After frantic car chase at the beginning of ‘Quantum of Solace’ James Bond (Daniel Craig) drove to Siena in Tuscany, Italy. He entered the mysterious tunnel. He stopped the car and opened the trunk. There was Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) tied up. James Bond said to him: ‘It’s time to get out’. Right after that the film intro with ‘Another Way to Die’ song by Jack White and Alicia Keys appeared on the screen.

James Bond arriving to Siena in Aston Martin DBS was filmed at Chiesa di San Giuseppe located at the junction of Via di Fontanella, Via Giovanni Dupre and Via Sant’Agata. 007 drove uphill by the Via di Fontanella and after driving under the archway he drove down the Via Giovanni Dupre in the direction of Piazza del Campo. As you may see in photos below he drove up to the one-way street, however the one-way street sign was not seen in the movie. To film the scene, the camera was attached to special wires, so it could be moved high above the roofs from the street level.

To look at historical city center over the archway at Chiesa di San Giuseppe (as in photo below) you may walk up the Via Sant’Agata to the square at Sant’Agostino church.

The entrance to the tunnel was filmed at Piazzetta Della Paglietta square located at Via Salicotto street.

Nowadays it would be difficult to drive in the tunnel as James Bond in Aston Martin DBS due to number of stuff belonging to one caffe in the neighborhood.

There was MI6 safe house at the end of the tunnel. M (Judi Dench) was waiting there for 007 and his prisoner. Mr. White told them, that the organization of which he was a member, had people everywhere. It turned out that M’s bodyguard, Craig Mitchell (Glenn Foster), was one of them. He tried to kill M, to save Mr. White. James Bond followed him in pursuit in underground aqueducts, Piazza del Campo during famous Palio and on the rooftops of historical buildings. It finished inside the campanile.

The beginning and ending of that foot chase was filmed in the studio where underground aqueducts and interior of the campanile were built. Scenes at Piazza del Campo and on the rooftops were filmed on location in Siena.

In that sequence Daniel Craig was doubled by stuntman Bobby Holland Hanton (read an interview with him in INTERVIEWS section: Interview with Bobby Holland Hanton – stuntman who has played in 3 James Bond films), Craig Mitchell was played by Glenn Foster. It was filmed by stunt cameraman Diz Sharpe.

Six month before the beginning of principal photography the crew got permission to film real Palio. They used 14 cameras located in different places at Piazza del Campo to capture shots that were later used in ‘Quantum of Solace’.

In May 2008 the film unit returned to Siena to film foot chase in the city. There were 300 extras selected from 1500 candidates on Piazza del Campo when James Bond and Craig Mitchell running through the crowd were filmed.

Bond and Mitchell ran out of the square through an open gate. It is the entrance to Museo Civico in Palazzo Pubblico at Piazza del Campo.

They ran into the courtyard just behind the gate. Standing in the courtyard it is worth looking up at the sky and the tower called Torre del Mangia.

To film the chase of the rooftops, two kilometers of special cables for safety and camera support were used. Cables were suspended on arms of four giant cranes. Each crane weighted two hundred tons. It was necessary to make first geological investigation. There were holes deep at about 10-20 meters made in the ground and filled with cement. It took three months to complete this.

Balconies seen in the movie were built just for the purpose of filming. Special scaffoldings were used to place them next to existing balcony above intersection of Via del Rialto and Vicolo del Vannello streets. It was the one seen in background behind 007 chasing Craig Mitchell. All other balconies from the movie were built on the left from that one.

During the chase, James Bond jumped on the balcony, walked into the apartment and jumped from the window on the roof of the bus.

The scene with the bus was filmed at Via Pantaneto. Daniel Craig jumped from the window of the building at via Via Pantaneto 135 located at the intersection with Via Pagliaresi. The driver stopped the bus when he heard James Bond jumping on the roof. When 007 was rolling on the bus, Via Pantaneto street was seen in background.

Bond climbed the gutter to continue the chase on rooftops. It was the gutter on the left at Arco di San Maurizio al Ponte at Via Pantaneto (see next photo).

The chase ended with a spectacular duel inside the renovated bell tower, from which James Bond emerged victorious. The whole sequence was filmed in the studio. Stuntman Martin, who doubled Daniel Craig in this sequence, recalls his work: It began early October 2007 and finished at the end of February or maybe beginning of March 2008. That was my life – hanging on ropes. I remember that it was hard work, because main unit was shooting on 007 Stage in a day time and we had to shoot at night. It had nothing to do with actual location etc. but it was just logistics and scheduling thing. At 3 a.m. I was 60 feet up in the air with rope wrapped around me. For me personally that was very hard from start to finish. (Interview with Kai Martin – stuntman who has played in 5 James Bond films)

After the chase James Bond returned to MI6 safe house. When he turned left from Via Salicotto to Piazzetta Della Paglietta, the building visible in the last photo was seen in background.

Go to LOCATIONS GALLERY – ‘QUANTUM OF SOLACE’ to see locations photos compared with movie scenes.

Sources:
– ‘Bond on Location’, dir. Bob Done, Special Treats Productions, 2008
– ‘James Bond. Szpieg ktorego kochamy’ Michal Grzesiek, Wydawnictwo Bukowy Las 2011

Zapisz

More photos from Siena:

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapis

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz

Zapisz