‘Closer’ Based on Patrick Marber’s award-winning 1997 play of the same name, is a romantic drama that can be described as a “love triangle”. It follows the lives of four individuals with a complex love equation. It stars Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, and Clive Owen as Anna, Dan, Alice, and Larry, who are complex and flawed characters. Dan is a struggling writer who falls in love with Alice, a stripper on the run.
When Alice and Dan cross paths with photographer Anna, whom Dan approaches for a portrait shoot, things begin to collide. With the arrival of dermatologist Larry, their relationship always hangs in the balance with an incredible tension that director Mike Nichols and writer Patrick Marber capture perfectly. Upon its release, the Closer 2004 film won several awards and received two Oscar nominations. Now, know about Closer movie filming locations.
Where Was Closer Movie Filmed?
“Closer” movie was filmed completely in England, UK, with only one sequence shot in New York, USA. Filming began in February 2004 and ended within a few weeks/months of the same year. Due to the production facility, powerful technical crew, various filming locations, and favorable climate, the team decided to shoot the film on location and in several other areas of England.
Over the years, this country has served as a filming location for many movies and shows such as Love Actually, The Witcher: Blood Origin, 1899, Andor, and The Batman.
England
“Closer” was shot extensively in England’s Greater London administrative area, which is governed by the Greater London Authority. The scene where Anna and Dan have a dramatic explosion in a red and flashy bar comes from the Theater Royal Drury Lane, one of the most important theaters in the world. The West End Theatre, located on Catherine Street in Covent Garden, Westminster, also features in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Frenzy.
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The characters share the screen for the first time in Anna’s photography exhibition. The team filmed the scene at Whiteley’s shopping center on the famous Queensway in Bayswater. According to reports, the center was closed in 2018 for redevelopment.
The Closer scene where Dan runs out into the rain to confront Larry shortly before he discovers the truth about Alice is filmed at 18 Southampton Place in Bloomsbury. In one particular sequence, Dan and Anna take a bus from the Thames Embankment, built near the River Thames, to his office; this sequence was shot on location.
On the other hand, the exterior scenes of Dan’s office were filmed in a 14-story office building called Trinity Tower in Thomas More Square in London’s central business district. Interestingly, the facility also serves as one of the premier filming locations for ‘IT Crowd’.
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The then-empty building at 1 Seething Lane, located in Seething Lane Garden, served as a hospital facility where Alice is treated after she has a minor accident on the streets of London. The property has since become home to the Addendum restaurant at the elegant Apex City of London hotel.
The scenes set in Dan’s house were filmed at a property in Smithfield EC1 at 4a Cowcross Street in Clerkenwell. In the scene where he goes to see Alice after she leaves him, you can also see Smithfield Market known for its meat and poultry. The scene in which Larry Dan is almost hunted by a cat to meet Anna at the aquarium was filmed at the London Sealife Aquarium, located on the ground floor of County Hall’s Riverside building on the south bank of the River Thames.
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There is a scene towards the end where Dan and Alice visit the park and he looks at a plaque which is a revelation of Alice using someone else’s identity as her own. The entire sequence was filmed at Postman’s Park in the St Martin’s Le Grand building in the Little Britain neighborhood. In an interview with The Guardian, Patrick Marber, the writer of the film and playwright of the original play, talked about how he got to this point.
Marber continued, “I just wanted to pretend to be someone else. Then, walking my dog in Postman’s Park, London, I came across a memorial to Alice Ayres, who saved three children from a burning house. I thought one of my characters might take her name. In the game, Alice somehow saves Anna, Dan, and Larry. I knew Dan was going to be the obituary and at one point I had the title Obituary for Alice Ayres. Not very racial. I took Closer from the Joy Division album.” The sequence ends with the reveal of Alice and makes you wonder about her motives.
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To record several scenes, the production team also visited Elstree Studios, located on Shenley Road in Borehamwood, in the home county of Hertfordshire in southern England. In addition to “Closer,” the production facility also hosted productions of Under the Skin, The Crown, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The cast and crew also filmed several sequences in the West London suburb of Hounslow.
New York
“Closer.” In the sequence towards the end, Jane Jones AKA Alice walks through the streets of New York with seemingly newfound confidence as a wave of people surround her.
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According to reports, this particular scene was recorded from the primary location. It was filmed on West 47th Street in Times Square in midtown Manhattan, New York.
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