Le Cinque Terre.org




LUCA, FILM 2021

Vernazza


Luca is a 2021 animated film, directed by the Enrico Casarosa and post-produced by Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures. Casarosa spent his holidays as a child in the Cinque Terre and thought of this area as a location.

The film tells the story of Luca Paguro, a shy 13-year-old sea monster capable of assuming human form. Luca lives on the bottom of the Ligurian Sea as a mullet shepherd, near the town of Portorosso. During the film, Luca makes friends with Alberto Scorfano, his age, and above all, a sea monster too who lives on earth. Thus the two begin a series of adventures on the mainland between ice cream, pasta and Vespa rides with a group of friends including Giulia Marcovaldo.

Portorosso refers to all the Cinque Terre:

  • The name itself reminds us of Monterosso
  • The square of Portorosso recalls that of Vernazza
  • The beach with the cave and the sand one are in Vernazza.
  • The view of Portorosso from above and its alleys refer to Manarola
  • Giulia's house is inspired by a building in Riomaggiore, next to the marina.
  • Corniglia is not shown with a specific location, but is the only one mentioned in the map of Portorosso.


    • In the film there are references to other Ligurian locations:
  • The legendary birth of Sestri Levante from the love between the siren Segesta and the triton Tigullio, disliked by Poseidon.
  • The legend of the octopus of Tellaro, a small fishing village in the municipality of Lerici.
  • The island where Alberto lives is very reminiscent of the island of Tino, next to the island of Palmaria, in front of Portovenere.
  • At the end of the film the "Genova Piazza Principe" station is announced, one of the two main stations of Genoa.


    • To celebrate the release of the film, temporally and now removed, two underwater states were created depicting Luca and Alberto, two and a half meters high and lying on the seabed off Monterosso at a depth of 5 meters.