Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Fort Pitt Tunnel As Birth Canal

I'm still waiting for Pittsburgh's "Sleepless in Seattle" moment. Nora Ephron's movie helped to put the city on the mental maps of thousands, if not millions, of people. Perhaps the new Emma Watson movie will do the same for Pittsburgh:

The cast — which includes Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller —  all bonded while living in the same hotel in Pittsburgh, which Watson now calls one of her favorite places. It was there that Watson can point to one particular scene — when Sam stands up in the back of a pickup truck driving through a tunnel — as the moment she was able to truly graduate from Hogwarts. “I started as Emma with some Hermione still left in my system,” she says. “I went through the tunnel and I came out ready to start something new.”

You can see a bit of the scene in the movie trailer. I can't tell how important the location is to the film. But this could be the one that drives migration.

5 comments:

Pete Saunders said...

Jim, didn't the newest Batman film shoot on location in Pittsburgh? I haven't seen it but I know it wasn't shot in Chicago like the first two of the recent trilogy. I'm sure those who have seen it would be able to ID Pittsburgh locales, but it's definitely a film about Gotham and not Pittsburgh.

Jim Russell said...

Pete,

Yes, the latest Batman film was shot primarily in Pittsburgh. The location helped put Pittsburgh on the map for more movie making. There is a cluster emerging that includes animation studio production. I doubt Batman will do much to sell Pittsburgh to prospective migrants.

The book on which the Emma Watson film is based is set in 1990s suburban Pittsburgh. I anticipate Pittsburgh having a significant part in the picture, but don't know for sure.

Anonymous said...

Batman was filmed in Pittsburgh. It always is fun seeing Pittsburgh or hearing Pittsburgh references in a movie (The Polish Hill Murders, anyone?). However, it was distracting to see Bane give a speech in front of Heinz Field South End Zone scoreboard. All I keep seeing were the huge letters 'UPMC' over Bane's shoulder.

And, in the chase scene at the end of the movie, I caught a glimpse of the Parking Authority garage at the corner of Smithfield and Strawberry way. I was so caught up in trying to figure out where particular scenes were filmed that I wasn't paying attention to the movie.

Oh, well. I see it again on PPV.

Patrick Prescott said...

My college friend and I always referred to that tunnel as the birthing canal.

Mahramus said...

I've read the "...Wallflower" book - the Fort Pitt Tunnel scene is a very significant moment in the story and I imagine it will be for the film as well. Author Stephen Chbosky also wrote the screenplay and directed the film.