A love story between mountains and cinema
In October 1896, barely a year after the first Lumière cinematograph was shown in Paris, cinema made its debut in Tyrol. And even though the first film made in Tyrol is now considered lost, there are still traces of a folk dance in Merano in the early 1900s. In 1905, the English photographer and filmmaker Frank (or Frederick) Ormiston-Smith, considered one of the fathers of mountaineering in the cinema, arrived in Tyrol with the aim of taking pictures to bring back to England. He documented numerous climbs, while capturing the daily life of the region in Life in Innsbruck: Tyrol (1905) and in a series of four short films The Tyrol of 1907. In the decades that followed, the region hosted an increasing number of film shoots. Alfred Hitchcock, then a young director, made his second film there, The Mountain Eagle, in 1926. Although the story is supposed to be set in Kentucky, it is the village of Obergurgl that serves as the backdrop for this Anglo-German melodrama, now considered lost, and one of the most sought-after films in the world. Another notable production from this period was Arnold Fanck's feature film White Drunkenness (1931), a comedy that was a big hit in German silent cinema, starring the German actress and future filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. The Second World War forced a pause in local productions, but the industry took off again in the 1950s with the famous Sissi (1955), starring Romy Schneider. The first part of an Austro-German trilogy, this episode transports the actress in the footsteps of the Empress, between Ambras Castle and the Imperial Palace in Innsbruck. A role that will make Romy Schneider world famous, but an exception for local productions, whose reputation struggles to go beyond the borders despite an increased number of films and shootings in the region. It is on the international side that we must now look for the greatest appearances of Tyrol on the screen, and this as early as the 1960s.
From Sissi to James Bond
While Romy Schneider shines in the halls of the great palaces, it is in the mountains that international filmmakers set their cameras. Michael Ritchie directed La Descente Infernale (1969), starring Robert Redford as a young skier from Colorado and Gene Hackman as his intractable coach. The descent of the Streif in Kitzbühel is one of the highlights of the film. Two years later, it was actor Michael Caine who shot - not on skis but in period clothing - The Lost Valley, alongside Omar Sharif. It is the story of a pacifist who discovers a haven of peace in the Gschnitztal, a hidden valley in the heart of the Tyrol. Almost two decades later, Jean-Jacques Annaud played with the mountains of the region to make The Bear (1988), a fable about the friendship between a grizzly bear and a cub, adapted from the book The Grizzly by Oliver Curwood. The film was a success in France and in the United States, giving the César of the best director to its director for the technical prowess put in place for this atypical shooting. As for the filming locations, it is in the forests between Innsbruck and Lienz that you will have to try to find the tracks of Youk and Kaar, the two heroes of the film. Jean-Jacques Annaud will return to Lienz a few years later to shoot some of the scenes of Seven Years in Tibet (1997), with Brad Pitt in the role of the mountaineer Heinrich Harrer. Notable international productions of the 21st century that have made a stop in Tyrol include Bong-Joon Ho's The Snowman (2013), an adaptation of Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette's comic book of the same name, which cleverly uses the vast snowy expanses of the Hintertux glacier to create a planet ravaged by a new ice age. Most recently, it was Spectre (2015), the penultimate installment of the James Bond saga, that established Tyrol as a must-see alpine film location. The ski area of Sölden and the municipality of Obertilliach welcomed director Sam Mendes, accompanied by Daniel Craig and Léa Seydoux, to shoot beautiful scenes by the fire and under the snowy peaks, on the balcony of the very modern Ice Q Restaurant, the jewel in the crown of the ski area on the Gaislachkogl. Probably one of the best places to make you feel like a movie star.
Between hiking and descents, where to see movies in Tyrol?
By the time you take off your skis, you are ready to enjoy a good dose of the seventh art. In Innsbruck, you will enjoy not one, but at least three film festivals per year, including the IFFI (International Film Festival Innsbruck). The IFFI, which takes place every year for six days between May and October, depending on the season, brings the city to life with screenings of atypical documentaries and dramas, with an emphasis on films that are not widely distributed in the international circuit. It is also an opportunity to offer retrospectives and the rediscovery of classic films from the mountains and elsewhere, in an idyllic setting. This event is held at the Leokino, one of the most dynamic cinemas in the city. You can also discover the latest films in their original version with subtitles, or enjoy - depending on the season - an open-air screening at the foot of the peaks. If you are looking for thrills or wide open spaces, the Innsbruck Nature Film Festival is the place to go, or - if you are lucky - the Freeride Film Festival, an itinerant event dedicated to snowboarding films, which takes place in various European resorts.
And if you happen to wander over to the Italian Tyrol, stop by the Caldaro cinema, a place steeped in history as it is the heir to a cinema that first opened in 1911! Today, the Filmtreff Kaltern welcomes you in the old building of the Caldaro train station, with a 118-seat theater equipped with the latest technology, but also with a 35 mm projector, a rare commodity in this region, however rich in film stories.
