It is in the courtyard of Ruffo Palace of Castelcicala site on Via Foria in Naples that Dr. Cazzaniga and Professor Bellavista meet for the first time, beginning to build a relationship that will lead them to establish a solid and valuable friendship. From here our tour of discovery of the Naples of Bellavista, a city that more than any other Luciano De Crescenzo has been able to tell with the sea in his eyes and Vesuvius in his heart.

Why visit the sites of Bellavista's Naples.

The tour is highly recommended not only for those who wish to retrace and relive the places in the film, but also for those who would like to experience Naples in a different key, through the eyes and words of Professor Bellavista.

Following the path, as well as meeting the taste of the filmmaker and those who loved the pages of the book Thus spoke Bellavista, will bring back, with you, to those streets, the world's most famous engineer-philosopher who knew how to paint them with generosity and kindness, as were his heart and manner.

Let us therefore set out on this journey to learn more about the stories, places and even characters that animated the events of that Naples.

The palace of Bellavista

The courtyard of the building where Professor Bellavista lives is located at 106 Via Foria.

The exact house where Professor Bellavista lives with his wife Maria and daughter Patrizia (played by Isa Danieli and Lorella Morlotti, respectively) is unfortunately not identifiable in the film. The sequel to the film was also set in this same courtyard. The mystery of Bellavista. With any luck you will also be able to access the courtyard to take some photographs.

One very important thing should be highlighted right away: in the book Così parlò Bellavista De Crescenzo is not Professor Bellavista, but one who chats with Bellavista, one of his many "followers" in short. The two opposites then are: Palluotto, who would be Dr. Cazzaniga in the film, and Professor Bellavista. The two are on two diametrically opposed philosophical positions. From the first meeting, what could be called a Platonic dialogue in Neapolitan sauce is created between the two, where the ideas of one and the other will never meet, but while aware of this impossibility of meeting, the conversation and the exchange of thoughts and considerations continue in full Neapolitan style.

The Vico Rose

Continuing on Via Foria, proceeding towards the National Archaeological Museum, we now head towards Vico Rose. After Piazza Cavour, let us walk towards Via Enrico Pessina and then onto Via Santa Teresa degli Scalzi. Here we come to Vico Rose.

The sweeper episode with Sergio Solli, who plays Saverio in the film, was filmed here. Looking around and looking up, we expect to find looking out of one of the windows Nunzia Fumo, who, after saying all kinds of things about the countess who lives upstairs and referring mostly to her unhygienic habits, concludes by sentencing, "se nasce fetiente."

Also set in Vico Rose is another episode, that of the sale of the coffin on installments. This is the alley where Giggino (played by Francesco De Rosa) tries unsuccessfully to convince Bellavista to buy a coffin on installments, even proposing different models to him.

The Naples waterfront

To continue now on our tour to discover the places of the The Naples of Bellavista we need to move to the waterfront. So, let's walk through the streets of the center, among the stores and stores, crossing Piazza Dante, Piazza Carità, Via Roma, perhaps cutting through Santa Lucia, just where De Crescenzo was born, and arrive at the wonderful Naples Waterfront.

The film Così parlò Bellavista opens with the cab scene. Inside a cab running along the Mergellina promenade we find Dr. Cazzaniga, played by Renato Scarpa, who has just arrived from Milan. The taxi driver is masterfully played by Tommaso Bianco, but not as masterful can be said of his driving of the cab, which punctually runs the risk of colliding with some car or finding itself bottled up in the as famous as dreaded "hooked cross traffic jam"!

Exasperated by the taxi driver's driving, Cazzaniga gladly accepts a coffee the latter proposes.

The coffee taken in Naples is actually in Rome

Jumping into a café, we move in the blink of an eye to Via Beniamino Franklin in Rome! The café where the scene of Cazzaniga's escape takes place, assailed by a crush of people asking him for a job because the unfortunate man recklessly let slip that he is the new head of personnel at Alfa Sud, in fact, is located precisely at the fifth door of the building that stands at the intersection of this street. This is easily enough understood, since it is the same building where the scene of "The Penultimate Fires" from the movie was filmed December 32, also directed by Luciano De Crescenzo.

Also on the Promenade, precisely in Via Caracciolo, is set the scene of the assisted, where the deputy deputy doorman Salvatore (played by Benedetto Casillo) accompanies Patrizia to Don Gaetano, that is, the assisted. Don Gaetano (played by Nicola Esposito), entering the trance, recounts visionary episodes from which one must then deduce numbers to play the lotto.

Private driveway of Rampe di Sant'Antonio in Posillipo

Staying on the Lungomare, we now proceed to Posillipo and head precisely to the private driveway of Rampe di Sant'Antonio a Posillipo No. 110. Here De Crescenzo has well thought of adapting the episode of the pay-as-you-go love park, featuring Patrizia and her boyfriend Giorgio (played by Geppy Gleijeses). The two arrive in the famous 500, where they are greeted by valet Gianni de Bury who offers them safety and comfort, not forgetting coffee!

The scene at the sacred goods store on Cathedral Street, however, the one located at the boundary house, disputed by the two Mafia bangs demanding lace.

The other locations

The boss is played by a cynical as well as very good Nunzio Gallo and was actually filmed--in Rome! The store is located in Piazza della Rotonda at the Pantheon.

Regarding the sympathetic passport photo episode, which features Vittorio Marsiglia improvising as a paid director to take passport photos, alas, the location does not exist but was reconstructed in the studio.

In the film Così parlò Bellavista the very good Edoardo Scarpa plays Dr. Cazzaniga who, however, in the book we "find" him in the character of Palluotto.

The novel Così parlò Bellavista (Mondadori, 1977) has sold more than 600,000 copies, and has been translated into more than 20 languages, including Japanese, becoming a literary case.