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CINEMA TRIPS
Friends! We invite you to the world of travel and cinema! We continue to travel with the best movies that are about traveling and travelers.
Read the first part here. Second part is here.
In this part, we will travel around the world with the characters of the movies “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (2013), “Wild” (2014), “A Walk in the Woods” (2015), “The Lion” (2016) and “The Lost City of Zet” (2016).
We will start our selection with trips to Greenland, Iceland and the Himalayas.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The feature film “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (2013, USA) is an adventure melodrama with comedy elements directed by Ben Stiller. Screen adaptation of James Thurber’s story (1939) of the same name, remake of the film, shot in 1947 and directed by Norman Z. McLeod.
The story tells about a boring middle aged guy Walter who works in a travel magazine. When both he and his co-worker are on the verge of losing their jobs, Walter does everything he can to save it by embarking on an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
Ben Stiller starred in the lead role.
Actor Ben Stiller almost gave up the “green screen” in favor of location filming and, accordingly, almost stunts. The world in this film looks huge, including due to the well-chosen shooting locations, where green hills are replaced by snow-capped peaks with names like Eyjafjällajokudl.
Wild
The next journey is to the USA, the Pacific Crest Trail.
The feature film “Wild” (2014, USA) – adventure biographical drama directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, chronicling Cheryl Strayed’s 1,100-mile solo hike. Reese Witherspoon starred in the lead role.
The main character travels along the route of the Pacific Crest Trail, official name – The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, abbreviated – PCT) is a 4,279-kilometer hiking and horse-riding tourist route that runs along the coast, from the border with Mexico to the border with Canada. The route of the trail passes far from large settlements through picturesque corners of wild, untouched nature. It is the westernmost and second longest route of the Triple Crown of Hiking (Appalachian Trail (AT), The Continental Divide Trail (CDT), and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).
The book and the film contributed to greater popularization of the route, particularly among tourists from other countries.
A Walk in the Woods
The next film will send you to the Appalachian Mountains.
The feature film “A Walk in the Woods” (2015, USA) is an adventure biographical film directed by Ken Kwapis. It tells about 70-year-old writer Bill Bryson, who has lived in England for many years and is tired of the metropolis. Once he decides to return to his homeland, to the USA. The purpose of the trip is to enjoy the mountains, so the hero plans to hike the Appalachian Trail.
Starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenbergen.
Appalachian Trail – a marked route for hiking tourism in the North American Appalachian mountain system, has a length of about 3,500 km from Katahdin Mountain (Maine) in the north to Springer Mountain (Georgia) in the south.
Currently, tourism along this route is extremely popular. There are dozens of Appalachian Trail hiking clubs in the United States. From spring to autumn, thousands of tourists pass along the route (or part of it).
The Lion
And now let’s go to India!
The feature film “Lion” (2016, Australia-USA-UK) is a biographical drama directed by Garth Davis. The screenplay was developed by Luke Davies based on Sarah Brierley’s autobiography “The Long Way Home”. The story tells about an Australian couple who adopted a five-year-old Indian boy who was lost hundreds of kilometers from home. After 25 years, he goes in search of his lost family.
Starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman.
The shooting of the film began in January 2015 in Kolkata, India. In mid-April, filming moved to Melbourne, Australia, and then to Tasmania. Scenes with Nicole Kidman were shot in Australia.
For the filming of an important scene, the film team got permission to block a part of Calcutta’s Howrah Bridge, the largest cantilever bridge in the world, where traffic does not stop day or night. The fact that one of its flights was closed from 2 to 4 a.m. for the shooting of the film is considered by the film team to be one of its main organizational achievements.
Greg Fraser, the film’s cinematographer, shot the film with different cameras (all digital), but used the same set for the India and Australia shoots. He says that this was decided from the beginning – although the option of shooting India on film and Australia on digital was discussed, the team came to the conclusion that, despite the different locations, we see the film through the eyes of the main character, and his point of view does not change depending on the location.
The Lost City of Zet
The last trip is to the Amazon.
The feature film “The Lost City of Zet” (2016, USA) is an American adventure historical drama directed by James Gray, based on the book of the same name by David Gran. The book, in turn, is based on real events that tell the story of a British explorer, Major Percival Fawcett, who disappeared while looking for a mysterious city in the Amazon in the 1920s. Starring Charlie Hunnam, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and Sienna Miller.
The shooting began in 2015 in Northern Ireland and then moved to Colombia. The film crew went to the jungle, where they had to face snakes, spiders, and crocodiles. The shooting in the jungle lasted six weeks.
The cinematographer of the film was Oscar nominee Darius Honji, who had already worked with the director on other projects.
In the digital age, the film was consciously shot on 35 mm film, which caused a lot of logistical problems. In addition, the operator had to teach a young assistant from Bogotá to load film into the camera, which few people know how to do now. But the result is worth it. It is a film that can convey the incredible atmosphere of the jungle. The story of travel and obsession with discoveries, filmed with the help of a computer, would not look so spectacular and atmospheric.
First, the viewer finds himself in England in the Edwardian era, then he becomes a witness to the war, and then he goes on a journey through the jungle. Each of the three parts of the film can be touching in its own way.
The most effective things for stress and fatigue
A cozy couch, a great movie, and vacation thoughts are the most effective things for stress and fatigue. Especially when it is not possible to travel. All locations can be viewed on the Google map.
We wish you a wonderful weekend!
Written by Olena Chepurna, especially for ArtTravel