Roman Holiday is a 1953 romantic comedy directed and produced by William Wyler and the characters are Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. The story is about Ann, a princess, that one night is overwhelmed by the strenuous demands of her official duties. Her doctor gives her a sedative to calm her down and help her sleep, but she secretly leaves her country’s embassy to experience Rome by herself. The sedative eventually takes effect and she falls asleep on a bench, where Joe, an American reporter working in Rome, finds her. Joe doesn’t recognize the princess and he thinks that she is drunk so for her safety’s sake he decides to let her spent the night in his apartment. The next morning when Joe goes to work he finds out who really is the girl he gives hospitality in his house. Joe immediately sees the opportunity and proposes an exclusive interview. Joe comes back home and, hiding the fact that he is a reporter, he offers to spend the day with Ann, showing her Rome. But she declines the offer and leaves alone. Joe doesn’t stop following her and the two “accidentally” met on the Spanish Steps. This time Ann decides to go with Joe for a tour of the city. That night, at a dance on a boat, government agents finally find Ann, but she is able to escape with Joe. At the end of the day Ann and Joe realize that they fall in love but this relationship cannot be real so she returns to her embassy. The next day there is a news conference with princess Ann so Joe decides to go there and give Ann the photos of her “roman holiday”.
In this movie some of the most beautiful places of Rome are shown at the audience: the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia, the Bocca della verità and Castel Sant’Angelo.
The Colosseum, originally named Flavian Amphitheatre, is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.
The Spanish Steps (in italian Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti) are a set of steps in Rome, that link Piazza di Spagna to Piazza Trinità dei Monti. In this monumental starway there are 135 steps, at the end of the starway in Piazza di Spagna there is a famous monument a fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia built by Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini. During May, part of the steps are covered by pots of purple flowers.
Piazza Venezia is a piazza in central Rome. The square is at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and near the Roman Forum. It is dominated by the imposing Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II. From this square it is possible to reach three of the most important street of Rome: Via dei Fori Imperiali, Via del Corso and Via del Plebiscito. In Christmas time it is possible to find in this square a huge and fabulous Christmas tree but from 2006 due to some diggings for the third subway line the tree has been moved in front of the Colosseum.
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant’Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome. It was initially commissioned by the Roman EmperorHadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian was erected on the right bank of the Tiber. Legend holds that the Archangel Michael appeared atop the mausoleum, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590, thus lending the castle its present name.
La Bocca della verità (it will be The Mouth truth in English) is an image, carved from marble of a man-like face, located in the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one’s hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off.