The romance of Notting Hill It’s one of those that makes you dream every time it appears, without tiring you. This 1999 film directed by Roger Michell con Julia Roberts e Hugh Grant it’s a cult destined to shine forever in the history of cinema. But like any self-respecting title of great value, this one too rom-com apparently classichides legends among the mechanisms that built it, provenmemorable to say the least.
Seeing it again today means not only discovering a work that anticipated very current themes, while remaining anchored to a gentle and not at all cynical romanticism, but it also means realizing – if you know the background well – that there are scenes, among the most famous ones, which are not the result of chance, but of precise decisionssometimes even risky.
Written by Richard Curtis Notting Hill was born from a simple idea: what would happen if a world star fell in love with an ordinary person? Curtis developed the story by actually walking around the London neighborhood that gives the film its title, constructing a screenplay that alternates lightness and melancholyBritish humor and social observation.
Curiosities that leave their mark
The success of Notting Hill it was immediate: with a large but not pharaonic budget, the film conquered the global box office and became a point of reference for the romantic comedy of the end of the millennium. Also thanks to the chemistry between Hugh Grant e Julia Roberts.
Not everyone knows, however, who Grant was initially reluctant to shoot the famous final kiss scene. It seems incredible but the British actor confessed in an interview after the release of the film that Roberts “his mouth was too big“Words that caused a sensation and were not well received by the person concerned, who, however, in the end decided to forgive her colleague.
The actress in turn, at the peak of her career, found the role of Anna Scott more complex than expected: play a fictional diva it meant, paradoxically, interpreting itself a little and therefore exposing very real fragilities. The actress’s salary, of 15 million dollars, also caused discussion, because it is identical to the one mentioned ironically in the filmin a game of mirrors between fiction and reality.
And then what about the beautiful location? Many iconic places of Notting Hill they really exist. The lWilliam Thacker’s travel bookshop is located at number 142 Portobello Road, while the famous benchsymbol of a finally united love, has become an object of worship to the point of being transferred to the other side of the world, precisely to Australia, purchased by a fan. Twenty-five years after its release, Notting Hill It’s a film that doesn’t just make your heart beat. He continues to talk about himself, both what we see and what happened and it still happens behind the camera.
On the cover: Notting Hill, Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant – Copyright of the production studio and/or distributor – badtaste
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