PONTE VECCHIO

The Ponte Vecchio, which translates to "old bridge," is a famous location that makes its viewers immediately know they are in Florence. It is beautiful to admire from afar and offers a gorgeous view of the Arno River when one is standing on it. The current bridge originated in 1345 and has withstood many floods, including a very destructive one in 1966. The Ponte Vecchio initially rented out the shops to fish and meat merchants, but they created an undesirable smell, so they were changed into alluring goldsmith and jewelry shops. The bridge has a corridor above it that connects the famous government building,  Palazzo Vecchio, to the Pitti Palace.  It is named the Vasari corridor and was built by a well-known Florentine architect, Georgio Vasari, in 1565 and funded by the city's famous rulers, the Medici family. It now houses famous valuable artwork from the 16th to 20th centuries. 
The bridge is a very well known monument in Florence and is a very recognizable monument for tourists to know that they are in Florence. Film directors utilize the charming and well known Ponte Vecchio in their movies to show off Florence's beauty. You can see this bridge in the 1985 British romance film A Room with a View, directed by James Ivory. The Ponte Vecchio is one of the main sites that the main character, Lucy,  sees when she opens up her hotel room window and sees Florence in its full beauty. The director purposefully chose the Ponte Vecchio as the main view because he wanted to represent Florence as a very breathtaking, transforming, beautiful place, and the Ponte Vecchio embodies this vision. The Ponte Vecchio is also featured in the 2001 film Hannibal directed by Ridley Scott. In this film, the main character, Hannibal, hides out in Florence, and there is a scene where he is taking a stroll by the banks of the River Arno, and the Ponte Vecchio is in the background.  Additionally, the Vasari corridor is featured in films as well. In the 2016 film Inferno directed by Ron Howard, there is a chase scene that runs through the corridor. All of these films utilize the beauty that the Ponte Vecchio offers. 
In the historical film, Paisa, directed by Roberto Rossellini in 1946, the bridge is not used for its beauty but rather to depict to the viewers the tough times that were occurring in Florence. The movie illustrates the hardships of WWII and the war's impact on Italy. The Ponte Vecchio is the only bridge not destroyed, so the main characters use the Vasari Corridor as a way of crossing the river Arno.