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5 Famous Movies filmed in Athens
The city of Athens, Greece’s capital, is known as the cradle of democracy. The city is known for its famous landmark, the Acropolis.
This city welcomes thousands of visitors annually both for business and pleasure. The city is loved for its picturesque and beautiful little streets.
It is for this reason that the beauty and rich history of this city and the country have been featured in blockbuster movies and television series. The historic Acropolis, The Parthenon, the museums, beautiful sandy beaches and warm Mediterranean sun have appeared in famous movies, portraying the natural beauty of Athens.
Here are the 5 famous movies filmed in Athens.
1. Two Faces of January (2014)
Director: Hossein Amini
This movie was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith about a couple’s encounter with an American tour guide in Athens, the movie is set in the 1960s.
This movie is a thriller and tells about a couple that got involved in the murder of a private eye and needs to escape.
The husband who is a con-artist and his wife meet an American tour guide who speaks Greek and is also a con-artist to get them out of Greece safely.
This glamourous couple together with their new trusted friend, escape from Athens and throughout the movie, historical landmarks can be seen in the different scenes.
Some locations that were featured include Plaka and Monastiraki, actual shots of the Acropolis and the Parthenon.
The director Hossein Amini, manages to perfectly bring out suspicion and deceit among the three fugitives.
He seamlessly worked in mythological themes from Theseus and Oedipus.
The stars of the movie were Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst and Oscar Isaac. The movie was shot in Athens and Crete.
2. Ruby Cairo (1992)
Director: Graeme Clifford
Liam Neeson, Andie MacDowell and Viggo Mortensen were the main stars of this mystery thriller.
The movie tells of a widow who lost her husband through a plane crash. She embarked on a mission to find out the cause of the crash and ultimately the murderer of her husband.
She finds out that her late husband was involved in illegal financial activities. She sought the help of a stranger (Liam Neeson) to find the money that was saved in different countries across the globe.
In their search for the savings, they went to Athens and shots of the Parthenon was featured.
The movie shows different scenes of the City and Greek culture. It was also set in Panama, Bahamas, Berlin and Cairo.
3. The Girl on the Bridge (1999)
Director: Patrice Leconte
This romantic movie begins on a bridge over the Seine River in Paris. A knight in shining armour, Gabor, suddenly appears from the shadows of the night to a damsel in distress who was contemplating diving into the river below to end it all.
Gabor offers her a job, as his human target because he is a knife thrower. She takes up the job with the hope of better opportunities.
The two travel together to the northern bank of the Mediterranean for numerous performances where they got to win fortunes.
Adele, the girl, falls in love with a newly-wed groom and eloped to Greece from Turkey leaving Gabor. Their new relationship did not last long enough and Adele is left stranded in a foreign country, she finally reunites with Gabor.
Athens was featured in the movie with several scenes shot in the city. This movie was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2000, for the Best Foreign Language Film.
4. Boy on a Dolphin (1957)
Director: Jean Negulesco
In this movie starring Sophia Loren, the splendid island of Hydra, Rhodes, Delos, Meteora and, the city of Athens are featured.
The movie displayed the magnificent natural beauty that Greece and its cities are to an international audience. Both the produced Samuel G. Engel and the director Jean Negulesco did an amazing job in showcasing Greece in this movie.
The movie gives the account of a diver who discovered a valuable treasure in a sunken ship. One piece that stood out was a gold statue of a boy on a dolphin.
Together with the boyfriend, Sophia seeks to find out its story and turn to an art collector since the archaeologist they approached was above their budget.
They traverse the beautiful country and their journey in the film opened Greece to the world with its beautiful sunny Mediterranean pace of life. This movie is considered to be a classic.
5. My Life in Ruins (2009)
Director: Donald Petrie
My Life in Ruins movie tells of the story of Georgia acted by Nia Vardalos who moved to Greece because of love.
The relationship did not last long and she found herself stranded in a new country. She, however, is passionate about history having been a history professor. Greece is the cradle for democracy and rich history; she took a tour guide job.
Through her work with the tourists, she forms a bond with one of the tourists who makes her believe in true love again. She falls in love with her workmate from the tour company.
The film location of this movie depicted the classic Greek settings like Athens, Olympia and Delphi. The movie also had several historic monuments and landmarks of Ancient Greece.
This romantic comedy movie is from the producers of My Greek Wedding.
