Back in, I think, January of this year (2015) I wrote a blog article about where I would like to holiday in 2015. Well, things did not go ahead with that plan as the whole of my immediate clan descended on Granny Dornoch in the Highlands for a week (well, not all of us – Dad was busy planting potatoes).
So, inevitably, these holiday plans took a back burner as I took on more work – as did the Mrs take on more work. However, we were very fortunate to have a bit of money gifted to us and so I thought about how to break it to the Mrs. about my plans for carrying out The Great Work in Bohemia.
I figure you can really get a sense of the geography of a place through cinema. Good cinema can lend an air of what it is like to be there – in a profiled way. Essentially, I was looking for a way to frame Prague to make it as appealing to my wife as Prague is to me. I read on this blog – The Top 15 Hollywood Movies Shot in Prague – the following advice and then purchased a copy of Les Miserables – the C19th revolutionary epic set in Paris:
Before Tom Hooper’s laborious 2012 film version based on the Broadway musical, Danish director Billie August (Pelle the Conqueror) made this non-musical (and vastly superior) version of Victor Hugo’s classic story. I don’t know why it’s so under-seen: it’s one of the best film versions of this story, with a dynamite cast that includes Liam Neeson, Uma Thurman, Geoffrey Rush, and Claire Danes in the central roles. Filming took place at Barrandov Studios and throughout Prague, which filled in for 19th-century Paris.
Well, Liam Neeson and his baritone drawl worked a treat and the Mrs gave her consent to the booking flights for the end of April 2016 for both of us to go to Prague! For the hotel, we have a booking in the amazing looking Hotel Raffaella (4* and at a bargain!) which is 0.4 miles from Wenceslas Square! I will treading in the footsteps of John Dee, Franz Kafka, James Bond & Hellboy! I am, needless to say, very excited … However, this jaunt to the continent will be well documented: I plan on bringing mobile blogging apparatus, cameras, portable field recorders & binoculars.
Meanwhile expect blog articles about everything from Communist era Czech Movie posters to the newer, more silent Prague tram system.