Prato and the Cinema
Prato brings with it a great background linked to the cinema: in the neighborhood of Vergaio the young Roberto Benigni took his first steps, while Francesco Nuti was born and raised in Narnali. Or furthermore: the director Giovanni Veronesi and the great actresses Clara Calamai and Pamela Villoresi are from Prato. A house of the cinema, "Manifatture Digitali Cinema a Prato" has also been inaugurated a few months ago, a structure dedicated to productions for cinema, tv and web. There are many directors who have chosen Prato as a film location: it could be a nice idea for an evening with friends to watch some "made in Prato" film.
The most famous are those related to Benigni and Nuti: unforgettable are Prato sceneries in "Berlinguer ti voglio bene" by Giuseppe Bertolucci in 1977, on the roof in construction of Pratilia, one of the first shopping centers in the area (now demolished and replaced by a supermarket) or between fields in the suburbs. "A Ovest di Paperino" is a film by Alessandro Benvenuti, played by the Giancattivi, the trio that the same Florentine comedian director formed with the young Francesco Nuti and the great Athina Cenci. Paperino in the title is a district of Prato, where not even a scene of the film was shot, but it is an answer that Sandro addresses to Francesco when - during a film sequence - the latter asks him "Where do we go?". West of Paperino is always Prato, where some scenes have been shot, but the intent is to exploit the homonymy with the famous imaginary character (Donald Duck) to add a touch of surreality. Furthermore: "Madonna che silenzio c’è stasera" (Maurizio Ponzi, 1981), "Tutto Benigni" (Giuseppe Bertolucci, 1983), "Caruso Paskoski di padre polacco" (Nuti, 1988), "Il signor Quindicipalle" (Nuti, 1998).
Also Mario Monicelli chose Prato for some scenes of "Amici Miei Atto III": in the area of Villa del Palco some scenes of some zingarate (pranks) were filmed with Tognazzi, Moschin, Celi and Montagnani in 1975. "Caino e Caino" is also shot in Prato, even by Alessandro Benvenuti with Enrico Montesano.
With the years beyond the textile, in the movies dedicated to Prato, also appeared the Chinese community, between common places and light-hearted comedies. The comedy "Cenci in Cina", a movie by Marco Limberti with Alessandro Paci, Francesco Ciampi and Massimo Ceccherini, told in a funny and light way the history of the city until the arrival of the oriental community. While in "Sogni di Gloria", a movie by the Collettivo John Snellinberg, there is an entire episode dedicated to the events between love and briscola (trump) of a young Chinese boy named Giulio.
Various places in the historic centre were the film set for the comedy "Se son rose" (Leonardo Pieraccioni 2018).
The TV shot in the central Via Muzzi the fiction "Pezzi Unici" (Cinzia Th Torrini 2019). To thank traders and residents, a plaque was placed on the order of the Municipality, the production and the Toscana Film Commission.
Also in the province there are two locations of great prestige: the Medici Villa of Poggio a Caiano set of the film "The elective affinities" (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani 1996) and the locality of Montepiano di Vernio for the film "Padroni di casa" (Edoardo Gabbriellini 2012).
