155 replies to this topic

[SecretAgentFan]

Man, your spies are on target!

[Marcin]

Finally! I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling that Morocco part will be the most interesting in SPECTRE.

[Simon]

I am guessing the production are by now filming in Morocco...?  Are they?

 

If so, am surprised there haven't been any images pouring forth.

[# 11]

I heard whispers the production is at the kasbah in Tangier at the very moment.

[Vauxhall]

Not clear if the hotel in this tweet is being used for filming in Erfoud itself, or is merely where the crew is staying:

https://twitter.com/...576971348922368

 

 

It's the Belere Hotel in Erfoud.

Edited by Vauxhall, 21 June 2015 - 09:55 PM.

[Matt_13]

Completely off topic, but how safe is Morocco as a travel destination? Anyone here been?

[Vauxhall]

Completely off topic, but how safe is Morocco as a travel destination? Anyone here been?

I've been, and had a perfectly safe, if surprisingly quiet time.

[# 11]

 

The whispers were quite right. This is the Bab el Assa – a gate to the kasbah.

[stromberg]

 
The whispers were quite right. This is the Bab el Assa – a gate to the kasbah.

From the look of it, this hast to be Tangiers (Google check, yup, it is).

Wonderful.
 

Completely off topic, but how safe is Morocco as a travel destination? Anyone here been?

I've been, and had a perfectly safe, if surprisingly quiet time.

Seconded. Tangiers isn't the den of thieves any more that it used be some 30 years ago, and I got lost in the Medina of Casablanca for more than two hours and I never felt unsafe for second. Of course, "things" may happen, and I've since (that was five years ago) seen bad news on TV about a place I visited in Marrakech...

[Matt_13]

Good to know, thanks guys!

Nice clapperboard photo.

[Simon]

Not been recently, but back in 1990, I was picked up by a 'student' wanting to be a tour guide in Tangiers.

 

He wouldn't take no for an answer, in French or English, and in the end I said he could tag along and I would buy lunch.  We wandered around and we found ourselves in some back street, whereupon he turned around and threatened to pull a knife.

 

Not knowing what else to do, I called his bluff long enough for an audience to form and in the end, no knife having been pulled, he took me back to the port.  My only injury was that he tried to spit on me.  He missed.

 

And then, I was picked up by a gay chap in Rabat who wanted to 'spend the night', contracted violent food poisoning in the same city which lead to long term projectile wastage from every outlet, and picked up by another student in Marrakech who, out of the three, was the least harmful and compromising.

 

All in all, a trip to remember.

 

Am sure it is perfectly delightful now.

[stromberg]

Could happen to you in the days of old. When I was there the first time in 1988, the knife thing happened to a guy who was with us in Tangiers. He had to be a rather overpriced souvenir to get out of it. Back then, the best thing to do Tangiers was to get out as quick as possible. The way from the old port (the place where European tourists arrived) to the old station (some 2 kilometers) was an ordeal, one barely had enough hands and feet to fight off all the guides, beggars and souvenir or dope dealers that were trying to do business. Ripping off tourists was common practice. Not only in Tangiers, but in the entire country. Also, one had to be extremely careful about what to eat and drink (brushing your teeth with tap water could have been enough)...

 

All this has changed substantially, since the old King Haasan II died in 1999. His son Mohammed VI is a modern man who has initiated many reforms. He's also aware of his country's touristic potential and his efforts to stop the ripping off and criminality seem to have been very successful (but I on't really want to know about the means that were necessary). Also, the standards of hygiene have been raised very much - better that in some parts of Europe I've seen. One thing that hasn't changed: people are extremely friendly and helpful, and not everything that seems to be a tourist trap actually is one. 

 

In the late 1980s/early 90s, it was still a bit of a risky adventure. But nowadays, it's mostly harmless. Of course, not everything is wine and roses, but that's the way it is elsewhere, too.

[Vauxhall]

More photos from Tangier...

 

Another view of the building through the Bab el-Assa gate:

https://twitter.com/...858868957167616

 

Some of the equipment in the kasbah:

http://mes-dessins-p...d-a-tanger.html

 

 

 

Cables in the narrow streets of the kasbah:

http://mes-dessins-p...e-a-tanger.html

 

 

[Matt_13]

Thanks a lot for the great stories folks! I ask because I've been traveling a lot these last few years (England for a few weeks, Scotland, Greece, and Italy) and I've been trying to find new and more culturally rich environments to visit. Morocco seemed exotic. Any other suggestions are welcome too!

Excellent photos Vaux.

[Vauxhall]

Looks good, doesn't it!

More set dressing here...
http://mes-dessins-p...james-bond.html

Before - a pharmacy:


After - a cafe:

[stromberg]

Better view of the area:

 

They can do set dressing as much as they want, as long as that green crescent and the sign stay on that top corner, the place will always be recognizeable as a pharmacy...

[Matt_13]

My guess is they'll digitally cut out the green crescent. Very cool stuff here.

[Marketto007]

Christoph Waltz is in Morocco.

 

[Vauxhall]

Better view of the area:


They can do set dressing as much as they want, as long as that green crescent and the sign stay on that top corner, the place will always be recognizeable as a pharmacy...

Good point. They've left a small pharmacy notice on the wall next to the cafe, but clearly want the tables and chairs to be more prominent for whatever reason.

[stromberg]

Christoph Waltz is in Morocco.
 

Some additional information and pictures in the article in which this image was posted: Crew and actors are in several hotels in town. Craig and Belucci are at the Mövenpick Villa Josephine, Waltz is at the famous El Minzah (Flemings favourite hotel in Tanger, as described in "The Diamond Smugglers", very close to some shooting locations of TLD), restaurants that serve alcohol have been reserved for the production mebers (the fact that Ramadan has just begun may be a little problem - most restaurants open only at nighttime). Locations have been repainted and redecorated, and a large number of extras have been casted.

One interesting detail: the building we see in the clapperboard has been redecorated to make it look like it was a few years ago. It's a famous place, the Cafe Dahlia in this house is in a painting by Matisse. Only recently, it has been renovated much to its disadvantage and many people among the Tangier art community bemourn the fact that it was done completely wrong. Article in French on the issue: http://www.medias24....e-defigure.html

 

Another view of the paharmacy that's now another café:

 

Shooting started on the 20th and took place at the Palais de Abdeslam Akaaboune, which had been redecorated into the "Hôtel L' Americain":

 

Shooting also takes/took place at the Fondouk Chejra (an ancient Caravanserai) and the nearby weavers' market.

[ggl]

I love that kind of stories! Thanks for that!

 

What Matisse could be?

 

 

 

[# 11]

So scene 109G is actually the same spot as the Matisse painting? Nice touch, Hoyte!

[stromberg]

I love that kind of stories! Thanks for that!
 
What Matisse could be?

It's the second one, "Vue sur la baie de Tangier", which is always mentioned in the related articles. Even though I don't really recognize the building. Should be the one on the right.

The first one you posted could be a view of the Bab El Assa (with the café in the background), very much like the Clapperboard.

[Marcin]

I know there were rumours about Bellucci taking part in Morocco filming, but still I'm surprised. If in fact she's there not only for, say, a press conference, it means her part in SPECTRE is bigger than expected. I'm a bit confused.

[ggl]

 

I love that kind of stories! Thanks for that!
 
What Matisse could be?

It's the second one, "Vue sur la baie de Tangier", which is always mentioned in the related articles. Even though I don't really recognize the building. Should be the one on the right.

The first one you posted could be a view of the Bab El Assa (with the café in the background), very much like the Clapperboard.

 

Yes, that's why I think that this is the Cafe Dahlia and the "famous" Matisse. So, the front is completely remade for SPECTRE?

[The Dove]

I can't wait to see how this sequence plays out. I'm not sure how close this location is to the Medina where Jason Bourne chases after Desh and Nicky Parsons in The Bourne Ultimatum is but it does have a familiar ring to it for me.

[ggl]

Cinema magic:

 

 

 

Spot the differences...

[# 11]

Yes, that's why I think that this is the Cafe Dahlia and the "famous" Matisse. So, the front is completely remade for SPECTRE?

 

1st: Yes.

 

2nd: No. All the production did was painting it old and adding blinds. The refurbishment was done by an American called Frank Di Biasio, according to the article Stromberg posted.

[stromberg]

 

Yes, that's why I think that this is the Cafe Dahlia and the "famous" Matisse. So, the front is completely remade for SPECTRE?

 

1st: Yes.

 

2nd: No. All the production did was painting it old and adding blinds. The refurbishment was done by an American called Frank Di Biasio, according to the article Stromberg posted.

 

There's a big difference in what I see on the pictures and what I read in the related articles. My guess is that the writers simply got the title of the painting wrong (or, as it usually happens, one writer wrote rubbish and all the others copied it from that), and that the painting above is the correct one. This is clearly the Bab el Assa, especially as I just read a lengthy article (in German: http://www.zeit.de/2...henri-matisse),in which the author describes this exact place and painting. Not that far fetched, as I also learned from the article that most people in Tangiers are completely clueless about Matisse.

 

I'd say it was a bit more work necessary than just "painting it old". Guess it's done very much like that hotel in Mexico City. 

[ggl]

But, according to that article, Café Dahlia was a well-known place for art lovers, wasn´t it? And the "conflict" came when someone changed it or rebuilt it... ?

 

Sorry, but my French is not so good...

 

By the way, if you check my #87 post, you'll see that the building just close to the Cafe has been "rebuild" too...

Edited by ggl, 22 June 2015 - 08:29 PM.