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Tea with Mussolini (1999) is a semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a kind Englishwoman and her circle of friends.
SynopsisSet in Florence, 1935, a group of diverse and distinguished English expatriate women known as the Scorpioni make it a habit of meeting for tea each afternoon. Their proud members are Lady Hester Random, widow of the former British Ambassador to Italy, Arabella, an artist, and Mary Wallace, a secretary to self-pointed Italian businessman. They are sometimes joined by two Americans, Georgie, a lively archaeologist, and Elsa, a wealthy art collector. When Mary becomes a guardian to Luca, a young boy, she turns to the ladies for help. But the onset of Fascism has irrevocable consequences for all of them. In order to help, Luca must confront the challenge of becoming a man and embrace independence. PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The film begins in Florence in the early 1930s, where a group of cultured expatriate British women meet for tea every afternoon. Luca (Charlie Lucas) is the illegitimate son of an Italian businessman. When Luca's mother dies, his father shows no interest in his son's upbringing and Mary Wallace (Joan Plowright) steps in as his guardian. Finding the task of bringing up a young boy alone daunting, she turns to the Scorpioni women for support. Together, they teach Luca many lessons about life. Mary aquaints him with the works of Shakespeare. He is also befriended and introduced to modern art by a rich, young, and attractive American widow, Elsa Morganthal Strauss-Almerson (Cher), who knew his late mother and offers him financial support. Meanwhile, Lady Hester Random (Maggie Smith), who is forever reminding everyone that her late husband was the Ambassador to Italy, keeps a sharp eye on Elsa. One day, when the ladies are in a restaurant for afternoon tea, it is vandalized by fascists. The situation then begins to become difficult for the ex-pat community due to the rising tide of fascism. In spite of this, Lady Hester Random retains an admiring faith in Benito Mussolini. She takes it upon herself to visit him to obtain his assurance that the community will be safe. He promises them his personal protection, and the group sits down to tea. The next day the front page of the local paper features a photo of Lady Hester and Mussolini, which she frames and proudly displays to local officials at every opportunity. Despite this, the political situation continues to deteriorate. The Scorpioni can no longer have their afternoon teas at the Uffizi Gallery. Luca's father decides that Italy's future is with Germany rather than the United Kingdom. He removes Luca from Mary's care and sends him away for several years to a German boarding school so that he can learn the language and be assured of a safe and prosperous future.
Luca, who narrowly escapes local police on his night-time errands for Elsa, becomes jealous when she forms a romantic alliance with a shrewd young Italian lawyer. Pearl Harbor is attacked and it is announced that the United States has entered the war. The police soon detain the Americans Elsa and Georgie and install them in the hotel along with the English women. But as a Jew, Elsa is in far greater danger than the other women. In return for her boyfriend's promise to help her flee to Switzerland where they would be safe together, she signs over her valuable collection of modern art as well as all of her money and other possessions to him. However, as Mary now discovers, Elsa's boyfriend had no such intention and was plotting all along to betray her to the Gestapo. Mary scolds the jealous Luca and tells him to grow up as he already knew about the plot, but didn't tell Elsa earlier. For her part, Elsa refuses to believe the story or try to escape. Desperate, Mary goes to the women for help. At first Lady Hester scorns the idea of helping Elsa, believing she owes her nothing. Mary is then forced to reveal that it was not Mussolini but Elsa who arranged and financed their stay at the luxurious hotel. Shamed, Lady Hester agrees to try to convince Elsa of the truth. She goes to Elsa, who has isolated herself in her room, thanks her for her generosity, and assures her that her boyfriend will not be keeping his promise. Surprised by Lady Hester's change of heart, Elsa believes her and fears for her life. She consents to an escape plan hatched by Mary, Luca, and Wilfred, who have already fled the hotel to join the Italian resistance movement. Aided by money given by Luca from his inheritance, Wilfred and his friends in the underground help Elsa flee during the night. Just before she boards the tiny rowboat taking her out to sea, Elsa tells Luca how she once helped his young mother decide to go through with her pregnancy, thus saving his life; she now sees his help as a form of payback. Against the threat of bombs going off in the outskirts of San Gimignano, Georgie and Arabella anxiously protect the precious St. Fina frescoes using piles of sandbags. The city is soon invaded by Nazi forces, who begin seizing Jews, including Luca's art teacher, who was revealed to the Germans by Elsa's ex-boyfriend. They lay explosives to blow up some of the towers, and Arabella becomes frantic. Following her lead, the women immediately take action and all tie themselves to one of the buildings, bravely standing up to the pistol aimed at them by a frustrated Nazi officer. But within seconds the officer receives orders to abandon the city, and he and his men quickly take off, leaving the women behind and the towers untouched. The whole city rejoices as Scottish Allied troops arrive, with a grown-up Luca riding in the commander's jeep as his Italian interpreter. He gently warns his superior that the British women they are there to liberate, might not be easily ordered about. True to form, Lady Hester refuses to cooperate with the evacuation plans, and the other women join her, resolving to resume their former lives in Italy. Mary is thrilled to see that her beloved Luca has become the "English gentleman" of his father's dreams after all. Arabella and Georgie both rush into the chapel, past the rubble and are relieved to find the frescoes safe and sound. Closing texts inform us, among other things, that the Scorpioni later resumed their afternoon teas (although, as Lady Hester reminds them, things are not the same as they were), and that Luca went on to "help" make the film - i.e. director Franco Zeffirelli. Cast
Quotes
Spoilers end here.
Awards and NominationsAwards won
Awards nominated
See alsoExternal linkes:Té con Mussolini it:Un tè con Mussolini fi:Teetä Mussolinin kanssa
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