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Tea with Mussolini

Herbatka z Mussolinim

USA | 1999, 116 min.

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Screenings:

Festival edition: 1999

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Dialogue language:

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Description:

The story is based on a the events in the life of screenwriter and director Franco Zeffirelli, who in the latter half of the 1930's and early 40's lived in the beautiful city of Florence in the north of Italy. The Florence of the1930s was still of a different age, with little tourism and few cars to mar the magnificence of its architecture. Spanning 10 years, the story starts in Florence in 1935, when the cultured Brits? love affair with Italy was still on a roll and Mussolini was just "a man who made the trains run on time." Luca is a young local kid whose mother has run away and whose stern father, a fabric importer, is more than happy to hear that his bastard son will be raised by Mary, an Englishwoman, and thus grow up to be an "English gentleman". Mary is a member of an eccentric community of British refugees - called the "Scorpioni", the ladies are known for their biting wit, critical ways and a great love for Italy's wonders. Though all of them have their separate reasons for staying in Florence, the whole group takes care of little Luca and instils him with an enduring love for art and Shakespeare. The breathtaking beauty of Italy's landscape, perfectly crafted costumes and vivid characters all amount to a fascinating portrait of life in Italy of the 1930's and make for a wonderful film.

Director(-s): Franco Zeffirelli

Born in 1923 in Florence. He began his career as an actor, appearing in several of Luchino Visconti's stage plays. Later, he was Visconti's assistant on such films as "La Terra Trema" (1948), "Bellissima" (1951) and "Senso" (1954). In 1945, he began a successful career as set and costume designer for operas and stage plays. Since the early 1950s he has directed numerous operas and plays in London, Milan, New York and other cities and has gained a reputation for the opulence of his productions, many of which he still designs. He made his debut as a film director in the late 1960s with the highly publicised production of "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967) with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The following year he made his best-known and best-loved film, "Romeo and Juliet" (1968) which earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Director. To this day he is still considered to be one of Italy's most prominent film directors. Zeffirelli remains active in the opera world, staging productions in Europe and the U.S.

Director's filmography

1957 Camping
1965 La Boheme
1966 Per Firenze
1967 Much Ado About Nothing (tv)
The Taming of the Shrew
1968 Romeo and Juliet
1973 Brother Sun, Sister Moon
1977 Jesus of Nazareth (mini series tv)
1979 The Champ
1981 Endless Love
1982 La Traviata
I Pagliacci
Cavalleria rusticana
1986 Otello
1988 Il Giovane Toscanini/Young Toscanini
1990 Hamlet
1993 Sparrow
1996 Jane Eyre
1999 Tea with Mussolini

Cast & Crew

Producer: Riccardo Tozzi, Giovannella Zannoni, Clive Parsons

Cast: Cher, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Lily Tomlin

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Tea with Mussolini

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The story is based on a the events in the life of screenwriter and director Franco Zeffirelli, who in the latter half of the 1930's and early 40's lived in the beautiful city of Florence in the north of Italy. The Florence of the1930s was still of a different age, with little tourism and few cars to mar the magnificence of its architecture. Spanning 10 years, the story starts in Florence in 1935, when the cultured Brits? love affair with Italy was still on a roll and Mussolini was just "a man who made the trains run on time." Luca is a young local kid whose mother has run away and whose stern father, a fabric importer, is more than happy to hear that his bastard son will be raised by Mary, an Englishwoman, and thus grow up to be an "English gentleman". Mary is a member of an eccentric community of British refugees - called the "Scorpioni", the ladies are known for their biting wit, critical ways and a great love for Italy's wonders. Though all of them have their separate reasons for staying in Florence, the whole group takes care of little Luca and instils him with an enduring love for art and Shakespeare. The breathtaking beauty of Italy's landscape, perfectly crafted costumes and vivid characters all amount to a fascinating portrait of life in Italy of the 1930's and make for a wonderful film.

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