Delicious Italy

Lemon crush

Further to our first post about the new James Bond film being filmed by Lake Garda, it seems  not everything is going to plan.

Not only was a 250K Aston Martin DBS driven into the Lake on its way to the shoot location, but a couple of stunt men also escaped unhurt from another smash only yesterday.

Well, at least they do these things for real like in the old days. No CGI effects here, mate.

Also about this time of the year the annual stats come out telling us where the most dangerous roads in Italy are located. 

If even stuntmen are crashing high performance cars you may think the B roads around Lake Garda might be among them, but alas.

The most dangerous roads include the Pontina south of Rome and the Venice-Marghera by-pass.   

You will need one this spring near Lake Garda.

My Brother is an Only Child

It would be great if you could help us with our release of MY BROTHER. Our release date is April 4th and please do put me in touch with your uk team. Let me know if there is anything we can do - Revolver Entertainment, London

The Revolver Group, UK
"My Brother is an Only Child” - a film by Daniele Luchetti's. UK release date 4th April 2008   

James Bond lemons

From food icons to cinema icons.

The next James Bond film 'Quantum of Solace' is going to feature scenes shot along the Riviera dei Limoni on the shores of Lake Garda.

April is set for the production team to arrive having previously spent some time in Siena.   

Our local sources tell us an Aston Martin chase will be filmed along the streets leading towards Tremosine and Limone, then Capo Tempesta and Malcesine.

Apparently the new film will be called "Un po' di conforto" in Italian.

And what a gift to tourism in the region for 2009. Perhaps they could have chosen Rimini!

Recreate your own classic sports care chases in Italy here.

The Minestrone

Digital television is wonderful thing.

Without it there would be no chance of seeing all but forgotten films from the last 40 years of Italian cinema.

'Villa Borghese', 'Stazione Termini', 'Pollo Ruspante', superb!

Last night was the turn of Il Minestrone from 1981 featuring Roberto Benigni playing the Maestro.

In short, Il Maestro is a master non payer of restaurant bills in the greater Rome area.

He bumps into two friends down on their luck in jail and agrees to let them in on the scam.

It almost goes horribly wrong as the restaurant owner locks the osteria door and puts the key in his pocket to keep out a stray dog previously befriended by Il Maestro's table companions.

What does go wrong is that the three sleep off the evening 'hobo' style in a parked train carriage. They wake up the following morning in Poggibonsi with not a restaurant in sight.

Walking the country roads Il Maestro reels off the perfect Tuscan menu which is the soul of the film.

“Toscana… Toscana….terra di bistecche alla fiorentina, carne alla griglia, piena di salsicce, tutta roba alla brace. Toscana… e i fagioli al fiasco? Pensate delle donne si alzano che ancora è notte prendono questi fagioli che sono stati minimo dodici ore a mollo li mettono in un fiasco spaiato con un po’ d’acqua, poi ci mettono l’olio bono, la salvia, aglio erbe, odori e lo tappano con l’ovatta…poi lo mettono sulla brace per tre quattro ore, piano…piano. Prima ancora che i fagioli siano cotti assorbono l’olio… blrublrublrubrlu… poi prima ancora che siano cottiaggiungono ancora un po’ d’olio, sale, pepe e…pepe”

They should have left it there, but the film ends with the three in a run down Tuscany farmhouse encouraging a wizened 90 year old to rustle up a pasta.

Bizzarely, Il Maestro discovers he has a tortoise under his jacket collar and the old lady is inspired to cook it.

Too much for a Tuscan DOC like Benigni and the three scarper.