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‘The Godfather’ descended on a tiny Sicilian village, and it’s never been the same
- More than 50 years after The Godfather filmed in Savoca, the tiny Sicilian village remains a top tourist destination, with daytrippers flocking to sites like Bar Vitelli throughout peak season.
- Director Francis Ford Coppola transformed the isolated village in 1971 by casting locals as extras for the wedding sequence featuring Michael Corleone and Apollonia Vitelli.
- Enza Trimarchi, now 76, recalls the filming as transformative for a town lacking running water, earning 100,000 lire, roughly $165, for her cameo appearance.
- Bar Vitelli, housed in a 15th-century building, has become the village's main tourist stop, though peak season crowds force owners to restrict access during peak times.
- Researcher Coglitore has tracked down 40 Sicilians who appeared as extras, collecting archival photos for an upcoming book, The Godfather in Savoca, to preserve the film's legacy.
11 Articles
11 Articles
By Silvia Marchetti, CNN. When Francis Ford Coppola cast Enza Trimarchi as an extra in "The Godfather" in 1971, the 22-year-old seamstress had no idea she was participating in something that would change her hometown and define it for decades. Trimarchi appeared in a key Sicilian scene: the wedding of aspiring mafia boss Michael Corleone and Apollonia Vitelli, filmed in the hilltop village of Savoca. For her, the arrival of Coppola and the film'…
‘The Godfather’ descended on a tiny Sicilian village, and it’s never been the same
By Silvia Marchetti, CNN When Frances Ford Coppola cast Enza Trimarchi as an extra in “The Godfather” in 1971, the 22-year-old seamstress had no idea she was taking part in something that would change her hometown and define it for decades. Trimarchi appeared in a key Sicilian sequence: the wedding of mafia-boss-in-waiting Michael Corleone and Apollonia Vitelli, filmed in the hilltop village of Savoca. For her, the arrival of Coppola and the fil…
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