19 Unforgettable Movies Set on Lake Como To Watch During Lockdown
A scene from “Rocco e I suoi fratelli”, by Luchino Visconti
Hardened cinephiles, this article is for you.
Let’s face it: Lake Como is a natural movie set with an indisputable appeal. That’s why our lake shores and villas have always been chosen as set for famous movies of national and international appeal.
After all, there’s nothing quite like an Italian backdrop to frame class and luxury, vivid action, or just looooove.
An interesting fact to know is that the Chamber of Commerce in Como has produced a very cool guide called “Le stelle del Lago di Como”, an unmissable review of all the locations on the lake that have been chosen as sets for international and national movies: Villa Balbianello, Villa d’Este, Teresio Olivelli park in Tremezzo, up to the charming lakes in the Brianza area.
You can download the guide here!
In our view, a trip to Lake Como should start far before jumping on a plane to Milano: it can easily start on your couch, watching an absorbing movie where our stunning lake with its vibrant colors and soothing vibe is on the background.
That’s why we have thought to make up a list of 19 movies shot on Lake Como between 1925 and 2019: what better moment than the lockdown, after all, to escape with your mind to our little paradise!
“The Pleasure Garden” (1925), by Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock discovered Lario in 1924, at the age of 25, while he was the assistant director of Graham Cutts for the movie The Sin of the Puritan. Hitchcock irremediably fell in love with the lake: in the summer of 1925 he returns to Como, this time as a director, to shoot the moon of honey between Virginia Valli (the great American diva of the silent) and Miles Mander in his debut (silent) movie The Pleasure Garden.
In the movie you can see Isola Comacina, Villa d’Este and most of all the breathtaking Orrido di Nesso.
“Grand Hotel” (1932) by Edmund Goulding, from Vicki Baum’s best-seller (1929)
Greta Garbo is Madame Grusinskaya, a fading ballet star who has a liaison with Felix, an indebted baron.
Although none of the film scenes was actually shot there, Lake Como is evoked as a sort of paradise by Garbo, who dreams of retiring to Tremezzo, one of the most charming towns on the western bank of the lake.
“... and then we will go to Tremezzo; I have a villa there, the sun will shine! [...] We will be happy and alone [...] It will be divine!”, the ballet star tells her lover. And, later, she confides to her maid: “Suzette, we will soon be having a holiday. A month in Tremezzo! I want to feel like a woman again. A simple life, full of peace and happiness!”.
“Piccolo Mondo Antico” (1941) by Mario Soldati, based on Fogazzaro’s 1895 novel
Here, marquess Maironi’s home is the stunning Villa del Balbianello in Lenno.
“Malombra” (1942) by Mario Soldati
Another movie by Soldati is Malombra, based again on Fogazzaro’s novel of the same name. The main set here is Villa Pliniana in Torno, where the young Marina is forced to live alone by her uncle until she would have got married.
“La chartreuse de Parme” (1947), by Christian-Jaque, based on Stendhal’s novel
After enlisting in the army of Napoleon and surviving in Waterloo, Fabrizio Del Dongo (Gérard Philipe) returns to “Grianta” (now Griante) castle on Lake Como. The castle was already a landmark in Stendhal’s time: the noble dwelling boasted two towers, which in 1858 were incorporated in what came to be known as Casa Riva, a building still existing today.
In The Charterhouse of Parma, when describing the countryside around the castle, Stendhal wrote that Lake Como is the most beautiful place on earth:
«all those enchanting spots in the neighbourhood of Grianta, which travellers have made so famous: the Villa Melzi on the other shore of the lake, opposite the castle, and commanding a fine view of it […]».
“Rocco e I suoi fratelli” (1960), by Luchino Visconti
This is considered one of the best movies of Italian cinematographic history: it’s been recently restored by The Film Foundation by Martin Scorsese, together with the support of Gucci.
The movie tells the tragic story of a poor family from the South of Italy who seek a better life in the thriving industrial economy of Milan.
The scenes in Bellagio with Nadia (Annie Girardot) an Simone (Renato Salvatori) are the happiest of the whole movie. Walking in the area now known as Lungolago Europa, Nadia talks about Hotel Gran Bretagna hotel to her fiancé Simone: “[...] it’s a hotel, but a perfect one, my dear. [...]". And Simone promises: “Before the end of the year, I’ll bring you there”.
Fun fact: the two actors got married after this movie!
“La caduta degli dei” (1969) and “Ludwing” (1973), by Luchino Visconti
La caduta degli dei, with some scenes shot by Lake Como, is inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth; together with Ludwing (again with our lake on the background in some points) and Morte a Venezia (1971), is part of the famous German trilogy.
“Una vita difficile” (1961), by Dino Risi
This was by far one of the finest movies made in Italy in the ‘60s, and here at Lakeside we are big fans! Not by chance, this movie has been included in the famous “100 film italiani da salvare”, a list (made by Cinecittà Holding and Giornate degli Autori at Mostra del Cinema di Venezia) of 100 movies that have made an impact on the collective memory of Italians between 1942 and 1978.
Lenno (Tremezzina) is one of the main settings: the movie indeed opens on the spectacular beach of Golfo di Venere. Among the various venues we also find Cerano d’Intelvi (with its cozy windmill along the Telo river where Silvio, Alberto Sordi, and Elena, Lea Massari, spent a night together), and Dongo, northern Lake Como.
“Bobby Deerfield” (1977), by Sydney Pollack
In this classic, the titular formula 1 racing champion Bobby (Al Pacino) makes a pilgrimage to the Alps to visit a pilot who almost died in a crash during one of his races. Here he meets the beautiful Lillian (Marthe Keller) and the two embark on a bittersweet romance at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio.
Punta Spartivento, the exceptional observatory on the three branches of Lake Como, is featured in the movie accompanied by the original song “Bellagio Vista” of the Oscar winner Dave Grusin.
“Once upon a time in America” (1984), by Sergio Leone, based on Harry Grey’s novel The Hoods (1983)
This is the last movie by Sergio Leone. In the sequence in which prohibition boss Noodles (Robert De Niro) takes Deborah (Elizabeth McGovern) to a restaurant he has rented exclusively for them on the coast, the images of the lido in Venice (the main set for this scene) are edited with shots of Bellagio on Lake Como.
“A month by the lake” (1995), by John Irvin
This movie, with Uma Thurman and Alessandro Gassman, was filmed in various locations around Lake Como.
“Villa Balbianello looks out over the lake and it’s bathed in sunlight all day long”: with these words at the beginning of the movie, Vanessa Redgrave greets the sumptuous location of the hotel in Lenno where she habitually spends her holidays. Other historical villas in the area were also used as movie sets: Villa Sola Cabiati “La Quiete” in Bolvedro, Tremezzo; and Villa Olmo in Como.
Some outdoor scenes were shot in Acquaseria (San Siro), Grandola and Bellagio.
“Frankenstein unbound” (1990), by Robert Corman
Corman chose Villa Melzi in Bellagio as the home of three famous English writers: Percy Shelley and his wife Mary (the author of Frankenstein), and Lord Byron. Many scenes are shot on the first floor and in the garden.
“The Luzhin defence” (2001) by Marleen Gorris, based on Nabokov’s novel “Zashchita Luzhina” (1930)
The movie depicts an international chess championship set in the stunning Villa Erba in Cernobbio, during the 1920’s. John Turturro acts as always: just spectacularly.
To all intents and purposes, the villa is one of film’s co-stars. The reception room in which the awkward, absent-minded Luzhin first appears, the bedroom in which the chess genius shuts himself to play out his obsessions, the park where he falls in love with Natalia, and the dock from which they set off for a romantic boat ride on the lake, play a key role in creating the overall vibe of the movie.
Tremezzo public park is also featured.
“Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” (2002) by George Lucas
Some of the scenes were shot at Villa Balbianello in Lenno, and at Teresio Olivelli park in Tremezzo, including the clandestine marriage of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.
Unfortunately the Tremezzo scenes were cut in the final edit, but Lake Como itself firmly remains an important part of the epic Star Wars legacy.
The 18th cent. Villa Balbianello is the home and hideaway of senator Padmè Amidala (called Varykino in the movie). The loggia of the villa provides the backdrop for the famous final scene in which Padmè and the young Anakin kiss.
“Ocean’s Twelve” (2004), by Steven Soderbergh
In this movie, the infamous thief The Night Fox (Vincent Cassel) resides in Villa Erba, where he has several encounters with Daniel Ocean (Clooney), his rival.
“007 Casino Royale” (2006), by Martin Campbell
Locations around Lake Como appear several times in this movie. Villa del Balbianello plays the hospital where James Bond spends a period of convalescence (and where he kisses the bond girl Versper); in the final scene, Bond hunts down Mr. White at Villa Gaeta in San Siro, northern Lake Como.
Then, at the top of the steps that lead to the villa’s main entrance, he pronounces his famous catchphrase: “My name’s Bond, James Bond”.
“The other man” (2008), by Richard Eyre
The movie tells the story of Lisa, who leaves her husband to escape with her lover on Lake Como. In jealousy, her husband leaves to meet the other man, in a key scene in the hall of famous Hotel del Lario.
“Murder Mystery” (2019), by Kyle Newacheck
We got so excited in July 2018 when some scenes of this movie, with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, were shot right a few steps from our office in Argegno!
You will see many (full of action) scenes with the villages from Laglio to Argegno on the background. Tempio Voltiano in Como is featured as well, with a spectacular scene where a car destroys a seaplane and then crashes into a statue between the War Memorial and the Tempio Voltiano.
Let us know in the comments below which is your favorite one, or if we have forgotten any title!
Next time you’ll be on the lake, we’ll quiz you on these movies if you’ll drop by our offices ;)
Article by Laura Zanotta
Source: Le Stelle del Lago di Como, from Camera di Commercio di Como and the contribution of Pietro Berra
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