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Film Review
Film Review
Under the Tuscan Sun
Buena Vista 2003
Starring Diane lane
Director: Audrey Wells
Review by J. van Wageningen
Frances Maye is a disillusioned young writer who loses her home to her
ex-husband and his new lover. With her world crumbling before her eyes,
and plagued by writer's block she plunges into a tour of Italy. Here she
discovers a run-down villa with beautiful views over the Tuscan
countryside. 'Bramasole' means 'something that yearns for the sun,' and
it is obvious that Frances is longing for light in her spiritual and
emotional darkness.
On an impulse she buys the villa and embarks on an ambitious renovation and refurbishment. This undertaking seems to mirror the rebuilding of her own inner life and her relationships with others.
The team of Polish tradesmen she has hired become her surrogate family; she falls in with an eccentric and free-thinking older woman who gives her a different perspective on life; and she develops a friendship with Martini the real estate agent.
However, not everything runs smoothly and there are
temptations, mistakes and heartbreak, not only for Francis but for other
characters.
For the theme of romantic and sexual love is at the heart of this movie.
Many experience love of a kind, and love comes in many shapes and forms.
Emotional pain and suffering is inevitable for those who love.
Francis herself falls into the arms of the smooth-tongued and charming Marcello and has a whirlwind affair which ends badly; Martini is strongly attracted to Francis, but he very deliberately opts for fidelity to his wife and family; Katherine spends her time with a succession of 'toy boys;' Patti who is expecting a baby in a lesbian relationship has broken up with her lover; and even the grandmother next door is heartbroken after the man she found on the Internet dumps her when he discovers her age.
The message generally seems to be a mixed one - from 'if it feels good do it' to the suggestion that commitment and responsibility is really the path to follow - if you can manage it!
Francis ends up concluding that although she has not found true love, it nevertheless does exist. A broken heart will not destroy a person and it is important to move on and regain fresh hope,. Never let disappointment and loss make you give up on life and the search for true love!
We see Francis develop from a broken woman into a content and confident 'matriarch' in the villa which becomes a home for Patti's baby, the scene of a happy wedding reception and the arrival place of a possible new love. Her personal growth is symbolized by a large and ornate tap in the middle of a wall. Early in the movie she bruises herself on it and discovers it is quite dry. But at the end after all the repairs are complete, it is gushing with water. Her cup of happiness is running over.
The values in this superficially optimistic movie are slick and current with a touch of the New Age, and they will have widespread appeal among those who do not accept the Christian message. This is an escapist fantasy, a fluffy chick-flick with very little bearing on real life and it trumpets the religion of self-fulfilment.
However, I must say that Diane Lane as Frances is a charming and appealing actor, and the landscapes - the coastlines, villas and sunflower-filled fields of Tuscany - are a beautiful backdrop to the story.
The movie is also based on a travel memoir of the same name, but radical changes have been made to the story and the characters. The book is worth reading.
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