Stay as You Are

{{Infobox film

| name = Stay as You Are

| image = Stay As You Are poster.jpg

| caption = US theatrical release poster

| director = Alberto Lattuada

| producer = Giovanni Bertolucci

| screenplay = Alberto Lattuada
Enrico Oldoini

| story = Enrico Oldoini
Paolo Cavara

| starring = Nastassja Kinski
Marcello Mastroianni
Barbara De Rossi
Ania Pieroni

| music = Ennio Morricone

| cinematography = José Luis Alcaine

| distributor = Columbia Pictures {{small|(Internationally)}}

| released = {{film date|1978|9|14|Italy}}

| runtime = 95 minutes

| country = Italy
Spain

| language = Italian

}}

Stay as You Are ({{langx|it|Così come sei}}), also known as Stay the Way You Are, is a 1978 erotic drama film, directed by Alberto Lattuada, starring Nastassja Kinski, Marcello Mastroianni, Barbara De Rossi, and Ania Pieroni.{{Cite web |date=2009 |title=Cosi' come sei (1978) |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/46736/Cosi-come-sei/details |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804121653/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/46736/Cosi-come-sei/details |archive-date=4 August 2009 |access-date=29 March 2009 |website=The New York Times |department=Movies & TV Dept.}} An Italian–Spanish co-production, it follows the May–December romance between a vivacious young college student and a middle-aged professional who is unhappy in his marriage.

New Line Cinema gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States on 21 December 1979. The film was released by Cult Epics in May 2015 on DVD and Blu-ray.{{Cite web |date=3 March 2015 |title=Classic Alberto Lattuada Film Heading to Blu-ray |url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=16202 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306123528/http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=16202 |archive-date=6 March 2015 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=Blu-ray.com}}

Plot

While in Florence on business, Roman landscape architect Giulio Marengo meets an alluring college student, Francesca, and spends the night with her. She is the foster daughter of an agriculturist named Bartolo who has looked after her since the death of her mother, Flora. Later, a friend of Giulio's sees Francesca in a restaurant and implies that she might be Giulio's daughter. It is a possibility since Giulio had been going out with Flora the year before Francesca was born. Shocked by the idea, Giulio tries to cool his relationship with Francesca. Meanwhile, he is distracted by the revelation that his unmarried daughter Alexandra, who is about the same age as Francesca, is pregnant.

Giulio tries unsuccessfully to get to the truth of his alleged paternity, and finally decides to tell Francesca the reason for his conflicting behavior. She flatly dismisses the insinuation, however, saying she regards Bartolo as her only true father. She then accompanies Giulio on an uninhibited holiday in Madrid, where Alexandra has gone to try to sort things out with her lover. Upon returning to Florence, Giulio must get back to Rome to attend to his business affairs, but that night, Francesca insists they see the movie Vampyr together, and he falls asleep. Upon waking up, she is nowhere to be seen, indicating that their love affair has run its course.

Cast

Marcello Mastroianni as Giulio Marengo
Nastassja Kinski as Francesca
Francisco Rabal as Lorenzo
Mónica Randall as Luisa Marengo
Ania Pieroni as Cecilia
Barbara De Rossi as Alexandra Marengo
José María Caffarel as Bartolo
Giuliana Calandra as Teresa
Maria Pia Attanasio as Countess Archi
Raimondo Penne as Notary
Claudio Aliotti
Massimo Bonetti as the Horse Trainer
Mario Cecchi as the Gardener
Adriana Falco as Giulio's secretary
Rodolfo Bigotti

Production

{{quote box|align=right|width=35%|quote=With Stay as You Are, I dropped the grotesque style that had characterized my last film. I went back to the spirit of Guendalina and Sweet Deceptions, of which Stay as You Are is the ideal sequel.|source=—Lattuada, on his thematic approach{{Cite book |last=Cosulich |first=Callisto |title=I film di Alberto Lattuada |date=1 January 1985 |publisher=Gremese Editore |location=Rome |page=114 |language=Italian}}}}

Director Alberto Lattuada shot scenes for the film at various locations in and around Florence, including the Piazza San Giovanni, the Piazza San Marco,{{Cite book |last=Zambenedetti |first=Alberto |title=World Film Locations: Florence |date=15 October 2014 |publisher=Intellect Ltd |pages=68–69}} and the Boboli Gardens.{{Cite book |last=Simonis |first=Damien |title=Lonely Planet Florence (City Guide) |date=1 March 2006 |publisher=Lonely Planet |edition=4th |page=124}} The opening title sequence was shot on the grounds of Villa La Pietra.

The musical score was composed by Ennio Morricone, who previously collaborated with the director on Matchless. A soundtrack album was released in 1978 by Cinevox,{{Cite web |title=Morricone, Ennio – Cosi' Come Sei (Soundtrack) |url=http://www.cvinyl.com/item.php?s=30868 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093047/http://www.cvinyl.com/item.php?s=30868 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=Cvinyl.com}} and again on 14 July 1995 by Prometheus Records.{{Cite web |title=Stay as You Are – Ennio Morricone |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/stay-as-you-are-mw0000908435 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111140518/http://www.allmusic.com/album/stay-as-you-are-mw0000908435 |archive-date=11 November 2014 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=AllMusic |publisher=All Media Network}} The soundtrack is notable for its inclusion of the love theme "Amore per Amore", as well as the two disco tracks "Dance On" and "Spazio 1999".{{Cite web |last=Southall |first=James |date=3 August 2012 |title=Cosi Come Sei soundtrack review |url=http://www.movie-wave.net/cosi-come-sei/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402130519/http://www.movie-wave.net/cosi-come-sei/ |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=Movie Wave}}

Reception

This film received positive reviews, especially for Nastassja Kinski's performance. According to the American poster for this film, Bruce Williamson of Playboy called it "A truly sexy film".{{Cite web |title=Stay As You Are: Product Details |url=http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_poster/stay_as_you_are_1978.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021225202/http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_poster/stay_as_you_are_1978.htm |archive-date=21 October 2012 |access-date=22 August 2012 |publisher=MovieGoods.com}} Time magazine also praised Kinski's performance saying, "Kinski is simply ravishing, genuinely sexy and high-spirited without being painfully aggressive about it."{{Cite magazine |date=21 January 1980 |title=Cinema: Bedrock Taboo |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952572,00.html |url-status=dead |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613190957/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952572,00.html |archive-date=13 June 2008}} Conversely, Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the film "dangerously smarmy at times—dangerous because its cheapness undermines Mr. Mastroianni's essentially serious performance, which is the backbone of the movie. The film works best when the story seems to generate its sexual encounters spontaneously. But there are too many times when the plot looks like a pretext for stringing together amorous interludes."{{Cite web |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=21 December 1979 |title=Film: A New Mastroianni: Romance Across Time |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F07E1D6133EE732A25752C2A9649D946890D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402180803/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F07E1D6133EE732A25752C2A9649D946890D6CF |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=The New York Times}}

Because Kinski was 17 years old at the time, her many nude scenes created controversy.{{Cite magazine |last=Lester |first=Peter |date=13 April 1981 |title=After 'Tess' and Roman Polanski, Nastassia Kinski Trades Notoriety for L.A. Propriety |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20079025,00.html |url-status=dead |volume=15 |issue=14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909124854/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20079025,00.html |archive-date=9 September 2012 |access-date=28 March 2015 |journal=People }} She has since disapproved of the nudity in the film on a number of occasions. Recalling the film in a 1981 interview with People, Kinski said, "There was no one prepared to say, 'She shouldn't do that. There is no point.' No one to protect me. I was just a young girl, in Italy. It was stupid."{{Cite web |date=2 July 1999 |title=Daddy's girl |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/jul/03/weekend7.weekend3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404022601/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/jul/03/weekend7.weekend3 |archive-date=4 April 2017 |access-date=28 March 2015 |website=The Guardian }} In 2001, Kinski reiterated her dissatisfaction with her performance: "Let's put it this way, if that was my daughter, I wouldn't allow that. I wouldn't allow certain people to say certain things or to try certain things."{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=David |date=January 2001 |title=Nastassja Kinski interview: 'I've had such low self-esteem' |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11394696/Nastassja-Kinski-interview-Ive-had-such-low-self-esteem.html |url-status=live |access-date=4 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619041655/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/11394696/Nastassja-Kinski-interview-Ive-had-such-low-self-esteem.html |archive-date=19 June 2016}}