Under the Tuscan Sun

Under the Tuscan Sun is a 2003 film directed by Audrey Wells based on the 1996 memoir Under the Tuscan Sun by American author Frances Mayes starring Diane Lane.


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 had booked it for themselves, but changed plans upon becoming 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. 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 has the driver 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 odd but gentle souls.

She assembles a crew of Polish immigrants to repair 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 socialite.

Later, she welcomes to her home the pregnant Patti, who has arrived in Tuscany unexpectedly after being left by her partner. Frances even meets a romantic interest, Marcello. But things don't work out with Marcello, and Frances 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.