Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Under the Tuscan Sun
31 Plays3 days ago
Happy New Year! We get right to the point on this one, and get right out. Our shortest episode ever, and who says that's a bad thing? It's cold outside, we're probably at war with Venezuela, a brief interlude under some sun might do us all some good.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Light-hearted Banter
00:00:00
Speaker
Oh my god, of course you press record and then I'm like, immediately go back to my turkey meatball.
00:00:06
Speaker
Stupidest thing. Emma, geez louise. Um, how you doing, Katie? I'm okay, how are you? You doing turkey meatball? Yeah.
00:00:17
Speaker
It's New Year's Eve.
New Year's Eve and Editing Stress
00:00:19
Speaker
Happy New Year's Eve! We did it! I've got like four, I've got four days to edit this podcast. Yeah! We did it! We survived!
00:00:29
Speaker
Everybody's been sick.
Flu Outbreak and Personal Experiences
00:00:31
Speaker
Everybody's been sick. I had the flu. It was terrible. Anyone who's listening to this that has gotten this super flu understands it is the worst fucking thing.
00:00:43
Speaker
And the worst part was that like, I did that thing of like, well, I don't want to be sick. So maybe I can like convince myself that I'm not sick every single day. And I lost that battle every single day. I couldn't even like allow myself to just sit on the couch and relax.
00:01:00
Speaker
I had to tell myself, no, I'm not sick. I'm not. Oh, no, I'm very sick. I'm very, very sick. I'm very sick. I'm dying. Did you go to the doctor? Did you get any medicine? I did. I went to urgent care. They gave me some heavy duty, whatchamacallit, cough syrup.
00:01:16
Speaker
And um I went in, they tested me, and the doctor was like, so have you been around anyone that's sick? And I was like, well, i doing a Christmas show with a round of bunch of children on a train with their runny little noses with their runny little noses she goes that'll do it and then she comes back in after few minutes later she goes well it's the flu surprise yeah so yay um and then i was in uh i was in tennessee with my mom for christmas who had the flu had to take her to the emergency room They gave her Zufloza, which is ah you know antiviral, and it was $180 for one pill.
00:01:59
Speaker
Jesus Christ. I didn't even get that. Yeah, it's... ah Well, I mean, if it was me, I wouldn't have paid for it. you know But yeah my mom was like, yeah, sure, why not? That's that's with insurance.
00:02:10
Speaker
Or rather, insurance didn't cover it. That's with the like you know discount card or whatever. Sorry, insurance doesn't cover... a pill for the flu? um Why would it? um This is America.
00:02:24
Speaker
This country so country is nonsense. um So yeah, she's doing better i'm ah now. But um yeah,
Family Dynamics During the Holidays
00:02:33
Speaker
everybody's got the flu. Everybody in Chicago's got the flu too. it's got the po Charlie went and hung out with Katie and friend of the friends of the pod, Leah and Lily. And the next day, Lily and Charlie both woke up dying of flu.
00:02:46
Speaker
and uh then my entire household uh i went from having the flu and then being like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel things were good i finally was like able to like be a human and um then i went to chicago and everybody had the flu and so then i was like well guess i'm the only one left so do you take care of everybody ah My mom and I did. So my mom was very sweet and took care of Charlie while I was out.
Meet Charlie the Cat
00:03:16
Speaker
high Hi, Thomas. I was called Thomas Charlie. Hi, Charlie. ah
00:03:21
Speaker
Yes. For listeners the pod, this is your chance to meet Charles. It's a cat. No, it's not. This is tough. It's always been a cat. It's always been a cat. um but ah But yeah, I help my mom take care of everybody. And it not gonna lie, it was like ah a pretty chill holiday because nobody had energy to fight. so Do they normally fight?
00:03:46
Speaker
I mean, normally somebody says something inappropriate and people then get onto each other. No, you cannot eat the headphones. You cannot eat the headphones. Headphones are not for cats.
Holiday Arguments and Illness
00:03:56
Speaker
Sorry.
00:03:58
Speaker
i
00:04:01
Speaker
normally somebody says something to get a rile out of somebody else and somebody's nose gets out of joint and you know nobody had the energy for any of that so ah that's great and it was great it was fantastic yeah I'm just dodging bullets over here not getting the flu so Katie has the immune system of i don't know a miracle worker doing my best yeah living the dream Living the dream.
Frances Mays and 'Under the Tuscan Sun'
00:04:31
Speaker
Also living the dream, Frances Mays. That's right, guys. That's right. You guessed it. What an excellent segue. um Living the dream.
00:04:43
Speaker
ah Famously featured. ah You guessed it. This is the podcast where Emma and then Katie's life lives just kind of go up in smoke. And they...
00:04:56
Speaker
They try to just move on and live their lives as best as they can, but realize they don't want to be a sad sack. They also get a a little speech. ah Go get your self speech.
00:05:09
Speaker
Go get your villa. Go get your villa speech from Sandra Oh. ah and And... And, yeah. And then they decide to go on a um romantic gay tour of Tuscany.
00:05:23
Speaker
Neither is gay. And... out of whim, buy a villa and then turn that villa into their home slowly but surely. And they learn Italian slowly but surely. And lots of other things happen, you know. Things happen with other people. It's about found family and blah, blah, blah and Italian food, blah, blah, blah and love, blah, blah, blah. But for the most part, it's about finding what makes us happy.
Adapting Real Life to Film
00:05:54
Speaker
And kittens.
00:05:57
Speaker
Kittens. Yes, that's right. I'm Emma. And I'm Katie. And today we are talking about the 2003 rum-ity-comedy-dramedy Under the Tuscan Sun. Rum-ity-comedy-dramedy.
00:06:15
Speaker
Because it's January and it's cold... yeah and horrible and we're living in uh a terrible time in history yeah everything's terrible but you know what's not terrible actually that's a lie because everything was terrible for francis you you promised me katie you promised me sunshine and happiness And everything is terrible. That exactly what this movie is. This is ah this movie is a warm bath. Written and directed by Audrey Wells, who did who wrote Shall We Dance? And George of the Jungle. And The Truth About Cats and Dogs. That's why George of the Jungle is featured in this.
00:07:02
Speaker
And she's she directed only two movies. a movie called Guinevere, which I have not seen. And and this movie. um And she died 2018 of cancer. Oh, God. So that's bummer. That is a bummer.
00:07:17
Speaker
i'm a And it is, of course, about Frances Mays. Now, Frances Mays is a real person. She is still alive. She's 85 years old. oh Oh. This is a very was a very famous book that came out in the 90s. It's a memoir about this woman who, now, in real life, she and her boyfriend slash fiance, Anna Wim moved to to Italy and bought ah ah a crumbling villa and renovated it. And that's what the memoir is about. So the movie takes a few, she had gotten divorced a couple of years before this, but um there was a, there was an American man. I mean, he, he, it's Ed, he shows up at the end of this, but he was there the whole time in in the book. Now I've not read the book, but I remember,
00:08:05
Speaker
um She has written like 20 other books at this ah by now, I think. And and she you know this book kind of was a surprise bestseller and was everywhere. And then she's written a bunch of other books about Italy and travel. I think she's written some novels as well. um yeah But this movie um ah came about because the producer um was working on
Character Deep Dive: Diane Lane and Supporting Cast
00:08:32
Speaker
the Talented Mr. Ripley.
00:08:33
Speaker
um A movie that we probably will not be doing on this podcast. No, it's not a ROM, nor is it a ROM. It rules, though. It's great. And he and Matt Damon and Anthony Minghella, the director of that movie, um were in Italy and got and and ran into Frances Mays at like um a fruit stand or something or or a market of some kind.
00:08:58
Speaker
And he recognized her because he had was familiar with the book. And then he went home and decided to reread the book. And he's like, this would be a good movie.
00:09:09
Speaker
And that is how they turned it into this movie. Oh, that's so wholesome and lovely. Yeah. um The book came out in the, this is not a research based podcast. The book came out sometime in, I want to say like 94, 95 or so. And then this movie came out in 2003. So it took a while oh and we have diane lane the great diane lane great diane lane and this is diane lane at beautiful diane lane yeah she is just perfect in every sense of the word yeah boy oh boy she is timeless she is some might say she is uh oh my god what is that she is flawless she is grace
00:09:51
Speaker
No. Oh my God. miss She's beauty. She is grace. She's Miss United States. Is that what you're for? My brain is all snot. I've been spending this entire, you giving this entire history on the movie, trying to think of that one movie where in the first title card, ah they call out who quote unquote, wasn't the ex-girlfriend that this is based on and says, except for you, you bitch. And I can't yeah yeah remember the name of that movie. What movie was that? It's 500 Days of a Summer.
00:10:20
Speaker
500 days of summer. There we go. Do we think that the divorce was written into this in a sort of 500 days of summer moment for Frances? um I'm not sure. Well, I mean, I haven't read the book, so I imagine there's probably a bit about the divorce because, again, she did get divorced a few years before she moved to to Tuscany.
00:10:42
Speaker
i' ah But um But like if she hadn't If they hadn't rewritten it to where there was The divorce involved I mean I get it from like a storytelling standpoint It makes things a little bit cleaner ah Yeah for sure but ah But also it's her opportunity to be like You know what my ex-husband really Fucked me over in this divorce You know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna show the entire world Via Diane Lane What a piece of shit he is That's true. And he doesn't appear in the movie. He does not.
00:11:13
Speaker
So yeah, we meet Frances. um She is a writing teacher. And um and within Sandra Oh is there. she is. Sandra Oh is her best friend. This is very couple years before Grey's Anatomy started. yeah She's very, very young.
00:11:29
Speaker
Yeah. And she, well, she's not that young. I mean, I think Sandra Oh is not that much younger than... um She's probably in her early 30s, I think, in this movie.
00:11:41
Speaker
Well, I mean, like, young career-wise. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
Frances' Tuscan Journey and Personal Growth
00:11:47
Speaker
Yeah, she's done a lot of theater and stuff. Like, you'll see her show up in movies and TV shows and stuff from in the 90s where she's like, oh, wow, the same girl. Yeah, most famous is Princess Diaries.
00:12:00
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Gupta. The queen is coming. Yeah.
00:12:07
Speaker
Some asshole at a party tells Diane Lane that her husband is cheating on her, basically. He's like, hey, you reviewed my book. You didn't like it. You said you weren't interested in a middle-aged man's sexual fantasies, which I find ironic.
00:12:22
Speaker
like, That's not ironic, dude. and ironic It would be ironic if Diane Lane were indulging sexual fantasies, but her husband, like that's not what irony means. Maybe if you knew what irony means, your book would have been better. Exactly. And you're a piece of shit and your face is ugly. Bye. Yeah.
00:12:39
Speaker
Yeah. um ah And um so yeah, Jeffrey Tambor ah shows up. Disgraced actor Jeffrey Tambor shows up as her divorce attorney. Yep. he's not a very good one until he is not and tells her that um you were the worst fucking liars right um he tells her that her husband is suing her for uh alimony basically yep he wants the house they apparently the house is worth a lot of money
00:13:11
Speaker
And um if she gives him the house, she would get to keep that money um and would get some some money somehow. I don't know how that works exactly. Yeah, really explain it. They just sort of explained it in like silences.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, because she, but well, she's like, how could he afford to buy me out of the house? And the look is like, well, he's not going to, you're going to give it to him. But then yeah she ends up having a lot of money also. Yeah. And she, she like has a bunch of money from the house and she's just like, I have this money from the house that I can pay for this villa. And you're just like, wait, okay, whatever.
00:13:50
Speaker
Yeah. Something doesn't quite add up. I mean, like, It is a true story. And, you know, um i imagine that this rundown villa was not like a huge amount of money, but it's not cheap. You know, it's not no money.
00:14:03
Speaker
And again, she was a college professor, um a poetry and creative writing professor at San Francisco State University, which is, you know, it's. Sorry.
00:14:16
Speaker
I got bit. My God, Emma. Sorry. Somebody is being very much a rascal and needs to... Ow, ow, ow. Get out. you The choice of cat ownership.
00:14:33
Speaker
Sorry, continue. um ah Which is, you know, it's not like she but is a famous writer who teaches at Yale or something. like Right. it is um So I don't know how they managed to afford it in in real life. They do make some, like, allude, like, they do allude a few times to the fact that, like, before she was a professor, she was a successful writer. Because at the beginning, it's one of her students who's become, like, a best-selling novelist. And he's giving a speech and he's just like, oh, I didn't think blah, blah, blah, blah. blah I mean, it's the guy from the Mighty Ducks.
00:15:05
Speaker
It is the guy from Mighty Ducks and from um ah ah She's All That. Yes. Yes. Love him. And also for Charles, he's in...
00:15:18
Speaker
Dare it all. A TV show. If you say so. Yeah. um And, um well, yeah, but so I, because she was his professor and she says she used to be a good writer, but I don't think that she published anything. Really? Because like, I got the impression that- don't maybe she published something that it wasn't successful, you know, not like a- I got the impression that like she used to be like a pretty like well respected writer and then she gave up writing to become a professor and now she just does reviews because like why else would you do reviews of books and like or like if you don't have no clout you know what i mean it said she published poetry in the in the late 70s um maybe she was a respected respected poet
00:16:03
Speaker
And her first novel came out in 2002 following the breakout success of her memoir Under the Tuscan Sun 1996. Oh. So.
00:16:13
Speaker
so Well, it may be wrong. Who knows? Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, obviously she had written. Yeah. I mean, again, nobody gets rich writing poetry. So.
00:16:24
Speaker
No. Nobody gets rich writing poetry. And nobody gets famous writing poetry. Yes, but yeah, that's that's definitely true. yeah and but Much like playwrights. um Yeah, yeah, they're one in the same.
00:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, um so she, um Sandra Oh is gay with Kate Walsh, um who also shows up in Grey's Anatomy. What is happening here?
00:16:50
Speaker
And they're having a baby. ah And... i will say, i will point out, after five tries, they've been trying for a baby for years.
00:17:03
Speaker
Which makes later on stupid. Yeah, that's true. That's true. Well, I mean, we don't know. Because if you're doing, it's not necessarily, they're not, they might not be doing in vitro. They might just be doing, like, a turkey baster kind of situation. Because. But they suddenly were trying, like, while. But I'm saying you could try multiple times in a year. Like, it doesn't necessarily. Yeah, well. I mean. Because, like, my friends got pregnant. I think they got pregnant first try, actually. Yeah. Because you spend a certain amount of money and you get like enough sperm to try, I think, three times or something with that amount of money. And then like you just like they did it at home. Like they didn't even have to do it at the doctor. Like she literally like did it to her wife. Yeah. Oh, wow. Which is nice. I mean, that's what that's what you want, right? Yeah, that's very sweet.
00:18:02
Speaker
And they got lucky and got pregnant. first try, but it can be very expensive if you just have to keep trying ah to to do that over and over again. So, yeah, we don't know. My point being that this has been a well-thought-through planned pregnancy.
00:18:17
Speaker
Oh, yeah, big time. I mean, I think Kate Walsh is a terrible person. Yeah, yeah, yeah, in the in this movie. Well, sure, yeah, I don't know her personally. Yeah. Um, uh...
00:18:30
Speaker
So, yes. they um They are pregnant, and the 10-day gay tour of Tuscany that they had signed up for, now they don't want her to fly yeah in her first trimester, which yeah I think you're fine to fly in your first trimester. Yeah, but it's still like a little scary. like Everything's little Not as scary as her third trimester, which she flies in later. Yeah, um you know I didn't write the screenplay, nor did I write the novel.
00:18:59
Speaker
yeah So, you know. I don't know if any of that is in the, I don't if it is in the the memoir. I don't know if that's true or not. But um in this, yes, they convince her. She moves into a sad divorced house. So sad.
00:19:15
Speaker
this Divorced. Apartments for divorced people. The man crying next door. You just beat on the wall and he'll stop. yeah Yep. Boy, oh
00:19:27
Speaker
it's, um... She's sad. She abandons everything in her house. She has three boxes of books. That's all she takes. And a little blue vase. That's all she wanted. And decides that, yeah, sure, she'll she'll take this gay tour to Tuscany. Yes.
00:19:45
Speaker
And while she's there... Well, first off, when she's on the bus, she has a moment ah that's very similar to a New York Christmas wedding. Yes, she does. yes Except opposite. And they're talking about this tour of Tuscany, and they're like, welcome to this romantic tour of Tuscany, everyone. And also, welcome Frances. She's not gay, and she just went through a bad divorce. So everyone, be nice to Frances. Frances, stand up for everybody.
00:20:16
Speaker
Yeah, I would, i I'd simply kill myself, I think. um I was like, oh, that's sweet, but also not sweet. Yeah. um Gay tour guide calling her out. Yes. She's there in a market. She sees a woman cuddling a duckling. Yes.
00:20:34
Speaker
Just like me for real. Yeah.
00:20:39
Speaker
She, um yeah, and then she sees this, this poster for this, this villa, um which God knows how much land, but it's a you know, it's not necessarily livable. ah um This kind of crumbling villa in this small town in Italy that has a name, presumably. Yeah.
00:21:01
Speaker
i want to say Cortado, but that's a kind of coffee. No, no. It's something like that. Positano. It's called, Positano is where, is on the beach. That's where, what's his name lives, yeah. Bramisole is the name of the villa, which means to yearn for the sun. Aww. And Lindsay Duncan is an insane English woman who um lives In the town. But she is fabulous. She is fabulous. um She is me.
00:21:33
Speaker
She knew ah Federico Fellini when she was a child. And apparently he had her in some movie or something. yeah And she's always talking about him. She's pretty sad, actually. Yeah. um But she dresses fabulously. She does dress fabulously. um But she, you know, kind of...
00:21:56
Speaker
convinces Francis to buy this villa and she's like it'll be a terrible idea don't you love those yeah which is what which is what the guy who wrote the book was talking about he says take one of your bad ideas and turn it into a good idea that was the advice that she gave him when he finished his book so um ah she stops the bus and wanders directly into the house yep no appointments made she just walks straight in luckily the real estate agent is still there Yeah, along with the the Contessa, the woman who owns it is about to sell it to this German couple, but decides she doesn't like them. She calls them fascists. Yep, yep.
00:22:34
Speaker
And um a bird poops on, there's birds in the house, a bird poops on Francis, and the woman says that that's a sign, and so she'll let her buy it for cheaper than she wanted.
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah, because it's a sign and it's meant to be her house. And so Diane Lane gets her villa and ah she has to figure out what how she's going to get people to do things and and do things to this house. And ah a lot of it doesn't seem plausible, starting with the goddamn wall. Number one, why are we taking out this wall?
00:23:11
Speaker
Why are we making these two rooms into one room? to make two rooms into one room. What are you talking about? i don't understand. It is also um very much a load-bearing wall. And it looks like load-bearing wall. It's definitely not. it Because the wall collapses, but the ceiling doesn't.
00:23:28
Speaker
Well, it seems like it's a load-bearing wall. It's also beautifully plastered and amazing. And she's like, get rid of it. That's what happens with houses sometimes. I had an issue with this. She sees a scorpion um and ah rips off all her clothes, yeah which same. um I would set myself on fire if I saw a scorpion on myself. Yep.
00:23:49
Speaker
Yep. Yep. There's all kinds of critters in the house. um She finds a snake. She finds there's birds everywhere. There's owl. There's an owl who is her best friend. owl um ah She hires um some contractors. She hires these three Polish boys and this man to help her renovate the house. And they become her best friends. Yep.
00:24:17
Speaker
Nobody speaks any English except for the teen who is like, ho I speak a little English. It's not so great. But we'll give fun. His English excellent, actually. And he learns Italian, too. Yeah. Yeah. Pavel's doing great. Pavel
Life Lessons and Metaphors
00:24:31
Speaker
is. He's doing his best.
00:24:33
Speaker
Yeah. and And he is, he's got a thing going on with ah the neighbor's daughter. Yeah. Chiara, I think is her name. Yeah.
00:24:43
Speaker
Yeah. They go in the most of the movie is just kind of ah her meeting all these people. And this is, a matt I imagine how the the book is like, because did you ever read Midnight of the Garden of Good and Evil? No.
00:24:57
Speaker
Because that is it's about Savannah, Georgia. And most half of the book is about just, hey, there's this crazy person who lives down the street in Savannah. And here's like a little story about them.
00:25:08
Speaker
And there's this antiques dealer and then there's this drag queen and then there's these other people. And then the antiques dealer murdered somebody halfway through. And that is when the book like, you know, kind of turns around. But I imagine Under the Tuscan Sun is is just like the first half of that where it's just like, this is a story of me renovating this. And this is a story of me like learning to love myself better. And here's a bunch of stories about my crazy neighbors, you know i um I did make this comment last night that when when we were watching it, and I went, I turned to Charlie, I was like, you know, this probably would not be smart to pair it in a double feature with the Amanda Knox documentary. ah
00:25:52
Speaker
The good and bad side of Italy. The good and bad side. I mean, Tuscany, really, yeah. because yeah and Yeah, yeah. Because, like, um it it it occurred to me as she was, like, taking rides from strangers. And I was just like, I was like, wow, this bitch is about to get murdered. Oh, what if you watch the Amanda Knox documentary after this? That's probably not wise. But also that maybe the wisest thing ever. i don't know.
00:26:18
Speaker
Um, uh, justice for Amanda Knox. Um, I mean, she got it, right? She's fine. Amanda Knox fine. Yeah, Amanda Knox is fine. Good for her. Yeah. Um, I but wrote Snake in the House, I'd Simply Pass Away. Yep. but yeah She but has a weird crush on the estate agent, it seems. Well, here's the thing about this movie. This movie keeps faking you out. It does. Um, it does.
00:26:44
Speaker
it's intentional in that way um it keeps making these little feints toward this is going to be a romantic comedy this is hey here's this boy um ah and they should they have like this like kind of cute relationship and then nothing happens or something bad happens and like it's it's doing that intentionally because what everyone keeps telling her in this movie is that she needs to chill out yeah um And let things come to her. Like, there's more than one metaphorical story told to her by somebody in this movie, but the one Lindsay Duncan tells her is yeah when she was a little girl, she always used to go trying to catch ladybugs, and she could never catch them until she'd fall asleep in the yard and she'd wake up covered in ladybugs. Yes.
00:27:31
Speaker
And the idea is that once you stop looking for something, that's when... It finds you. It will find you. Yeah. And um she has a breakdown with the the realtor um telling her that, you know, she bought this house that she doesn't have a life for. She wants to see a wedding in this house. She wants to see a family in the house. um But she doesn't, she's not even close to any of that. And she's, you know, 40 years old.
00:27:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. so you know not resident for my life or anything no no as i was watching it i was like is this a smart choice for katie to pick is and i've seen this movie several times so i knew what i was doing okay okay okay but is this when i tell our listeners that i'm getting divorced i guess it is but you are not buying a tuscany a tuscany who knows emma maybe i will
00:28:28
Speaker
You know what you should do? You should buy a villa in Connecticut and be my neighbor. don't know. Seems a lot colder than Tuscany.
00:28:38
Speaker
um ah so the realtor is like you need to to cheer up and chill out um he says if you continue in this way i'll be forced to make love to you and i've never been unfaithful to my wife which is an insane thing to say it's a very insane thing to say and and boy oh boy and then you're like wait what okay and then she meets his kids later at christmas Yeah, it's a whole thing. Like there's they have this kind of it's not really flirtation, but he's just kind of there and he helps her and he's nice. Yeah. ah But then he's like, well, yeah, I'm married. And then there's another man that she meets at the neighbor's place and he's also married. But yeah he just flirts with her because that's what Italian people do. he said Yeah. And that's when Charlie went, ah, Italians.
00:29:20
Speaker
There's a few character references and like specific. There's a lot of Fellini in this movie. i don't know if you've seen a lot of Fellini movies, Emma. I have not. um ah you would like you would like them. I think I would. I just never, I think my brother was really into Fellini and so I passive aggressively was like absolutely not. That's for um film dude bros. who Sure, sure, sure. Yeah, there's a lot of um there's a lot of references, both literal and just visual um to there's a there's this this random cut of a woman working in like a shop that looks exactly like a woman from the movie Amar Kord. There's references to La Dolce Vita, Knights of Kiberia.
00:30:03
Speaker
um The boy that she meet eventually meets is mar is named Marcello, which is Marcello Mastroianni. Anyway, however you say that, who's the lead actor in a lot of Fellini movies.
00:30:18
Speaker
Oh. So, uh, is is there a reference to, um, talking about the Virgin Mary and that, and doing it over a cut of a waitress with her cleavage, almost out of her shirt, wearing a Virgin Mary necklace. Cause that's what this movie had.
00:30:36
Speaker
Yeah. That's what that's Emmercord. That was what I was referring to. Yeah. Yeah. Cause Charlie and I both were like, what? Yeah. It's, um, yeah the movie Emmercord is about this small town in Italy and it's kind of about all the care, all the, the people who live in it, it's a very kind of like picaresque kind of thing where it's, um it's a lot of, yeah, a lot of his movies are very. um Visual, sexual. Well, I was going to say sexual, like kind of trashy ah in terms of like. Like the musical nine.
00:31:06
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, yeah. Like the musical nine. Quero, quero, quero. Eight and a half. Yeah.
00:31:12
Speaker
Yes. i know that. She's cooking. She's cooking for her friends. She learns how to cook very well. She watches George of the Jungle in Italian while she doesn't have to anything else to do. Yes.
00:31:23
Speaker
She has plenty of money to not have a job and live in Italy and hang out with people all day and cook, which is like, you know, dream life. i' ah Living her best life.
00:31:39
Speaker
Yeah. her Her hair color is excellent. yeah um And as she like starts to loosen up, it becomes more and more free. hu You know, I noticed
Climax and Resolution
00:31:51
Speaker
that that. That was a character costuming choice.
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah. um ah they Everybody tells her to stop being so sad. That's just basically what the movie is. Everyone telling her to stop being sad. So she goes to Rome and she starts being chased by men in the street. Yeah. Which, I mean, fair enough the first time i was ever catcalled was in Italy.
00:32:12
Speaker
Really? i was 14 years old Yeah, that sounds right. I can tell you exactly what I was wearing too. ah it not need Not necessary. It was a white Betsy Johnson miniskirt and flip flops from Steve Madden, platform flip flops and a juicy couture velour burgundy zip up hoodie.
00:32:35
Speaker
And um that got the Italian guys whistling. Sure, sure. Yeah. Well, they're physically chasing her down the street. They're not just catcalling. She has to, she finds a random man and kisses him and pretends that she, that they're married so that these guys will leave her alone, which is like, that doesn't seem like a sound strategy lady. Like right eight this guy could easily be just as scary. And then she's like looking for chandelier parts and, And he's like, oh, my cousin, three hours away in Positano, he can help us. Get in my car. And she's like, okay. Right?
00:33:15
Speaker
Right? And that's when I was like, murdered. She's straight up murdered. This is what's happening. She's getting murdered. And he says, he's like, well, you're the one who randomly grabbed me. You could kill me just as easily.
00:33:27
Speaker
i guess. I guess. um ah And she takes him He takes her to Positano Meets his family They have a bar It's on the beach They find a kitten Yeah they find a cute little kitten And immediately they then start making out And my first thought is What about the fucking kitten?
00:33:47
Speaker
Well you see it They get it I know but like they put it down To make out And then they put it down to do it It's hard it's hard to make out while holding a kitten Well deal with the kitten first So she's like, he's like, are you asking me to make love to you? to me to you And she's like, yeah.
00:34:04
Speaker
Yeah. And then it's real steamy. um So yeah, then they have some sex. She looks beautiful. Right? ah we a very sad lady, she's wearing very fancy underpants. It's crazy. Well, no, I meant the next morning with her hair. Oh.
00:34:18
Speaker
I'm talking about her bra. I was like, if you're very sad, you're not wearing that kind long hair. that's true, because she didn't know. She didn't know this was happening. I mean, I mean, she may have changed after they went back to the hotel, I suppose. It's hard to say. Or she might, like, that might be a part of her adapting to European culture because she starts dressing very nicely. starts wearing fancy lingerie.
00:34:40
Speaker
so So, yeah. But most likely it was just the director's choice. Correct, yes. yes um ah Which, like again, like good for good for her.
00:34:52
Speaker
um Then she has like a little celebration dance. ah She's like, I still got it. I still got it. Yeah! Yeah, girl. Good for her. She has the kitten. She has the owl. Yeah. She's And then she's about to go see him again when Sandra Oh shows up, super pregnant. Super pregnant. is like...
00:35:13
Speaker
She ran out on me. She said she didn't want to be a mother after all. Which is insane to me because they tried and planned for this pregnancy. There were so many opportunities for Kate to We don't how they were together, but I feel like you got to be together at least a few years before you decide to have a baby together, you know? Yeah.
00:35:32
Speaker
Yeah. But I mean, it i just... Kate Walsh sucks in this movie. She sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:43
Speaker
um And she says, you know, I don't want to stand in the way of your love life. And she tells c Sandra, oh, you are my love life. Yeah. And it's so sweet. sweet And then they just take care of each other. And she's Sandra o keeps talking about how she's scared that the baby's going come out Italian and doing the backward hand wavy thing and and calling me mama and saying ciao. And I'm just like, that's adorable. um So cute. So, so cute.
00:36:10
Speaker
She apparently doesn't have a job either. Yep. Everybody just hangs around the villa. Yep. Good for them. Oh, and there's this, ah there's this faucet in her office ah that at first has no water coming out of it. And once Sandra Oh arrives, it starts to drip a little bit. Yeah. ah Sandra Oh's like, hey, the toilet water's boiling. That's not good, right? Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:35
Speaker
Um, and, uh, then the teens are having sex in her bed. Yeah. Uh, and she's like, you can't do that. And it's, it's Pavel and the neighbor's daughter. And he's like, her father doesn't approve of us because I'm not Italian.
00:36:50
Speaker
yeah um and he's like i'm gonna prove myself at the flag throwing at the flag throwing festival where a bunch of hot dudes wear tights and pretend to sword fight with flags and throw flags and i'm like oh i don't didn't know flags could be such a turn-on but i guess europe europe what a place right and every all the ladies are wearing flower crowns and i'm like how do we get to said flag festival i mean we could go to a flag but i'm sure it's a real thing like I would very much like to go to there, please. Yeah, yeah. um Yeah, he knocks himself unconscious with the flag. Yeah. But she loves him anyway. Yeah. It's very sweet.
00:37:31
Speaker
there's And she kind of starts to realize that she has built this family for herself i yeah in Tuscany. The movie I find at the center of it is really, it is about found family.
00:37:45
Speaker
And, ah you know, turning your life around and finding joy in things and in times that you don't think that you're you can find joy in.
00:37:55
Speaker
and ah And discovering yourself. in lots of ways um yeah and then sandro gives birth sandro ah sandro has the baby um marcello comes by the villa but um but he leaves before francis can get back there they miss their connection again sandro has the baby and then like pavel's like hey the house is finished Yeah. And she says goodbye to the contractors and when Zbigniew starts to cry, I start to cry. yeah Yeah, because she like has grown so attached to these three doofuses. Yeah. And it's just so sweet and so wonderful. And they they name the, do they name the Villa Poland or?
00:38:42
Speaker
i think they just, they it's like a memorial because the Villa already has a name. Yeah. But they name, they they they inscribe on the wall Polonia. Yeah. Yeah. Which you're just like, because they're all Polish. That's so sweet.
00:38:56
Speaker
And they leave her alone in the house. And now she's like, she doesn't have anything to work on. yeah um So I guess she starts writing her memoir under the Tuscan sun. Yeah, with the kitten. ah Yeah, the kitten's there. The owl's there. Yep. All the animals are there.
00:39:11
Speaker
Her books finally arrive. um She tells Sandra, oh, like, I need to find a white dress. And she goes to Positano because... Because Marcello wrote a note. He wrote a note saying, I had a dream about you and you were wearing a white dress. And so she's like, I need a white dress. And so she goes and she goes to Positano wearing this fabulous white dress. Again, gets on a car of a stranger. I think it's a cop. It's cop, yeah, on a moped. She like sits side saddle on the back of his moped. Hitches a ride from a cop. Listen, I'm just saying, if I looked like Diane Lane, I feel like things would just kind of fall into place for me too, you know? like I guess. I guess. But um but yeah, and so then she like, and she calls out to Marcello, and she goes, Marcello, Marcello! And he comes out like Juliet at the balcony, and his shirt's undone, and you're like, oh, this can't be good. And then he comes down the stairs. It's setting it up like it's the airport scene, right? Yeah, exactly. And he's like, what are you doing here?
00:40:08
Speaker
And she's like, what do you mean, what am I doing here? And he's like, yeah, what are you doing here? And then a lady comes out in the towel and she's like, whoa, fuck. This is great. And he I mean, to his credit, he's like, we've barely seen each other in the past few months. Yeah.
00:40:27
Speaker
Yeah. So like, you know, we tried to to make this happen. I, of course, wanted to continue seeing you, but it's been months and we didn't make it happen. And. He says these things have to come about naturally. Yeah. um And he got a girlfriend because it's been months. Months. Which is like reasonable. Yeah. And so you're just like, oh, I guess time travels different in Tuscany because I didn't realize it's been months.
00:40:51
Speaker
ah And so then she goes back. She's sad. And she's like, oh, boo-hoo me. Woe is me. And then um crazy. Catherine's in the fountain when she gets back. pretending doing la dolce vita yep pretending to be in a felini film um and she like encourages the realtor she's like you know in the movie he goes and gets her it's like you got to go get her yeah yeah she's drunk and um she's gone through a breakup with her painter boy zeus yeah and francis is talking to her and uh you know katherine tells her that
00:41:29
Speaker
you know, Kiberia is the person that she always associated the most from all of Fellini's movies and Kiberia. So the movie, the not the musical Sweet Charity is based on the movie Nights of Kiberia. Yeah.
00:41:41
Speaker
So the end of Sweet Charity, like again, she gets left again by the the man and she's alone at the end and she, But then she sees the children singing and like decides to be optimistic and she smiles. And that's the end of the movie.
00:41:57
Speaker
And that's how, and Catherine tells her, you know, that's how she feels too. um And again, it's about the, this might be, no I think this is, this is after the ladybug speech. there was but Yeah. The ladybug speech was way earlier.
00:42:10
Speaker
Yeah. um and then there she has to tie up the pavel kiara nonsense um they're sobbing because her father won't let them marry and so francis goes with them to confront her father and has to like convince her father to let them get married yep um and she's like well what if this is it what if this is a love that lasts forever and he's like that doesn't exist and his wife's like that's right we don't even like each other right like de fuck and he's like you don't have a you didn't have a love that lasted forever like jesus placido come on right everybody be nice to diane lane she's having a hard time here and then she says you know he has no family and diane's like i'll be his family i know and then i cried again i'll be his family and somehow that convinces the guy that he's italian enough because he's been adopted by this crazy american lady
00:43:02
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. Don't question it. And they get married, and then they have the reception at Bramasole. Yeah. And is when um that's when the realtor tells her, like, I think you got your wish, right? When I got the snake out of your house, you said you wanted there to be a wedding here, and there's a wedding here, and you wanted there to be a family, and he points to Sandra Oh and the baby. she's got little baby.
00:43:29
Speaker
Yeah. And then she's wearing this odd orange dress that is like got some kind of, I mean, I guess it's 2003. It's 2003. The fabric is very 2003. It was like all over the place in the early 2000s. Yeah. What's that called? Do you know what um it's called? It's, oh God. Oh, it's not Ross. It looks like Ross silk, but it's not Ross silk. It's. No, no. It's got this almost like hyper color kind of treatment on it to where. Like the sun hits it and it looks like it's a different color. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's like super like.
00:44:04
Speaker
It's like. um I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. It's I don't know. but There's a word for it. It looks weird. And then a man shows up um and and he pulls a ladybug off of her. Yeah. And it's Christopher from Gilmore Girls. Of course it is.
00:44:22
Speaker
and you're like, oh, He's like, you reviewed one of my books. And she's like, did I like it? And he's like, not really. But he's not an asshole about it. And he's like, I'm Ed, and that's the name of her husband in real life. Yeah.
00:44:37
Speaker
And um then, much like a Katie Coleman play, like they just can't find the right name. like little cute thing to end on so there's like three of them yeah which i am guilty of this too it's like sometimes there's too many right you got one the uh the old man who puts the flowers on the gate has always scowled at her when she's waved at him before but this time he turns her around and tips her at his hat to her yeah And then the the found the the faucet in the office starts pouring out water. Yeah. And that's the end of the movie. I guess it's great.
00:45:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. that's I mean, why do you want water in your office? But it's fine. It's it's hurts her office. It's metaphor. It's her office. She can do whatever she wants with it. It's a metaphor.
Podcast Wrap-Up
00:45:29
Speaker
i get that. But still, the practicality of it's not great. Well, it didn't used to be an office. Well, because she tore down a wall. Um, ah well, yeah, because it's, like, right by the door, right, originally? It's in front? don't even know. I mean, like... guess you in old houses like that, you would have to have, like, you know, water places. so like ah It's like a footbath thing. It's like a footbath.
00:45:51
Speaker
Well, no, but there there's no, like, there's no, like, place, there's no, um... There's no recess or anything to catch it. It's just on the floor. yeah, yeah. I don't know. But maybe that is what it was originally. I don't know. yeah Who knows? We're not ah claiming to be experts in architecture, nor are we experts in um Italian villas. so I'm an expert on almost nothing, really. like
00:46:19
Speaker
So yeah, so that's Under the Tuscan Sun. It was cute. It was sweet. It was um sadder than I thought it was going to be because everything was just going bad. And but then things start to go good and you're just like, wow, OK, I guess as we're at the end of it, Katie, you're right. It is kind of like a warm hug of a movie.
00:46:40
Speaker
It is kind that. Sometimes you need that. Because you do have to have conflict to have a movie and blah, blah, blah. So I guess it's a warm hug of a movie. So yeah, Under the Tuscan Sun.
00:46:54
Speaker
That's great. um I love this movie very much. I've watched it many times. um it's It's just a it's a nice time. Yeah, exactly. ah It's my pick next, right? And this is our shortest episode ever. i know. Under the Tuscan sun. There you go. It's kind of flew through it. Well, we got on topic really quickly, so.
00:47:13
Speaker
Exactly. I think that a lot of it comes from, you know, my brain being filled with a snot. Sure. Yeah. Yep. Yep.
00:47:23
Speaker
Um, but yeah, so it's my pick next week, right? That's right. Yeah. Um, are we doing people we met on vacation or no, you're right. I'm sorry. No, your beauty next week is people we met on vacation, which is ah neither of us pick. This is a new Netflix movie. Um, it is based on a book, which I have read and you have not right. Correct. Correct.
00:47:46
Speaker
All right. Shall we outro? i le alllets I know, right? This is the shortest episode we've ever had. Like, who would have thought? Boy, oh boy. I think the previous shortest episode was High Fidelity.
00:48:00
Speaker
Yep. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like, there's just not really a lot to talk about with Under the Tuscan Sun because you're under Kind of. No. I mean, I guess it's a it's a it's a fun time. Yeah. But I yeah, I guess it's not too it's not too complicated. No.
00:48:15
Speaker
You know, there's not a lot of things. And I complained about what I needed to complain about. I feel like I complained about all the things that I needed to complain about. Yeah.
00:48:25
Speaker
Thank you for listening to Go Get Your Girl. If you like us, tell your friends and please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It helps out a lot and we would really appreciate it. Thanks to Andrew Milliken and Nick Svoboda for our theme music and Elena Henderson for our artwork.
00:48:39
Speaker
You can follow us on Instagram at GoGetYourGirlPod or email us at GoGetYourGirlPod at Gmail. You can follow me and only me on social media at Emily M. Pizza. Until next time.
00:48:51
Speaker
Oh, right. I forgot I don't have social media. No, no, you don't. Until next time, we're just two girls. Standing in front of the internet. Asking it to love to love us.
00:49:04
Speaker
Good night. Good