La “grande bellezza”: thirty years of Italian set locations

From the farthest north to the deepest south, the cities, towns, and countryside of Italy have provided set locations which show us images of an Italy that is multiform and various. Based on a massive database of more than 5000 Italian-set films from 1988 to 2016, this paper explores the geography of Italian set locations and their related cinematic landscapes. In order to achieve this goal, the study proceeds in two phases. First, the paper identifies the concentrations of set locations (filmogenic spots) overall and by genre in particular areas through spatial analysis tools. Second, it presents a qualitative analysis of the representation of selected locations, underlining the different roles played by the landscape in film narratives. By using an integrated quali-quantitative perspective, the paper offers an analysis that combines the spatial and the representational dimensions of Italian set locations over a wide area for a long period.