I’m always going on about how the Maremma is Tuscany undiscovered, Italy off the beaten tourist track, but in actual fact, this haven away from tourist menus and souvenir shops has been lighting up the silver screen for almost 40 years.

To prove my point, they filmed a new Italian language film in Manciano in October 2014. It’s called Maremmamara and it’s a story about a little boy who moves from Rome to the country for a better life. It should be hitting the film festival circuit sometime next year.

So cameras at the ready and pens to paper. These are the top films/tv shows/ads that have featured the Maremma.

Their beauty onscreen is as enticing as it is off it… so you might just want to add them to your bucket list!

1. Fiat commercial, September 2014

Fiat’s latest spot was filmed entirely in Pitigliano and Sorano. It’s a hilarious little skit about an old man who chases his little blue pill of viagra through the town. I have no idea what the car looks like because I was too distracted by just how perfectly they captured Pitigliano’s picturesque small town atmosphere.

2. Le Meraviglie, August 2014

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Further down the road, Sovana and Sorano hosted screen siren Monica Bellucci while she starred in Le Meraviglie. The feature length film went on to win the Grand Prix award at Cannes and is a beautiful story about a father and farmer who goes out of his way to teach his children the values of country life.

3. Quantum of Solace, 2008

Maremmamara features famous Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini, who is no stranger to the Maremma. He shot one of his two James Bond movies on location in Talamone. In the film, Bond arrives in a speed boat to Giancarlo’s luxury villa and the images of Talamone incredible seaside make me want to commandeer a yacht every time I watch the scene.

4. Pinocchio, 2002

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Italian comedy genius, Roberto Benigni, best known for La Vita è Bella, shot his sweet adaptation of the famous children’s story in the Parco della Maremma and Alberese near Grosseto. The film definitely imbued the nature park with a fairytale wonder.

5. The Talented Mr Ripley, 1999

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The psychological thriller might have pretended to be in San Remo, but most of the film’s seaside shots were actually filmed in Porto Ercole and along the Argentario coastline, which the director said had the perfect sense of isolation and natural beauty.

  6. Barabbas, 1961 and Helen of Troy, 1956

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Old, old movies, but my favourite examples because they captured the province when it really was an undiscovered destination. My husband always wishes he could have lived in the ’50s and ’60s when mass tourism was unheard of and while we can’t go back in time, we can soak up the charm of the era with movies like these!

Barrabbas starred a very young Anthony Quinn and was shot in Roccastrada, where the mountain scenery was untouched by palazzos or factories and made a very convincing Ancient Jerusalem.

Helen of Troy was shot along the coastline of Punta Ala and featured Brigitte Bardot. There definitely weren’t any luxury yachts or golf courses when they filmed it!

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