Football — or soccer, if you’re American and wrong — is the most popular sport in the world, so you could feasibly film a movie about the sport anywhere. But the Netflix feature The Beautiful Game, which was filmed in both London and Rome, is a bit different. Inspired by the real-life Homeless World Cup, the narrative strives for authenticity, using location shooting to evoke both the stifling urbanity of one capital and the color and vibrancy of another.
Filming Locations
Rome, Italy
With the narrative taking the cast to Rome for the football tournament, it was important that The Beautiful Game could deliver on the authenticity of the project by filming on location, so the cast and crew would head over to make the most of some iconic architecture.
Sceenit reveals some of the locations that viewers will also be able to spot as they watch the movie. Some easy-to-spot landmarks include the Coliseum, The Spanish Steps, and The Trevi Fountain, where a coin is thrown into the fountain by team members. St Angelo Bridge is also seen, as is Viale Fratel Porfirio Ciprari in Rome.
The Beautiful Game | Image via Netflix
London, UK
Before the action switches to Rome, the film is set in and around London, and there are the usual establishing shots letting us know. The London skyline is an iconic image that is instantly recognizable, but when the action switches to Rome, the film becomes more colorful and vibrant, in juxtaposition to the opening act of the production.
Wicked Little Letters’ Thea Sharrock Directs
The Beautiful Game is directed by Thea Sharrock, who is also noted for her work in theatre. Cinemagoers will have noticed her name recently on the theatrically-released Wicked Little Letters starring Olivia Colman earlier in 2024, which had a solid opening weekend at the UK Box Office.
The named producers are Graham Broadbent, Anita Overland, and Peter Czernin.
The Homeless World Cup Is A Real Tournament
The Beautiful Game is not a true story. It only takes its inspiration from the real-life homeless football tournament, with the narrative being fictional. There is such a thing as the Homeless World Cup, but the film uses the event as a springboard for an original story.
Director Thea Sharrock would state in an interview with Express & Star that the film explores the nature of homelessness and the theatrical allure of football as a sport:
“Football in particular, we know is so dramatic. We all have watched games that have turned around at the last dying seconds so theatre is involved in football when it is at its best, also because of the passion behind the players is everything, so a film that combines all of these things is a bit of a dream come true to work on.”
The film was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, whom many will know from his children’s books. However, he has also worked steadily for film and TV in the UK, including stints on shows such as Coronation Street, Brookside, and two episodes of Doctor Who, “In The Forest of the Night” and “Smile”, both starring Peter Capaldi as the titular Time Lord.
Film-wise, Frank would have success collaborating with director Michael Winterbottom on multiple productions such as Butterfly Kiss, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, Code 46, A Cock and Bull Story, and 24 Hour Party People.
