“Under the Tuscan Sun,” the sentimental story of an American fixing up a villa in one of Italy’s most beautiful regions, just got a movie fix-up.
Touchstone Pictures recently wrapped up the shooting in Cortona of a story which has little in common with the autobiographical tale in the book but sports the well-known title.

Instead of a middle-aged-ish, married humanities professor (Frances Mayes) movie-goers will get a sexy Diane Lane as a single lawyer who finds love with handsome Raoul Bova, the Italian actor best known for a nearly-naked calendar and who also boasts a miniseries credit as St. Francis.
The rolling hills of Cortona sound like the only thing the book and movie have in common, but then again “Under the Tuscan Sun” has practically morphed into a brand-name for an international community who longs to lead the dolce vita in Italy.
In a relatively short time, Mayes has done for Tuscany what Peter Mayle has done for Provence — create an industry catering to would-be expats and armchair travelers . Her 1996 book was a bestseller for two years, translated into 14 languages, spawned a sequel (“Bella Tuscany”), coffee-table photo extravaganza (“In Tuscany”) and a calendar.
“The rhythm of Tuscan dining may throw us off but after a long lunch outside, one concept is clear — siesta,” writes Mayes in her first book about La Toscana. “The logic of a three-hour fall through the crack of the day makes perfect sense. Best to pick up that Piero della Francesca book, wander upstairs and give in to it.”
Right, so it doesn’t make for an action-packed scene, but screenwriter Audrey Wells has also thrown other picturesque Italian locations into the mix including Florence, Positano, Montepulciano, Siena and Rome.
Although set photos from the unofficial site show a perfectly chic Lane trotting about a perfectly lovely Italy, fans of the book are unlikely to accept her as the everywoman heroine of the print version when the movie arrives in US theaters in the autumn of 2003.

Related resources:
www.under-the-tuscan-sun.com
Bits & bobs on the filming, Cortona and Tuscany in general from the unofficial site…

http://digilander.libero.it/raulbova2001
Bova’s sexy calendar — kind of related…

A new game show centers on what could arguably be one of the Italy’s worst faults: nepotism.
“I Raccomandati” (Recommended People) where celebrities root for friends or family members trying to make it into show business, made a strong debut on Italian state broadcaster RAI.
The TV show premiered the same week yet another Italian scientist fled abroad citing ‘rampant nepotism.’ The resulting brain drain has become a ‘national crisis’ said President Ciampi who tried, unsuccessfully, to keep the scientist in question from transferring his expertise elsewhere.
The first episode featured politician Ignazio La Russa promoting a comedian friend, singer Tosca d’Aquino trying to get her mother into the spotlight and showgirl Adriana Volpe with a cousin who does celebrity imitations. Admittedly, even the show’s writer says he received a ‘little push’ from TV host brother-in-law Alberto Castagna to get on board.
Celebs make a case for performers, then viewers vote the winners who, in addition to the prime-time publicity, snag a vacation.

Italians, apparently, don’t mind the entertainment version of this age-old system — ratings for ‘I Raccomandati’ were good, the show came in second after a prime-time movie but beat out the Milan-Chievo soccer game — garnering over six million viewers. .?1999-2008 zoomata.com

Italians are ringing in the new year with the last calendar penned by undisputed publishing phenomenon Father Mariangelo da Cerqueto — despite the lack of pulchritude his calendar "Frate Indovino" (Brother Fortuneteller) has been a sell out since 1946. The priest died at the age of 87 in November 2002.

The homespun wisdom of Brother Fortuneteller is rooted in daily weather forecasts–the calendar first gained popularity with farmers in Father Mariangelo’s native Perugia in Umbria for the accuracy of predictions made. The secret? The capuchin priest used a manuscript from the 1600s found in monastery archives.
The calendar, which sells between six and eight million copies yearly in Italy and abroad, dispenses pearls of wisdom like: “Since onions produce tears, chop them in moments of political or emotional turmoil” as well as recipes, folklore and proverbs. Sales of the priest’s calendar, which retails for about $3 each, top those of dozens topless calendars glutting newsstands each year.
Income from the Frate Indovino publishing house, which includes books and videos, fund the order’s missionary works.
Although the 2003 edition is the last one written by Father Mariangelo, the publishing house has plans to carry on with the calendars.?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.a>