Under the Tuscan Sun (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Under the Tuscan Sun

| image = Under the tuscan sun poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Audrey Wells

| screenplay = Audrey Wells

| story = Audrey Wells

| based_on = {{Based on|Under the Tuscan Sun|Frances Mayes}}

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Tom Sternberg
Audrey Wells

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| cinematography = Geoffrey Simpson

| editing = {{Plainlist|

Arthur Coburn
Andrew Marcus
Todd E Miller

}}

| music = Christophe Beck

| studio = Touchstone Pictures

| distributor = Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

| released = {{Film date|2003|9|26|United States}}

| runtime = 113 minutes

| country = United States

| language = {{Plainlist|

English
Italian

}}

| budget = $18 million

| gross = $58.9 million

}}

Under the Tuscan Sun is a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama written, produced, and directed by Audrey Wells and starring Diane Lane. Based on Frances Mayes' 1996 memoir of the same name, the film is about a recently divorced writer who buys a villa in Tuscany on a whim, hoping it will lead to a change in her life. Lane received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance.{{cite web |title=Awards for Under the Tuscan Sun |publisher=Internet Movie Database |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328589/awards |access-date=March 20, 2012}}

Plot

Frances Mayes is a San Francisco writer whose seemingly perfect life takes an unexpected turn when she learns that her husband has been cheating on her. The husband, who had been working on his writing and had no income, ironically, was allowed to petition for alimony. As a one-time settlement, however, the agreement was for Frances to quitclaim her 1/2 ownership of the home. The divorce—and the loss of her house to her ex-husband and his much-younger, pregnant new partner—leaves her depressed and unable to write. Her best friend Patti, who is expecting a child with her girlfriend Grace, is worried that Frances might never recover from the traumatic divorce. She urges Frances to take an Italian vacation to Tuscany using the ticket she purchased before she became pregnant. At first, Frances refuses, but after another depressing day in her gloomy temporary apartment, she decides that it's a good idea to get away for a while.

In Tuscany, her tour group stops in the small town of Cortona. After wandering through the charming streets, she notices a posting for a villa for sale in Cortona. She rejoins her tour group on the bus, and just outside town, the bus stops to allow a flock of sheep to cross the road. While they wait, Frances realizes that they've stopped directly in front of the very villa that she had seen for sale—something she believes is a sign. She asks the driver to stop, and she gets off the bus. Through a series of serendipitous events, she becomes the owner of a lovely yet dilapidated villa in beautiful Tuscany.

Frances begins her new life with the help of a variety of interesting characters and unusual but gentle souls. She hires a crew of Polish immigrants to renovate the house. Over time, Frances also befriends her Italian neighbors and develops relationships with her Polish workers, the realtor who sold her the villa, and Katherine, an eccentric aging British actress who evokes the mystery and beauty of an Italian film star. Later, she is visited by the now very pregnant Patti, whose partner Grace has left her.

Frances meets and has a brief romantic affair with Marcello, but their relationship does not last. She is about to give up on happiness when one of her Polish workers, a teenager named Pawel, and a neighbor's young daughter come to her for help. Her father does not approve of him, due to his being Polish and not having a family, yet they are very much in love and want to get married. Frances persuades the girl's family to support their love, by proclaiming that she is Pawel's family, and the young lovers are soon married at the villa. During the wedding celebration, Ed, an American writer appears unexpectedly. The writer, whose novel Frances had previously edited and critiqued harshly, is traveling in Tuscany and heard about her residence there. Their attraction for each other points to a romantic future.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Diane Lane as Frances Mayes
Sandra Oh as Patti
Lindsay Duncan as Katherine
Raoul Bova as Marcello
Vincent Riotta as Martini
Mario Monicelli as Old Man with Flowers
Claudia Gerini as Signora Raguzzi
Giulia Steigerwalt as Chiara
Pawel Szajda as Pawel
Anita Zagaria as Fiorella
Roberto Nobile as Placido
Valentine Pelka as Jerzy
Sasa Vulicevic as Zbigniew
Dan Bucatinsky as Rodney
David Sutcliffe as Ed
Kate Walsh as Grace
Don McManus as Nasty Man
Evelina Gori as Nona Cardinale
Massimo Sarchielli as Nino
Laura Pestellini as Contessa
Matt Salinger as colleague
Elden Henson as author
Jack Kehler as apartment manager
Kristoffer Winters as David, the tour guide
Nuccio Siano as Gianni
Malva Guicheney as Gianni's daughter
Jeffrey Tambor as lawyer (uncredited)

}}

Production

=Development=

In November 1998, producer Tom Sternberg was filming the psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) in Northern Italy.{{cite web|title=Under the Tuscan Sun Production Notes (2003) |website=Made in Atlantis |date=September 2014 |url=https://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2003/tuscan_production_details.htm |access-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509212329/http://madeinatlantis.com/movies_central/2003/tuscan_production_details.htm |archive-date=May 9, 2016}} In the penultimate week of its seventeen-week shooting schedule, the crew was working in the Tuscan town of Pienza in the province of Siena. After finishing the shooting day, Sternberg, director Anthony Minghella and actor Matt Damon met Frances Mayes and her husband Ed at a nearby wine bar where the couple was picking out wine glasses. Astounded to meet the author, Sternberg had read Mayes's 1996 memoir Under the Tuscan Sun a year earlier but initially not considered it for film treatment. In March 2000, Sternberg met Mayes again in Los Angeles, where they were guests of the Tuscan Film Commission. Upon their reencounter, Sternberg reread the book and realized its potential as a film. Sternberg and executive producer Mark Gill gave the book to Audrey Wells and asked to hear her take on how to adapt it for the screen. Wells envisioned Under The Tuscan Sun to be a "lush, classical romantic comedy whose point is that if you stop looking for love, love will find you."

=Filming locations=

Banca CR Firenze, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy (interiors, bank scene)
Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy (real estate transaction scene with a judicial scrivener)
Teatro Signorelli, Cortona, Italy (movie date with Pawel)
Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy (bookstore, Patti & Grace's San Francisco apartment)
Cortona, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Montepulciano, Siena, Tuscany, Italy (leaving Cortona, wedding)
Positano, Salerno, Campania, Italy
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Borgo De Celli, Umbria, Italy
San Francisco, California, United States
Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy (flag-waving show){{cite web|title=Locations for Under the Tuscan Sun |publisher=Movieloci.com |url=http://www.movieloci.com/2694-Under-the-Tuscan-Sun?snapshot=31932}}
Teatro Signorelli, Cortona, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy (interiors){{cite web|title=Locations for Under the Tuscan Sun |website=Internet Movie Database |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328589/locations |access-date=March 20, 2012}}

Reception

=Box office=

Under the Tuscan Sun grossed $43.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $15.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $58.9 million.{{cite web |title=Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) |website=Box Office Mojo |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0328589/ |access-date=January 22, 2024}} In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $9.7 million from 1,226 theaters on its opening weekend, ranking second behind The Rundown.{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2000W32/ |title=Domestic 2003 Weekend 39 (September 26–28, 2003) |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=January 22, 2024}}{{cite web|first=Jeremy|last=Kay|title=The Rundown another number one opening for Universal|website=Screen Daily|url=https://www.screendaily.com/the-rundown-another-number-one-opening-for-universal/4015248.article|date=September 29, 2003|access-date=February 22, 2021}}

=Critical response=

File:Diane Lane (Berlin Film Festival 2011) 2.jpg's performance received high praise from critics, earning her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.]]

The film received mixed reviews from critics, although there was strong praise for Lane's performance. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 62% based on 155 reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though formulaic and superficial, Under the Tuscan Sun is redeemed by Lane's vibrant performance."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/under_the_tuscan_sun|title=Under the Tuscan Sun|website=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=March 5, 2019}} Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/under-the-tuscan-sun|title=Under the Tuscan Sun|website=Metacritic|access-date=November 27, 2022}}

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle remarked that "it would be easy [...] to call the entire plot of Under the Tuscan Sun a mere excuse to show us beautiful things and Lane's reaction to them. [But] despite stiff competition from the natural surroundings, Lane's face is not just the witness to beauty but also the thing itself in this stunning-looking film."{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Pursuing-happiness-in-a-postcard-pretty-Italy-2586230.php|first=Mick|last=LaSalle|author-link=Mick LaSalle|title=Pursuing happiness in a postcard-pretty Italy|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=September 26, 2003|access-date=January 22, 2024}} Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave Under the Tuscan Sun three out of four stars. He called the film an "alluring example of yuppie porn, seducing audiences with a shapely little villa in Italy [...] What redeems the film is its successful escapism, and Lane's performance."{{cite news|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/under-the-tuscan-sun-2003|first=Roger|last=Ebert|author-link=Roger Ebert|title=Under The Tuscan Sun|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=September 26, 2003|access-date=January 22, 2024|via=RogerEbert.com}} Similarly, Boston Globe{{'}}s Ty Burr found that Under the Tuscan Sun "plays as a warmly soothing yuppie-makeover daydream, and it goes down like limoncello – sweet, not very good for you, but irresistible just the same."{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=2640|first=Ty|last=Burr|author-link=Ty Burr|title=Plays as a warmly soothing yuppie-makeover daydream|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=September 26, 2003|access-date=November 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709165651/http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=2640|archive-date=July 9, 2009}}

Mike Clark from USA Today declared the film "a fun movie to sit through even when you don't always buy it [...] If the scenery and Lane's charm hook you early on, you'll probably go with the flow. And the movie is all Lane."{{cite news|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2003-09-25-tuscan_x.htm|first=Mike|last=Clark|title='Tuscan Sun' rightly revolves around Lane|newspaper=USA Today|date=October 22, 2003|access-date=November 27, 2022}} Seattle Times critic Moira MacDonald felt that "despite the formulaic plot, which seems to belong on the Lifetime channel, Wells has a knack for witty dialogue that keeps things moving along [...] As escapism and as winsome travelogue, Under the Tuscan Sun works just fine."{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?slug=tuscan26&date=20030926|first=Moira|last=MacDonald|title='It's pretty, but not too hot 'Under the Tuscan Sun'|newspaper=Seattle Times|date=September 26, 2003|access-date=November 27, 2022}} Rex Reed, writing for The New York Observer was critical with the film's overplotted third act, but added: "File [it] under guilty pleasures, but I loved [the film] unconditionally [...] The epitome of what a feel-good movie is supposed to be but rarely is, this one is beautiful to look at and life-affirming to think about, and it doesn't have a pretentious bone in its head."{{cite news|first=Rex|last=Reed|url=https://observer.com/2003/09/sunny-sides-up-in-bella-tuscany/|title=Sunny Side's Up In Bella Tuscany|newspaper=The New York Observer|date=September 29, 2003|access-date=November 27, 2022}}

In her review for Salon, Stephanie Zacharek was more cutting, saying: "For a movie about moving to Italy and bedding a hot Italian stallion, this sterile fantasy is about as sexy as a rusty olive oil can [...] Under the Tuscan Sun pretends to be juicy, but it doesn't allow any dribbles. It purports to make love all over us, but not without laying down lots of paper towels first."{{cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2003/09/26/tuscan_sun/|first=Stephanie|last=Zacharek|title=Under the Tuscan Sun|website=Salon.com|date=September 27, 2003|access-date=November 27, 2022}}

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly graded the film with a 'C+' rating, summarizing it as a "a golden vise of women's romance-pic clichés."{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2003/09/24/under-tuscan-sun-2/|first=Lisa|last=Schwarzbaum|author-link=Lisa Schwarzbaum|title=Under the Tuscan Sun|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=March 17, 2020}} Los Angeles Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote that "it's a pleasure to watch Lane's delicately lived-in face tremble with feeling – it's the truest thing in the movie – but the character's desperation feels wrong, the worst kind of sellout [...] The movie pretends it's peddling a vision of 'you-go-girl' independence in which it doesn't remotely believe."{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-sep-26-et-dargis26-story.html|first=Manohla|last=Dargis|author-link=Manohla Dargis|title=Getting a bit burned 'Under the Tuscan Sun'|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 26, 2002|access-date=November 27, 2022}}