by InTrieste
Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores is filming La variante di Lüneburg, a noir thriller based on the novel by Paolo Maurensig, in Trieste. The story follows a decades-long battle between two men, played out through the game of chess.
The film stars Toni Servillo, Sebastian Koch, Damian Hardung, Eduardo Scarpetta and Thomas Prenn. It marks another return to Friuli Venezia Giulia for Salvatores, who said he has made five or six films in the region. His most recent was Napoli-New York, filmed in Trieste in 2023.
Although the story moves between cities including Munich and Vienna, Salvatores chose to set the film in Trieste, whose architecture and atmosphere he said evoke the Austrian capital and parts of Eastern Europe.
“I’ve spent more than a thousand nights in this hotel since I started coming here to shoot,” he said. “It’s a city that works really well, and above all it has that same atmosphere as Vienna.”
For the first time, he added, he has filmed in Piazza Unità d’Italia, the city’s main square.
Salvatores described chess as “the most violent sport that exists and, perhaps, the least cinematic,” saying he was drawn to the game’s darker dimensions of violence, magic and mystery. The film aims to capture the atmosphere of shadows and fire that Maurensig had envisioned, he said.
Filming locations include the Chamber of Commerce, the Sartorio Museum, Villa Tripcovich, Caffè San Marco, Caffè Tommaseo and the Revoltella Museum, as well as the former powder magazine at Borgo Grotta Gigante. One scene featuring Hardung was filmed at the historic bookstore associated with Trieste writer Umberto Saba.
Servillo said working with Salvatores again was a major attraction of the project. He compared the director to an orchestra conductor, describing the film as a story rich in ideas and suggestions. He also praised Trieste’s literary and musical heritage.
For Hardung, the production is his first collaboration with Salvatores and an opportunity to perform in both Italian and German. He also praised Trieste and the experience of working with an Italian crew.
“The people, the food, the city, everything. I really love being here,” he said, adding that discovering different approaches to film-making was one of the reasons he enjoyed acting.
Hardung described Salvatores as a director with a precise vision for each scene. “It’s almost like paintings,” he said. “He really draws the scene, and I get to be like a pawn in his imagination.”
Filming is scheduled to last nine weeks across Trieste and Rome. The production employs local film professionals and extras recruited in the region.
La variante di Lüneburg is produced by Lotus Production, a Leone Film Group company, with Rai Cinema and in association with Vice Pictures, Indiana Production, a Vuelta company, and MDE. The film is supported by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission–PromoTurismoFVG and has the patronage of the Municipality of Sgonico.
Rai Cinema International Distribution is handling international sales. The film will be distributed in Italy by 01 Distribution.
