Where Was In Love And War Filmed?

I tend to talk about films like 'In Love and War' with a bit of a technical eye, and for this one the shooting pattern makes a lot of sense. Most of the exterior, battlefield, and village scenes were filmed in Italy to capture the genuine terrain and architecture of World War I-era Europe. The filmmakers wanted authenticity for the wide shots and street-level drama, so Italy provided that immediate historical texture.

To supplement those locations, the production also shot scenes in Malta, which doubled for sections of the Italian coastline and some village exteriors. Malta’s stonework and compact towns have a timeless quality that’s easy to dress into different historical periods, which is why it’s used so often. For controlled interiors — operating rooms, hospital wards, and other confined dramatic spaces — studio work in the UK was employed so lighting and sound could be precisely managed. Visually, the combination of real Italian landscapes, Maltese architecture, and UK studio polish gave the film both scale and intimacy, and I find that mix still works well on screen.

It’s fun to trace where 'In Love and War' was made because the production deliberately combined several locations to craft a believable wartime world. The majority of the exterior filming happened in Italy, where authentic streets, countryside, and period architecture provided the backbone for the film’s visuals. For certain sequences — especially coastal village exteriors and spots that needed to read as Mediterranean but be logistically simpler — the crew used locations in Malta. Malta’s dense, historical environments are easy to modify for different eras, which made it a practical choice.

When it came to interiors, particularly medical and domestic scenes that required precise control over light, sound, and set design, studio facilities in the UK were used. That allowed the director to stage intimate moments without weather or noise interfering. The result is a film that feels both cinematic and immediate; the real-world locations give it a grounded texture, while the studio work sharpens the emotional beats. I still think the locations did a lot of the storytelling heavy lifting.

Every time the subject of 'In Love and War' comes up, I get a little nostalgic for old-school location filmmaking. The 1996 film directed by Richard Attenborough was shot largely on location in Italy to capture the authentic World War I landscapes and the small-town feel of the story. You can feel the Italian countryside and ruined villages in the outdoor scenes — they really leaned into real streets, plazas, and the kind of weathered architecture that gives the movie its period texture.

Alongside on-location work in Italy, the production used Malta to double for some of the wartime towns and coastal scenes. Malta’s historical architecture and flexible locations have often been used to stand in for other Mediterranean settings, and in this film it provided convincing backdrops for scenes that needed a very specific old-world look. Interior hospital and some controlled sequences were shot in studio environments in the UK, which helped the filmmakers shape quieter, more intimate moments. Overall, the blend of Italian exteriors, Maltese stand-ins, and British studio work is what gives 'In Love and War' its grounded, lived-in atmosphere — I still find the settings quietly beautiful.

I got hooked on this film's locations the first time I watched 'In Love and War' and noticed how convincingly the landscapes doubled for wartime Europe. The production mostly shot in New Zealand, which is one of those places filmmakers love because the terrain is so diverse and the crews are top-notch. You can see the rolling hills, coastal cliffs, and moody skies that stand in for Italian front lines, and a lot of interior work was handled on sound stages to recreate hospital wards and town interiors.

Aside from New Zealand studio work, the filmmakers also did second-unit and pick-up shoots in Italy to capture authentic architecture and close-up period details that anchor the story. The blend of on-location Italian shots and New Zealand stand-ins gave the movie a grounded, textured feel. Personally, I always enjoy spotting which scenes are likely studio setups and which are real outdoor plates — it makes re-watching 'In Love and War' feel like a little geography lesson and a behind-the-scenes treasure hunt.