Famous movies shot in Marseille

Throughout the centuries, Marseille has inspired the greatest artists, be they singers, poets or painters. Since the rise of cinema in the thirties, the city of Marseille has not deviated from its reputation and this time seduced the professionals of the 7th art. Many actors and directors have thus found their muse in Marseille and have made of this great Mediterranean port the place of shooting of several cinematographic masterpieces.

The first to shoot his movies in Marseille was naturally a native of the region, Marcel Pagnol. He made his best known movies such as Fanny, César and Marius. It was in the 1930s, when other big names in cinema filmed in Marseille, like Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir.

During the next two decades, the number of movies shot in Marseilles decreased somewhat, but there were nevertheless quite interesting works that were born in the quarters of the city. For example, La Bonne Étoile by Jean Boyer and Passage for Marseille by Michael Curtiz, Atoll K by Laurel and Hardy, and Edmond Gréville's The Port of Desire.

From the year 1960, Marseille became a place of shooting very appreciated by the directors. Since that period, the successful movies, made in the city of Marseille, are no longer counted on the fingers of the hand. The star Jean Paul Belmondo has played his biggest roles in Marseille in À bout de souffle, A named La Rocca, Borsalino or Le Marginal. Other notable works that were all the rage on the small screen were born in Marseille: French Conneciton, Marche à l'ombre, Mayrig, To life to death, Marius and Jeannette, not to mention the saga of Taxi and much more.

The Americans, too, come to Marseilles. This was the case of Steven Spielberg who took Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks to shoot his Stop Me if you can in 2002. It was also the case of The Memory in the Skin, in which the famous Jason Bourne, incarnated By Matt Damon, is drafted off Marseille at the very beginning of the film. The trilogy of the Transporter, also deserves a mention. In these movies, the hero lives in Marseille and is friends with a local policeman.