Under the Tuscan Sun is a 2003 film based on Frances Mayes's 1996 memoir of the same name. The film was directed by Audrey Wells and starred Diane Lane.

Plot

Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) is a San Francisco writer whose seemingly perfect life has just taken an unexpected detour.

She finds out at a party that she's hosting, from a writer to whom she had given a bad review of his book, that her husband has been cheating on her.

Her recent divorce has left her depressed and with terminal writer's block, and her best friend Patti (Sandra Oh), a lesbian who is expecting a child, is beginning to think Frances might never recover.

Patti convinces her to take an Italian vacation, to Tuscany, but it's on a gay tour (Patti and her partner Grace (Kate Walsh) had booked it for themselves, but changed plans after Patti became pregnant). At first she refuses, but then after being in her new, gloomy apartment, she decides that it is a good idea to get away for a little while after all.

In Tuscany, while stopping in a small town she sees a notice about a villa for sale, in San Casciano dei Bagni. Then while the passengers are back on the tour bus, the bus has to stop to let a herd of sheep pass, and Frances realizes that they've stopped in front of the very villa that she had seen for sale, and she believes it's a sign.

She asks the driver to stop and she gets off the bus. In a series of serendipitous events she becomes the owner of a lovely yet dilapidated villa in beautiful Tuscany. From this point her life begins anew with 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 actress. Later, she is visited by the now very pregnant Patti, whose partner Grace has left her.

Frances does meet a romantic interest, Marcello, but it does not last, and she is about to give up on happiness when two young lovers come to her for help. Eventually, she finds the fulfillment she was searching for in a wedding at the villa, where she also meets an American writer who is traveling in Tuscany. The movie ends with the possibility of a new love in her life.

Reception

Under the Tuscan Sun opened well in the United States, grossing $9,751,425 on 1,226 screens on opening weekend, September 28, 2003. This was more than half of its estimated $18 million dollar budget. The film was a box office success earning $43,610,723 domestically for a total of $58,878,723 worldwide.^[1]

Cast

• Diane Lane – Frances Mayes
• Sandra Oh – Patti
• Lindsay Duncan – Katherine
• Raoul Bova – Marcello
• Vincent Riotta – Martini
• Mario Monicelli – Old man with flowers
• Roberto Nobile – Placido
• Kate Walsh – Grace
• Pawel Szajda – Pawel

References

External links

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