Tuscany, Italy - 2026
There is such an unmistakable visual nod to that famous opening scene in Gladiator on this Tuscan pathway, that there was no need to be complex in my own narrative. Aside from establishing a very definitive sense of place, my key personal instruct was simplicity.
Blessed with a beautiful black stallion and the aesthetic glory of this amphitheatre at sunrise, my sense was I really didn’t need to take things much further. Those with a visual sensibility have been drawn to this part of the world for 600 years.
My sole focus was achieving compositional balance and making sure I married the horse to the backdrop in the right size ratio. If there was a complexity, it was the tradeoff between proximity to the running stallion and my own personal safety. But his Roman trainer was so in control, I had no concerns.
Gladiator (2000) was nominated for 12 Oscars and won five. For many it remains a generational film and every day, tourists come to the Val d’Orcia pocket of Tuscany to have their little Russell Crowe fix. It was Crowe’s finest hour and meanwhile the cinematography team, led by John Mathieson, offered viewers a masterclass in the use of light.
Location scouting is a key part of Ridley Scott’s formidable tool kit and the Val d’Orcia scenes in Gladiator stood out as much as any. There was little CGI in play here - what one saw on screen is what was there in reality - hence the appeal to tourists. It is harder to do Gladiator tours in Rome.