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Under the Tuscan Sun

  • 20032003
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 53m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
52K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,737
136
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Clip: Frances Escapes Gawking Men
Play clip1:39
Under the Tuscan Sun
2 Videos
38 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Romance

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

IMDb RATING
6.7/10
52K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,737
136
  • Director
    • Audrey Wells
  • Writers
    • Frances Mayes(book "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy")
    • Audrey Wells(screen story)
  • Stars
    • Diane Lane
    • Raoul Bova
    • Sandra Oh
Top credits
  • Director
    • Audrey Wells
  • Writers
    • Frances Mayes(book "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy")
    • Audrey Wells(screen story)
  • Stars
    • Diane Lane
    • Raoul Bova
    • Sandra Oh
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 341User reviews
    • 101Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 nominations

    Videos2

    Under the Tuscan Sun
    Clip 1:39
    Under the Tuscan Sun
    Under the Tuscan Sun
    Clip 1:07
    Under the Tuscan Sun

    Photos38

    Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane and Lindsay Duncan in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane and Emiliano Novelli in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane, Kate Walsh, and Sandra Oh in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane, Giulia Louise Steigerwalt, and Pawel Szajda in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Frances (Diane Lane, second from right) experiences the agony and the ecstasy of remodeling her Tuscan villa with the help of contractor Nino (Massimo Sarchielli, far left), handymen Pawel (Pawel Szajda, second from left) and Jerzy (Valentine Pelka, third from right), and friend and realtor Signor Martini (Vincent Riotta, far right)
    (l to r) Giulia Steigerwalt, Diane Lane, and Sandra Oh
    Diane Lane and Raoul Bova in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
    Diane Lane and Frances Mayes in Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Diane Lane
    Diane Lane
    • Francesas Frances
    Raoul Bova
    Raoul Bova
    • Marcelloas Marcello
    Sandra Oh
    Sandra Oh
    • Pattias Patti
    Lindsay Duncan
    Lindsay Duncan
    • Katherineas Katherine
    Vincent Riotta
    Vincent Riotta
    • Martinias Martini
    Mario Monicelli
    Mario Monicelli
    • Old Man with Flowersas Old Man with Flowers
    Roberto Nobile
    Roberto Nobile
    • Placidoas Placido
    Anita Zagaria
    • Fiorellaas Fiorella
    Evelina Gori
    • Nona Cardinaleas Nona Cardinale
    Giulia Louise Steigerwalt
    • Chiaraas Chiara
    • (as Giulia Steigerwalt)
    Pawel Szajda
    Pawel Szajda
    • Pawelas Pawel
    Valentine Pelka
    Valentine Pelka
    • Jerzyas Jerzy
    Sasa Vulicevic
    • Zbignewas Zbignew
    Massimo Sarchielli
    Massimo Sarchielli
    • Ninoas Nino
    Claudia Gerini
    Claudia Gerini
    • Signora Raguzzias Signora Raguzzi
    Laura Pestellini
    • Contessaas Contessa
    David Sutcliffe
    David Sutcliffe
    • Edas Ed
    Kate Walsh
    Kate Walsh
    • Graceas Grace
    • Director
      • Audrey Wells
    • Writers
      • Frances Mayes(book "Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy")
      • Audrey Wells(screen story) (screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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 the tour to purchase an aged villa, which ends up being a fixer-upper. Frances has many obstacles in eking out a productive and happy life in her new surroundings, that happy life which she hopes will eventually include rediscovering romantic love. In a discussion with sympathetic real estate agent Signor Martini, Frances outlines what emotionally she wants to accomplish with the villa, despite none of those items in a substantive material sense currently being in her life. In response, Martini tells her the story of a set of railroad tracks that were laid between Vienna and Venice before an engine that could make the trek being built, a train which now regularly travels the route. The question becomes whether Frances, in going through the process, will be laying another Vienna to Venice track, and if so whether that end product emotionally will be exactly as she envisions. —Huggo
    • villa
    • writer
    • book
    • vacation
    • author
    • 166 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • The Only Thing More Surprising Than The Chance She's Taking...Is Where It's Taking Her
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Romance
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Zeus the art model was fully nude during filming. Digital underwear was added in post-production to avoid an R-rating.
    • Goofs
      When Signor Martini is next to the fireplace telling Frances about the train tracks through the mountains, the matchbox behind him moves around the top of the fire place.
    • Quotes

      Katherine: Listen, when I was a little girl I used to spend hours looking for ladybugs. Finally, I'd just give up and fall asleep in the grass. When I woke up, they were crawling all over me.

    • Connections
      Featured in Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Diane Lane/Wanda Sykes/Jonny Lang (2003)
    • Soundtracks
      Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night in the Week)
      Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne

      Performed by The Oscar Peterson Trio

      Courtesy of The Verve Music Group

      Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

    User reviews341

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    Sappy and unrealistic, but still strangely charming...
    Poet and writer Frances Mayes became a household name when in 1996 she published "Under the Tuscan Sun", a book where she detailed how she and her new lover bought and renovated an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Italy. With her stylish prose, she made the book something more than a mere diary of the renovation and turned into a captivating chronicle of her trips through Italy and her familiarization with the country's rich culture. The book's detailed account of Mayes' trips attracted director Audrey Wells, who used the book's story of the renovation of an Italian villa as a basis for this charming romantic comedy set in Tuscany and starring Diane Lane.

    Frances (Diane Lane) is a writer in her mid-30s currently suffering writer's block, but this is the lesser of her problems, as her husband suddenly decides to divorce her and as a result of legal issues, he keeps their house. Without a place to call home, Frances enters a state of depression, but her friend Patti (Sandra Oh) has a solution. Since Patti (who is a lesbian) has become pregnant, she and her partner offer Frances their tickets to Italy and convince her to take a holiday. While traveling through Tuscanny with the tour, Frances finds an abandoned villa for sale, and impulsively (and thanks to a series of consequences), she decides to buy it. "Under the Tuscan Sun" details France's efforts to renovate the villa and her life at the same time, as well as her encounters with many interesting characters from the beautiful Italian region.

    Well, it is safe to point out that other than the tale of the renovation of an old house, Audrey Well's adaptation of the story has little to no resemblance to the book's plot. However, the way Wells mixes Mayes' Italian adventure with her character's own tribulations is almost perfect. True, the movie's plot is a bit typical and filled with some of the most common clichés in the romantic comedy genre, but it also offers some really nice (and unexpected) twists to the formula. While not exactly the detailed travelogue that Mayes' book is, this version of "Under the Tuscan Sun" really captures the magic of the Italian region and accurately shows off bits of the country's culture despite the funny use of classic stereotypes.

    Director Audrey Wells takes a straight forward approach to her story, but wisely, takes full advantage of the location's awesome landscapes and the enormous talent of cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson. Together, Simpson and Wells create beautiful vistas of Italy's famous countryside that often mimic in a cleverly fashion some very well-known paintings of the same locations. The film's cinematography is definitely the movie's main asset, but it's not the only good thing in the film. While in terms of style Wells follows the romantic comedy formula somewhat to the letter, the movie is filled with a very human touch that most movies of this genre lack.

    Diane Lane is simply perfect as the movie's main character, as while the role may be a bit typical, she truly added her talents to the part and made Frances a very real and likable woman. Sandra Oh is good as Frances' best friend Patti, although really less convincing than Lane. Vincent Riotta is the film's highlight, as the helpful Mr. Martini who also gives two or three lessons to the stranger in a strange land. Lindsay Duncan appears as the strange Katherine, and plays an over-the-top character with dignity and charm. Overall the rest of the cast was very good, with everyone being perfect to the part although nothing really special. By the way, watch out for a small appearance of legendary director Mario Monicelli in a small role.

    It's impossible to compare the film to the book as they are both very different beasts, with very little in common; so fans of the book won't find a faithful adaptation despite the gorgeous images of Italy. As a film, "Under the Tuscan Sun" is a very effective melodrama, as while it's certainly sappy and silly at times, it offers a breath of fresh air when compared to other similar films. True, it's story may not be the most original one, but the way it's executed it's strangely charming, as if the beautiful cinematography and witty script were able to cast a magic spell on the viewers and simply captivate with their simple beauty.

    It's easy to dismiss "Under the Tuscan Sun" as another silly romantic comedy filled with typical clichés and sappy situations; but while those descriptions often prove true to this film, there is something else, something more that this movie offers that makes it special, and a truly different experience to those used to watch the same plots in melodramas over and over. "Under the Tuscan Sun" may not be true to its source book, but it uses it cleverly to tells a really charming story. 7/10
    helpful•32
    8
    • jluis1984
    • Jan 22, 2007

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    Photos

    FAQ7

    • What is 'Under the Tuscan Sun' about?
    • Is "Under the Tuscan Sun" based on a book?
    • Where is Bramasole located?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 26, 2003 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Italy
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
      • Polish
      • French
      • Spanish
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Dưới Nắng Trời Tuscan
    • Filming locations
      • Positano, Salerno, Campania, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Touchstone Pictures
      • Timnick Films
      • Blue Gardenia Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $18,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $43,610,723
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $9,751,425
      • Sep 28, 2003
    • Gross worldwide
      • $58,878,723
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 53 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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