Action! Hugh Grant in Notting Hill
The residents of Notting Hill, it is said, are up in arms about plans to film the new Sienna Miller flower-power period movie, Hippie Hippie Shake, on location in Portobello Road. General disruption, increased traffic and a temporary loss of parking bays are among the council's chief concerns.
Location filming has been a perennial issue in Notting Hill over the last decade, ever since Richard Curtis's film of the same name shot scenes in the area 10 years ago. Tourists still regularly seek the blue door that marked Hugh Grant's house, even though it isn't blue anymore. One councillor was quoted as saying that the old film caused "absolute havoc", and is still bringing curious crowds to the area: "There is not a day in the week now when people who live in and work around Portobello Road have any peace and quiet."
I've lived in the area for about 15 years, more recently on its less fashionable fringes, and I've never heard anyone complain about location filming. It's just something else to gawp at. Portobello Road may be overrun with tourists, but it's a busy street market. It's only quiet when someone shouts: "Action!" Yes, people do still come looking for the blue door, and yes, this is a stupid thing to do, but who is it harming?
It is perhaps the location managers who wish to use Notting Hill as a backdrop that we should pity. Most residents are unmoved by the prospect of film crews on their doorsteps, but a few have learned to make a nuisance of themselves in the hope of being paid to go away. Councils can be difficult to deal with, and Kensington and Chelsea, the borough where Notting Hill is situated, has a reputation for being more obstreperous than most.
Most difficult of all, thanks to an invasion of rich bankers and retail outlets such as Starbucks and American Apparel, Portobello Road no longer remotely resembles its 1960s self, or even the place where Curtis shot his film a decade ago. Returning it to some sort of authenticity, even for a few days, will be a tremendous challenge. I think I'll go down and watch.
