CommanderBond.net’s intrepid forum members have been eagerly discussing Bond 22’s potential Tuscan sequences, details of which emerged on Monday. In the process, the original article from the Italian newspaper Il Giornale has been unearthed, and it sheds a bit more light onto what the scenes will involve. CBn Forum member “Vauxhall” kindly translated the key elements of this original report, which clarifies what was relayed in Monday’s Times Online article.

Palio di Siena

Firstly, “Vauxhall” reports that the original article offers no indication that the previously-reported sequence, in which 007 is said to pursue the film’s villain down Siena’s narrow cobbled streets, across the town’s rooftops and through its medievil aqueducts, all during the Palio di Siena, is actually the climax of the film.

Over the past few weeks, James Bond producers are said to have been negotiating with the Siena town council over what can be shot at the Palio di Siena tomorrow. The Palio is traditionally a major event in the Sienese calendar. The footage reportedly being shot tomorrow is to be strictly of a documentary-style nature, with no manipulation or ridiculing of the event, and no shots of violence involving horses or people to be included.

The article references unconfirmed reports that 007 will negotiate central Siena’s narrow alleys in his Aston Martin before taking to the town’s rooftops in “an exciting pursuit” of the film’s villain. The Palio will apparently serve as a backdrop to this sequence, with shots of the horse race intercut to parallel Bond’s own pursuit. Il Giornale describes the chase sequence as “no holds barred”.

Siena’s town council have reportedly granted Eon Productions permission to return to film footage in and around the town during principal photography between January and July 2008. However, it is likely that such scenes may simply be recreated at Pinewood Studios.

One such scene mentioned in the article would see 007 confronting Bond 22’s villain in Siena’s bottini, a labyrinthine network of tunnels under the city, which date back to the 12th century and were once used to transport running water to houses. The bottini cannot be visited by the public without written approval.

The town council plans on using Siena’s exposure in the film to present the location in the most positive light possible. However, none of the city’s badges are allowed to be captured on camera during filming.

Some location scouting is said to have took place yesterday (on the eve of the Feast of the Assumption), while tomorrow will reportedly see 14 strategically-placed cameras catching the bi-annual Palio di Siena on film for use in Bond 22.

Keep watching CBn for all the latest news on Bond 22.

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