Under the Tuscan Sun (film)
Under the Tuscan Sun | |
---|---|
Directed by | Audrey Wells |
Screenplay by | Audrey Wells |
Story by | Audrey Wells |
Based on | Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Geoffrey Simpson |
Edited by |
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Music by | Christophe Beck |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $18 million[1] |
Box office | $58.9 million[1] |
Under the Tuscan Sun is a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film 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.[2] The film was nominated for the Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Award, and Diane Lane received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance.[3]
Plot[]
Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) 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 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 (Sandra Oh), a lesbian who is expecting a child, is beginning to think Frances might never recover. 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 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 (Lindsay Duncan), 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 (Kate Walsh) has left her.
Frances meets and has a brief romantic affair with Marcello (Raoul Bova), but their relationship does not last. She is about to give up on happiness when one of her Polish workers, a teenager named Pawel (Pawel Szajda), 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, Frances meets an American writer who is traveling in Tuscany, and their attraction for each other points to a romantic future.
Cast[]
- 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
- Roberto Nobile as Placido
- Anita Zagaria as Fiorella
- Evelina Gori as Nona Cardinale
- Kate Walsh as Grace
- Pawel Szajda as Pawel
- David Sutcliffe as Ed
- Jeffrey Tambor as Lawyer (uncredited)
- Giulia Steigerwalt as Chiara
- Valentine Pelka as Jerzy
- Sasa Vulicevic as Zbigniew
- Massimo Sarchielli as Nino
- Claudia Gerini as Signora Raguzzi
- Laura Pestellini as Contessa
- Don McManus as Nasty Man
- Matt Salinger as Colleague
- Elden Henson as Author
- Jack Kehler as Apartment Manager
- Kristoffer Ryan Winters as David Tour Guide
- Nuccio Siano as Gianni
- Malva Guicheney as Gianni's Daughter[4]
- Dan Bucatinsky as Rodney[4]
Production[]
Developement[]
In November 1998, producer Tom Sternberg was filming the psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) in Northern Italy.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5] In March 2000, Sternberg met Mayes again in Los Angeles, where they were guests of the Tuscan Film Commission.[5] Upon their reencounter, Sternberg reread the book and realized its potential as a film.[5] 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."[5]
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)
- , 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
- San Francisco, California, United States
- Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy (flag-waving show)[6]
- Teatro Signorelli, Cortona, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy (interiors)[7]
Reception[]
Box office[]
Under the Tuscan Sun opened well in the United States, where it came in second to The Rundown at the box office during the weekend of September 28, 2003, grossing $9,751,425 on 1,226 screens.[8] This was more than half of its estimated $18 million budget.[8] The film was a box office success, earning $43,610,723 domestically and a further $15,268,000 internationally, totaling $58,878,723 worldwide.[1]
Critical response[]
The film received mixed reviews from critics, although there was strong praise for Lane's performance. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 62% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 155 reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10. Its consensus states: "Though formulaic and superficial, Under the Tuscan Sun is redeemed by Lane's vibrant performance."[9] On Metacritic, which uses a normalized rating system, the film holds a 52/100 rating, based on 34 reviews, indicating "mixed or average favourable reviews".[10]
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."[11] 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."[12] 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."[13]
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."[14] 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."[15] Red Reed, writing for The 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."[16]
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."[17] 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."[18] 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."[19]
Accolades[]
List of awards and nominations | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | ||
ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards | Contemporary Film | Stephen McCabe | Nominated | ||
GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Film – Wide Release | Nominated | |||
Golden Globe Award | Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical | Diane Lane | Nominated | ||
Golden Satellite Award | Best Actress – Musical or Comedy | Diane Lane | Nominated | ||
Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards | Best Contemporary Hair Styling - Feature | Candy L. Walken | Nominated |
See also[]
- Under the Tuscan Sun, the memoir on which the film is based
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Under the Tuscan Sun". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ "Under the Tuscan Sun". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ "Awards for Under the Tuscan Sun". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Full cast and crew for Under the Tuscan Sun". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved Dec 22, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Under the Tuscan Sun Production Notes (2003)". madeinatlantis.com. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
- ^ "Locations for Under the Tuscan Sun". Movieloci.com.
- ^ "Locations for Under the Tuscan Sun". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Kay, Jeremy (September 29, 2003). "The Rundown another number one opening for Universal". screendaily.com. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Under the Tuscan Sun". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Under the Tuscan Sun at Metacritic
- ^ LaSalle, Mick (September 26, 2003). "Pursuing happiness in a postcard-pretty Italy". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (September 26, 2003). "Under The Tuscan Sun". Chicago Sun-Times. RogertEbert.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Burr, Ty. "Plays as a warmly soothing yuppie-makeover daydream". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Clark, Mike (October 22, 2003). "'Tuscan Sun' rightly revolves around Lane". USA Today. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ MacDonald, Moira (September 26, 2003). "'It's pretty, but not too hot 'Under the Tuscan Sun'". Seattle Times. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Reed, Red (September 29, 2003). "Sunny Side's Up In Bella Tuscany". The Observer. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Zacharek, Stephanie (September 27, 2003). "Under the Tuscan Sun". Salon.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (March 17, 2020). "Under the Tuscan Sun". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (September 26, 2002). "Getting a bit burned 'Under the Tuscan Sun'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
External links[]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Under the Tuscan Sun (film) |
- 2003 films
- English-language films
- 2003 comedy films
- 2003 drama films
- 2003 LGBT-related films
- 2003 romantic comedy-drama films
- American films
- American LGBT-related films
- American romantic comedy-drama films
- Films based on American novels
- Films scored by Christophe Beck
- Films set in the Amalfi Coast
- Films set in Tuscany
- Films shot in Tuscany
- Films with screenplays by Audrey Wells
- Lesbian-related films
- LGBT-related comedy-drama films
- LGBT-related romantic comedy films
- LGBT-related romantic drama films
- Touchstone Pictures films