Movies to help travel vicariously

More from a NYT list:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/travel/television-international.html

Thanks Lola! The Movie "Before Midnight" sparked my interest. Nice way to revisit Kardamyli Greece. Lovely seaside town we visited in 2017. When we want to revisit Paris, we enjoy watching "Midnight in Paris." We went back in time a couple nights ago. Ah...

And some of the best films from and about Ireland: Waking Ned Devine, Michael Collins, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Field, The Quiet Man, Out of Ireland (a TV travel series broadcast on PBS) and Ryan's Daughter.

From Cameron Hewitt's blog:
10 Movies (and TV Shows) that Capture the Essence of Europe:
https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2019/12/movie-tv-europe/

I love My Life in Ruins, though some of the jokes don't hold up to today's standards. I haven't even been to Greece!

It really is vicarious travel as it follows a tour group through Greece as they bond with each other, and learn and love the history.

Thanks for posting. I started listing my favorites and realized that 1) most of them are set in Italy and 2) I own them all on DVD!
These are not listed in order of being my favorite. I like them all:

The Enchanted April
Summertime
Bread & Tulips
Casanova
Under the Tuscan Sun
Roman Holiday
A Room with a View
Wings of the Dove

Now that you've got me thinking about these movies, I will have a much easier April in isolation. I was too downhearted in March to watch my Irish films, watching only the Quiet Man. But maybe I will get to them, too.

And for May/June: I Capture the Castle - bluebells and solstice. Oh, and my new-ish DVD of Emma Rice's Midsummer Night's Dream filmed in the Globe. Yes!

The Grand Hotel series on Netflix is worth watching. It takes place at a seaside resort in Northern Spain. Those who enjoyed Downton Abbey (and are ok with subtitles) will probably also like Grand Hotel. The actors, cinematography, costumes, and sets/scenery are all very good.

The Quiet Man, The Sundowners, La Dolce Vida, Cinema Paradiso, Chocolate, Von Ryan’s Express, The Great Escape, Three Coins in The Fountain, Two For The Road, Ryan’s Daughter, Our Man In Havana, Room With A View, Talented Mr Ripley, Roman Holiday, Local Hero, Zorba The Greek, Breathless, To Catch A Thief, Amarcord, 8 1/2, Passage to India, Notting Hill, Comfort and Joy, Night and The City, Hard Days Night, Waking Ned Devine, Lawerence of Arabia, Our Man In Havana, Chariots of Fire, Vicki Christina Barcelona, Grand Prix, Knife In The Water, Clockwork Orange, Dr No, Out of Africa, In Bruges, Dr Zhivago, Swept Away ( NOT the one with Madonna) and El Cid ( only because I adored the ending, “ For God, For Cid, For Spain “ ) .

And yes folks I’m a film lover....

Claudia, thanks for reminding me of Room with a View. And then there is Wings of the Dove, not really one of my faves, but there are some nice Fortuny dresses. I have to amend my list!

A walk in the Clouds for beautiful vintage California

The Matador for Mexico City and Biutiful for Barcelona.
The Silence of Others for both Madrid and Buenos Aires.
Luc Besson's 'Transporter' action films, with Jason Statham, for Nice and the coast.

I will add Wings of the Dove to my list. Just read a description of the film and will try to find it. Does anyone know if it is Amazon Prime or Netflix?

Just found it on Amazon Prime and rented it for $3.99. Will watch it tonight! Thanks for this thread.

Has anyone mentioned "Pranzo di Ferragosto?" English title "Mid-August Lunch." It's sweet, and funny. I can't wait for the libraries to open up again so I can watch it. That one and "Pane e Tulipani" ("Bread and Tulips") are films we watch before every trip to Italy.

Oh, how about "Tea with Mussolini" as well. It's a dandy.

I have to report on the movie Wings of The Dove - it was very good and I loved the scenes in London and Venice, lots of rain in Venice. It’s based on a Henry James novel so the plot is unconventional and complicated in a way you do not expect. I give it a thumbs up as a travel movie with a literary theme and period costumes.

Two stand outs for me are "The Sound of Music" and "Roman Holiday" which always make me want to go back to Salzburg and Rome respectively.

A special mention for "The Last Emperor" which I just rewatched last night. It was filmed in China, with a lot of scenes in the Forbidden City. It won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Cinematography. I am not totally convinced it should have gotten Best Picture, but it certainly deserved the cinematography award. That also makes me want to go back to China.

I also like the Melissa McCarthy comedy "Spy" which was filmed in Paris, Rome and Hungary. Maybe this is because I first saw it on a plane trip to Europe. It is very funny, and in travel terms, I really enjoyed the scene where she takes a taxi when first arriving in Paris, and enjoys the sights and fancy hotels she sees, but then finds she is getting into sleazier parts of Paris, and finds her employers, the CIA, have put her in a real dump of a hotel. Jason Statham also steals the show in this movie.

Rick has book and film lists for all the countries he covers right on this website in the "Explore Europe" section. Go to that link, choose the country of interest from the pull down box, click on "Plan", then click on "(country name): Recommended Books and Movies". I imagine those lists are similar to the ones in the guidebooks, but I've never made that comparison.

1917 was a big one for me because ever since I read All Quiet on the Western Front in high school I've wondered what the trenches looked like. Gladiator is another one to help feed my imagination of how ancient Rome looked.

Don't forget The Great Courses offerings. Their "Guide to Essential Italy" is wonderful, and will have you yearning to go.

I've always loved the Amazing Race and it inspired our decision to take the RS Loire to the South of France tour last year.

I love this thread!! I cry every time I see Out of Africa. It immediately takes me back to a trip to Tsavo, Kenya. I will add to the list films that don't think have been mentioned. Not all of them are upbeat, but they all have an aspect that reminds me of some place I have visited.

Ireland - Circle of Friends - visited Inistioge in Kilkenny, beautiful location.
Ireland - Leap Year - even though no location is accurately identified, it does have stunning location and feel
Greece Islands - Shirley Valentine, Mama Mia
Cozumel/Isla Mujeres Mexico - Against all Odds

Africa - Queen of Katwe, Mister Johnson, the Gods Must be Crazy, Born Free, The Constant Gardner, The Last King of Scotland, Blood Diamonds, Nowhere in Africa.

Italy - Call Me by your Name, Eat Pray Love, Life is Beautiful, Ill Postino, The American
France - Charade, A Good Year, The Hundred Foot Journey, Amelie, Funny Face
China - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Farewell, The Painted Vail
England/Canada/China - The Red Violin
South America - The Motorcycle Diaries, The Official Story, Proof of Life, The Mission, City of God, Central Station
Vietnam - Heaven and Earth, The Quiet American, Indochine, The Lover