ISCHIA, ITALY - 2024

I have enormous admiration for Anthony Minghella, the British writer and director who the world lost far too early in 2008.

His attention to detail in movies such as The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley was palpable, as was his passion for personal location scouting.

He was much loved by almost all those he encountered in his work, however fleeting that encounter may have been. He was

just 54 when he passed.

I travelled to Ischia and Procida in the Gulf of Naples, largely to pay homage to him and visit some of those cult locations from The Talented Mr Ripley.

The beach scene at Bagno Antonio in Ischia, where Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley first deliberately encounters Dickie and Marge, was wonderfully crafted and it was so refreshing to hear from locals that the cast immersed themselves into the culture of one of the world’s most timeless of places.

After filming for three weeks in the area, I thought we had the resources to play a small parody on that specific beach scene. The visually arresting Castello Aragonese is, of course, still there, as are the owners of the beach club with whom Minghella collaborated. They could not have been more accommodating to our crew and I guess it brought back some fond memories for them. It’s not often you go to a beach bar and see faded personal pictures of Jude Law, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and most of all, perhaps, Anthony Minghella glued to the wall.

Ischia is a special island with a unique domestic vibe and when we left, we did so comforted by the knowledge that we would return as soon as possible; it is that good.

“I am a teller of stories, a weaver of dreams. I can dance, sing, and in the right weather I can stand on my head. I know seven words of Latin, I have a little magic, and a trick or two. I know the proper way to meet a dragon, I can fight dirty but not

fair, I once swallowed thirty oysters in a minute. I am not domestic, I am a luxury, and in that sense, necessary.” - Anthony Minghella