Going around the world in eighty movies, my visit to Vienna meant a too-short, one-day stay that required leaving Before Sunrise—a film title. But just a small amount of touring led to sites from top projects that filmed in Austria’s capital city. Such as Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, where I imitated Simon Pegg and took a subway train into the historic center, coming up near the Opera House where Tom Cruise prevents an assassination. Opera and the city’s many musical connections include Mozart, subject of the Oscar winning Amadeus, though our guide groused that the house bearing the genius composer’s name is too modern for him to have lived in that specific dwelling. No matter; the city celebrates the composer in many ways, including chocolate candies named after him—Mozart balls. Speaking of geniuses like Mozart, Sigmund Freud comes to mind in several projects, including a pairing with Sherlock Holmes in The Seven Per Cent Solution. That movie includes the two geniuses terrorized by…Lipizzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School. Nearby, the city reveals links to The Empress known as Sissi, just two of the titles about her from popular projects. Sisi’s palace area includes the apartment where Harry Lime lived in The Third Man, a true cinematic classic. Nearby, a memorial helps a lawyer played by Ryan Reynolds deal with his Jewish heritage during the movie Woman in Gold. The lawyer shows up in town with Helen Mirren to win back paintings by another Viennese genius, Gustav Klimt; the two visitors check out Klimt paintings at the Belvedere Museum. With some 20 pieces by the artist, Vienna proves a Klimt jackpot. The city also offers a treat at a site featured in the movie Museum Hours. The art history museum with a name I can’t pronounce (something like) Kunshistoriches, contains three paintings by the artist Caravaggio, whose use of light inspired such filmmakers as Martin Scorsese. The movie Museum Hours pays extra attention to works by Breughel since his paintings fill an entire room. The lead in Museum Hours particularly likes those Br
ueghels, complicated and full of so much action that they reveal something new on every viewing. The museum also boasts an opulent coffee house perfect for drinking a cup to help stay alert while filling the hours before sunrise. Whether in a coffee houses or museum, it takes only a few steps to find Vienna screen locations.