The speedboat skipping through the ancient canals of Venice is a common plot device used in action flicks from “Casino Royale” to “The Tourist.” But in order to capture a diplomat’s limo riddled with bullets flying down narrow, cobblestone streets in a high-octane car chase, Amazon Studios took to the city center of Trieste, Italy, for its upcoming film “Heads of State.”

Trieste is located on the Gulf of Trieste, a 95-mile stone’s throw across the Adriatic Sea from Venice and the Venetian Lagoon. Both Northern Italian capitals, Venice and Trieste are the seats of the Veneto and the Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions, respectively. But where Venice is known as the epitome of European architectural romance, Trieste remains well tucked into a thin strip of land bordering Slovenia.