Under the Tuscan Sun Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)September 13th, 2003
UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN
--------------------
Writer Frances Mayes (Diane Lane, "Unfaithful") is devastated to discover that her
husband is having an affair and wants their home in a divorce settlement. Best friend
Patti (Sandra Oh, "Big Fat Liar") is having a baby with her female partner, who does
not want her to travel now that she's pregnant, so Patti gifts Frances with their
upgraded plane ticket for a gay tour of Tuscany. Frances agrees to go after some
prodding and once there, her spontaneous act emboldens her to buy an old Italian family
villa based on nothing but impulse and coincidence in Writer/director Audrey Wells's (screenwriter, "Disney's The Kid," "Guinevere") liberal adaptation of Mayes's
book, "Under the Tuscan Sun."
Audrey Wells has taken what could have been nothing more than an episodic travelogue
and given it real humor and heart. Although she's stocked "Under the Tuscan" with
enough quirky characters to have mired it in treacly cliche, the film never seems forced,
instead skipping along to its own romantic beat. Diane Lane's multi-layered, natural
performance helps ground the supporting players and keeps "Under the Tuscan Sun" from
floating off into the ether.
In the Cortona marketplace, Frances is intrigued by a beautiful older blonde decked out
extravagantly in a black dress and large black hat exulting in the down of a duckling
she strokes across her face. This woman appears out of nowhere as Frances peers at an
ad for Bramasole, a picturesque country villa. 'Are you going to buy it?' asks Katherine
(Lindsay Duncan, "Mansfield Park"). Frances backs away but the woman plants a seed
with parting comment 'Terrible idea - don't you just love those?' paraphrasing one of
Frances's own philosophies of writing. When her tour bus stops right outside the gates
of Bramasole, the coincidence is too strong to resist and she disembarks and never looks
back.
Fate again comes into play when Frances finds she must bid against a German couple
to a superstitious Italian matriarch being assisted by realtor Mr. Martini (Vincent
Riotta, "Heaven"). He organizes contractor interviews and Frances settles for a
practical older Italian with an odd trio of Polish laborers, a group she delights with
cooking extravaganzas. The youngest of these, Pawel (Pawel Szadja), begins a surreptitious romance with Frances's neighbors' daughter Chiara (Giulia Steigerwalt)
while the soulfully silent Jerzy (Valentine Pelka, "The Pianist") yearns for Frances
herself. A trip to Rome for chandelier accessories results in a run-in with a handsome stranger, Marcello (Raoul Bova, "Avenging Angelo"), and soon Frances is
delighted to find herself having a lusty tumble in a Positano antiques shop (Lane is
to be envied her trysts with hunky foreigner's amidst dusty wares!). The unexpected
arrival of a very pregnant - and heartbroken - Patti makes scheduling time with the
distant Marcello difficult, but is he the man who will give her the wedding and family
she yearns for at Bramasole?
Wells peoples her screenplay with those looking for love yet learning to connect
with life, best exemplified by Fellini discovery Katherine's wistful description of
Giulietta Massina in "Nights of Cabiria." Tuscany's sun provides hope that San
Francisco's damp cannot, as evidenced by the humorous gloom of 'divorce camp,' a dreary
temporary apartment lodging where Frances takes her initial refuge.
Lane carries the film with an emotional arc that brings her from confident contentedness
to shellshock to vibrant rediscovery and an appreciation for life's gifts which
effortlessly allows her to come full circle. Her early depression and resignation
is shown silently, as she abandons her belongings in her beautifully decorated home
to another woman, stopping at a foyer table to pick up a cobalt vase, pour its water
onto the floor (like tears being shed) and pocket it. Months later, when her three
formerly pitiful boxes of books arrive in Tuscany, she lights up handling her things
from a past life.
Of the large ensemble cast, Riotta makes the strongest impression as a family man who
falls for Frances but channels his emotions into something more honorable. When
Frances has her one major breakdown after a terrifying thunderstorm, Riotta tries
to comfort her, then finally begs 'Please stop crying or I'll have to make love to you
myself and I've never been unfaithful to my wife.' The actor conveys multiple emotions
in this one line reading. Duncan has a blast as the hedonistic aging beauty who
lives life based on the philosophies of Fellini. Her drunken recreation of "La Dolce
Vita's" fountain scene is a marvel. Oh is dryly humorous and the type of best friend
anyone woman would wish for without seeming unreal. She glows with maternal joy after
the birth of her child. Bova is perfect as the well meaning heartthrob who isn't too
good to be true and Pelka gives a performance worthy of the silent screen with his
silent, respectful passion.
Cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson ("Black and White") is blessed with beautiful Italian locations and shows them off to best advantage without over glossing the
images. Costumer Nicoletta Ercole ("The Last Kiss") is particularly adept at reviving
retro Italian movie glamor for Duncan and dresses Lane in a knockout white number when she finally makes it back to Positano after reading that Marcello has
dreamed of her in a white dress.
B
For more Reeling reviews visit http://www.reelingreviews.com
More on 'Under the Tuscan Sun'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
