Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

A writer impulsively buys a villa in Tuscany in order to change her life.

Director:

Audrey Wells

Writers:

Frances Mayes (book), Audrey Wells (screen story)

Stars:

Diane Lane, Raoul Bova, Sandra Oh

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diane Lane	...	Frances
Sandra Oh	...	Patti
Lindsay Duncan	...	Katherine
Raoul Bova	...	Marcello
Vincent Riotta	...	Martini
Mario Monicelli	...	Old Man with Flowers
Roberto Nobile	...	Placido
Anita Zagaria	...	Fiorella
Evelina Gori	...	Nona Cardinale
Giulia Louise Steigerwalt	...	Chiara (as Giulia Steigerwalt)
Pawel Szajda	...	Pawel
Valentine Pelka	...	Jerzy
Sasa Vulicevic	...	Zbignew
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Nino
Claudia Gerini	...	Signora Raguzzi

Storyline

Frances Mayes is a San Francisco-based literature professor, literary reviewer and author, who is struggling in writing her latest book. Her outwardly perfect and stable life takes an unexpected turn when her husband files for divorce. He wants to marry the woman with whom he is having an affair. Frances supported her husband financially as he was writing his own book, and he sues her for alimony despite her financial difficulties. And he wants to keep the house. Frances eventually accepts her best friend Patti's offer of a vacation, a gay tour of Tuscany which Patti and her lesbian partner Grace originally purchased for themselves before Patti found out that she is pregnant. The gift is a means to escape dealing with the divorce, from which Patti feels Frances may never recover emotionally without some intervention. Feeling that Patti's assessment may be correct in that she has too much emotional baggage ever to return to San Francisco, Frances, while in Tuscany, impulsively ditches ...

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Plot Keywords:

villa | writer | book | vacation | author | 

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Taglines:

The Only Thing More Surprising Than The Chance She's Taking...Is Where It's Taking Her

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA Italy

Language:

English Italian Polish French Spanish German

Release Date:

26 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bajo el sol de Toscana

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,751,425, 28 September 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$43,610,723, 5 February 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$58,878,723

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Timnick Films, Blue Gardenia Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer/director Audrey Wells said that when she was writing the script, the only actress she thought of to play Patti was Sandra Oh. They had worked together on Guinevere (1999). One of Oh's guests on the Italian location was her fiancé Alexander Payne.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie, as a voiceover speaks of the Semmering Pass railway from Austria to Italy, we are shown a train of the Rhätische Bahn (or Rhaetian Railway). Except for a very short section in Italy, the RhB operates only in Switzerland; it's nowhere near the Semmering Pass.

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Quotes

Martini: Signora. Please stop being so sad. If you continue like this, I will be forced to make love to you. And I've never been unfaithful to my wife.

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Connections

Spoofs La Dolce Vita (1960)

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Soundtracks

Il vecchiotto cerca moglie
(from "Il barbiere di Siviglia" Act II No. 14: Berta's aria)
Music by Gioachino Rossini
Performed by Magyar Rádió Énekkara (as Hungarian Radio Chorus) (credited but not used) and the Failoni Kamerazenekar (as Failoni Chamber Orchestra)
Sung by Ingrid Kertesi (uncredited)
Courtesy of Naxos
By Arrangement with Source/Q

User Reviews

A stroll down a Tuscan Lane

In "Under the Tuscan Sun", a recently divorced American writer/critic (Lane) ventures to Italy where she sets about putting the pieces of her shattered life back together in the rustic, bucolic, scenic countryside of Tuscany. Lane registers a fine performance in this lighthearted drama spritzed with humor and romance which is as lovely as it is clumsy. Obvious in its attempts to tug at the heart-strings of romantics with all the expected Italian stereotypes and cliches, this flick received mixed reviews and will resonate most with more mature sentimentalists. Those who enjoy this film may want to check out V. Redgrave in "A Month by the Lake" (1995). (B)