Diane Lane movie Under the Tuscan Sun

THE MOVIE SET IN ITALIA

I discovered something kind of odd about ten minutes ago that I felt like writing about, even though I suppose for many people it will mean little to nothing. It has to do with the Diane Lane movie (not sure which year it is from) called Under the Tuscan Sun. 
As Is clear to see from the title, the movie was set in Italy. The film came across my mind this afternoon because , years ago , before I had acrually managed to see Italy myself and it was all still very "foreign" to me, this particular film was , believe it or not, actually one of the only places where my young self could get a glimpse at the modern -- and peaceful-- Italian world. For this reason I have kind of always cherished it in my own way,  remembered it fondly and From time to distant time I'll look up a scene and watch it.
Now, many filmgoers might not often think about it; but the truth is that, when one starts searching for films by location and not by plot , one will often find that they come up rather empty handed with a lot of their searches. Years ago, when I  had just started researching other countries here from America (where of course the majority of films are made) I discoveree this issue VERY quickly. The truth is that, back then, I watched films far more often than I do now (I hardly watch them anymore ) and one of the big reasons I watched so many... was because they would give me glimpses into not just other worlds (like science fiction), not just other time periods, but also other countries.For a time my big obsession with film actually revolved around this exact detail: I soaked up as many as I could in an attempt to “experience” as many countries as I could.
It was the very famous star Brad Pitt in fact who once said, I believe, that when he had lived in Kentucky growing up, "films were like portals of escape for me." I always felt the same way, and so I tried to utilize them in this manner. I purposely tried to seek out films that had been set far away from my home, and oftentimes when setting down to watch them, I wouldn't even take the plot -- or the characters -- into consideration. I would just decide I needed to see Berlin, or Texas, or Quebec, and then I would use Google to help me find a list of films in said location...
Such was the case with this Diane Lane film Under the Tuscan Sun. The only criteria I needed to turn it on was the fact that it had the word Tuscan in the title ; everything else the film had to do with was of no relevance to me whatsoever. If you saw me on the street, you probably wouldn't think I would like this film as much as I do.
The reason I'm mentioning all of this now is because, having just now gone back and familiarized myself with the plot of the film all over again (which I had largely forgotten) I realized a particular detail that jumped out to me very quickly: The film is incredibly gay. And I don't mean happy, I mean gay. As in, I'm now looking back at this film and realizing that most  American men like myself probably would refuse to watch it , just because of, first, what the plot is, and second, the entire beginning of the film. The whole first part of the film is set in some sort of ultra queer  universe. Diane lanes two best friends are married lesbians . Shes from San Francisco, largely considered the capital of the modern queer movement. Her husband has just left her (or she him?) and now we are expected , as the audience, to grieve with her, a woman who never stops crying. And when she goes to Italy Initially - before later deciding to permanently relocate there - she's on something called a "gay away tour" , which means she's on a tourist ride through the upper regions of the country with a bunch of gay American, presumably Democratic, and liberal men. Most likely men from San Francisco or Manhattan ET cetera. Places where weird gays who don’t go to the Church of Jesus live, basically. Hm...
Looking back at it , I have no idea whatsoever how this series of details -- details that many people would consider “enormous” -- did not stand out to me in terms of my memory. I literally had no recollection whatsoever of any of the beginning scenes that were so blatantly "liberal" or queer. Indeed, I had forgotten the lesbian couple, the San Francisco beginning, and also the gay away tour. I had even more or less forgotten how prominent the premise of divorce and marital failure was in the initial scenes.
All I remembered about the film, in that little memory bubble where it was stored away, was that it had been a beautiful and even "breathtaking" look st Italy for me at the time. It had helped me , as I mentioned before, to get a modern vision of the country that, quite frankly , wasn't available anywhere else. After all, there are no English American TV shows that I have heard of  set in Italy, and looking at a picture certainly isn't the same as a film ..and when it comes to books , well, as powerful as books are, they don't show you anything . Old time scribblers like DH Lawrence have written good prose about Italy - but for me the whole relationship I have with Italy tends to be deeply visual rather than "thoughtful". I like thinking about the scenery , the castles, the villas, the rivers. I read books about Italy now, but this is going back a bits. I needed something visual. I wanted to feel like I was on a trip.
So obviously Hollywood faire like Under the Tuscan Sun became a rather necessary accompaniment to my young interest and curiosity in Italy. I cannot stress enough : At the time I went looking, there weren't many other films available to watch -- modern ones -- that had been set there during a time of peace. Even now if you run a Google search for films set in Italy , you'll see this one with Diane Lane comes up first thing. It's the most popular. Again, It's because it's the most accessible one. All the other films set in this country are either too old or not American and thus they have no familiar cast et cetera. They're  films that would take a bit of effort to watch and would be kind of strange for modern American sensibilities ...
Ok. I suppose now you're wondering what the pint of commenting on all this was? Well there are a few reasons -- and I think the biggest reason is that i actually now find all of this to be sort of offensive, certainly limiting --, and I actually think it says a great deal about the pettiness of the American culture at large, that the only film this country thought to create, set in a culture as old and strong as the Italian one , is one that is , it's clear to see, "only for women and queers". Now I want to make it very clear that I don't have any issue with that at first glance -- may the good queers of San Francisdo and elsewhere make millions of films , by God --- but what I do have a definite issue with is the fact that this is pretty much the ONLY major accessible film dealing with Italy.
I find it maddening, insulting , and very stupid. And I certainly find that it says a great deal about my fellow American men, because basically what this film sort of says in a way is that, you know what, Italy isn't a place where the average, straight all American guy would feel comfortable. If anything, the film actually presents Italy as a threat to the typical US guy. After all, Diane Lane "escapes" there like a fugitive on the run , after whatever happened with her husband .  Instead of returning to her husband the woman thinks to find something new! In a foreign capital! The gall on this broad eh?
To make matters even worse, she then meets , of course, an incredibly suave and attractive Italiano man , who becomes her knight in shining armor. So basically we have a story about a woman who  runs to another country and then runs into the supportive arms of a foreigner. Woah. What on earth just happened? Ask yourself patriot: Is this movie ...for traitors? Is that what it's implying? Is this movie implying that gays and lesbians from San Francisco, and women who agree to divorce,  are ultimately traitors at heart??? Traitors who ought to flee Gods Country?
In a way, I think it is sort of subtly implying all of these things to a certain, more conservative segment of the population, and looking back now I'm shockingly realizing that this type of portrayal is the exact reason why this film was the only film available , that was set in Italy, when I went looking. There are no male equivalent story of  this film because guess what? According to Hollywood script writers, the only reason a good old American man has to be in Italy-- or anywhere foreign--  is for war. Or , of course, maybe if he is running on some international plot of insane intrigue. You will not find a movie about an American man in this country or any other country where he is having a grand old time. You will not find it because it is antithetical to the American mans image of himself. He travels for war or he doesn't travel at all.
Other than that , a good American tough guy, what the he'll is he doing somewhere else? What other reason could someone who wasn't a traitor possibly have? What? He is Getting girls? He has those at America and if they don't like him it's a sign, one imagines, of his failing . Taking a vacation? He has vacation spots in America to go to and if he doesn't like them he is a bad person with bad taste. Also: American men don't take vacations anyways . And if they do take vacations, then it means they're doing something manly , like hunting buck in Montana whilst living in a log cabin, or maybe going to climb Mount Everest ...or , of course , maybe going to a casino or some such place. Other than that what could a real fella possibly be doing??
Indeed it's very interesting to look back at this Diane Lane movie and see all the politics of conservatism versus liberalism as it concerns this country , suddenly popping out at me . It's very sad really, to think that this culture is so frightfully limited , they can't even comfortable make a movie -- a peaceful movie --- set in another country ....