk of Sliding Doors was filmed where I used to live in Battersea.

[S. aureus]

Your city in film

Well there are billions set in San Francisco, frequently of the out of work actor lives in a $4 million dollar house somehow variety, but I don't actually live there. Not sure if there's anything set in the Bay Area suburbs.

[Ginger Yellow]

Your city in film

I really can't think of anything set in Oxford that isn't basically focussed on the university.

The '86 Cup Final video
The '96 Swindon game video

[Ginger Yellow]

Your city in film

You can't mention Melbourne on screen and not have Kath & Kim.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Your city in film

I don't have a 'my' city (breaks into manly forces brat sobs).

Have lived in newcastle long enough to recognize it on film and tv tho':

Our Friends in North
Spender
Likely Lads
Byker Grove
get Carter
Stormy Monday
some recent shite with Patsy kensit

maybe one or two more

[My Name Is Ian]

Your city in film

I.D.
I didn't know you cared.
A Very British Coup.
The Manageress
When Saturday Comes

(I'm sure there's at least one more, somewhere, but can't quite think of it...)

"Threads".