Vienna in film

The Third Man

Year: 1949

Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Andrea Eckert, Hanno Pöschl, Karl Bruckschwaiger, Tex Rubinowitz, Erni Mangold.

What’s it about? Spending an evening together in Vienna after meeting on a train, Jesse and Celine find that there is more to their initial connection, but have to face the fact that one night together is all they have. A real tear jerker…

Shooting locations in Vienna: Wiener Riesenrad, Ringstraßenbahn, Kleines Café, Friedhof der Namenlosen, Westbahnhof Plattform 7, Zollamtssteg, Tram 43/44 Schottentor, Schallplattenhandlung Teuchtler ‘Alt & Neu’, Maria am Gestade, Salztorbrücke (Donaukanal), Arena Wien, Mölkersteig, Spittelberg, Café Sperl, Albertina, Club Roxy, Palais Schwarzenberg

Plus:
+ There’s a tour for this movie’s locations as well, see here (surprisetours.at)
+ The idea came from a personal experience by the director who spent a night with a stranger in Philadelphia. Never seeing the girl again, he later found out that she died in an accident a few years after they met
+ Tex Rubinowitz runs into them in the scene on Zollamtssteg

360

Year: 2011

Director: Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johannes Krisch, Lucia Siposova, Gabriela Marcinkova, Jamel Debbouze, Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Dinara Drukarova, Maria Flor, Juliano Cazzere, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Ben Foster

What’s the film about? Weaving together the lives and stories of people living in different places in the world with their disparate backgrounds and their interlinked relationships the film is a catching and dynamic tale of love in the 21st century. 

Shooting locations in Vienna: apart from also being shot in Paris, USA, UK and Slovakia, the film was shot on Vienna’s Ringstraße, the Hotel Le Meridien, Vienna’s 15th district and the Vienna International Busterminal Erdberg.

Plus: Jude Law was in Vienna for the shooting! You can go and sit in the very same seat he did at Pasta and More in the 3rd district, next to Rochusmarkt.

Scorpio

Year: 1973

Director: Michael Winner
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Paul Scofield

What’s the film about? Cross, an old CIA agent is supposed to be killed by his former on and off partner, Scorpio – a cold-blooded and systematic killer – and has to use all the tricks he’s learned during his time at the CIA in a dangerous game of hide-and-seek.

Shooting locations in Vienna: Palmenhaus Schönbrunn, Karlsplatz and other places around the city

Plus: Did you know that the famous car chase scene on Karlsplatz was partly (by mistake) filmed out of the specified area set aside for it, resulting in real cars honking and real pedestrians screaming.

A Dangerous Method

Year: 2011

Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel

What’s the film about? Sabina Spielrein starts treatment with Dr. Carl Jung under the direction of Dr. Sigmund Freud. The film follows the development of the three people’s relationship, and the rift caused by Jung’s challenge towards Freud’s theories and beliefs.

Shooting locations in Vienna: Schloss Belvedere, Café Sperl, Sigmund Freud Museum

Caché

Year: 2005

Director: Michael Haneke
Starring: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Bénichou, Annie Girardot

What’s the film about? Having been sent a package with video footage of him and his family, Georges, a TV show host, finds himself in an alarming situation. Without the help of the police, he has to find out himself who this ominous observer might be.

Shooting locations: Vienna and Paris

Plus: Interior and exterior shots of the apartment were filmed separately in Vienna and Paris and made to look the same for continuity.

Mission: Impossible 5

Year: 2015

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise. What more do we need to say?

What’s the film about? Well, you’ll have to wait to find out won’t you… It’s still in the making and is due to be released in 2015!

Shooting locations in Vienna: in, on and around Staatsoper Wien

Plus:
+ Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie were spotted casually riding on the U4 metro line during the day
+ The Ringstraße had to be closed to traffic for several evenings in a row during the shooting.

Amadeus

Year: 1984

Director: Milos Forman
Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice.

What’s the film about? That little child progidy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life told by rival Antonio Salieri.

Shooting locations in Vienna: Funny thing – it’s mostly Prague as a substitue for Vienna, but also on Vienna’s Südbahnhof.

Plus: Music professors studied the piano keystrokes in the movie and discovered that they were not once struck incorrectly

Immortal Beloved

Year: 1994

Director: Bernard Rose
Starring: Gary Oldman, Isabella Rossellini

What’s the film about? The life of Ludwig Van Beethoven

Shooting locations in Vienna: Prague and Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof

Plus: Gary Oldman shot this movie in the same year as Léon: The Professional

The Three Musketeers

Year: 1993

Director: Stephen Herek (Disney Production)
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O’Donnell, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry

What’s the film about? Athos, Porthos, and Aramis fight together with wannabe-musketeer D’Artagnan against all evil and they live happily ever after … the end. Ahhm.

Shooting locations in Vienna: Hofburg Wien and places in Perchtoldsdorf, Korneuburg (which should count as Vienna as well)

Plus:
+ Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp turned down parts in the movie
+ Charlie Sheen hates horses