Genre: Drama

Language: Italian with English Subtitles

Director: Lina Wertmüller

Cast: Sophia Loren, Giancarlo Giannini, Claudia Gerini & Raoul Bova

Released: 2001

Duration: 120 Minutes

Rating: M

Distribution: Palace Films

Lina Wertmüller’s plush period drama stars the ever-luminous Sophia Loren as a mother who thinks of marriage in terms of business and a daughter who has her own unusual ideas about love.

In Campania, at the end of the 19th century, Francesca (Sofia Loren) was a commoner - daughter and granddaughter of pasta makers - whose beauty so entranced Prince Giodano Montorsi (Giancarlo Giannini) that he took her hand in marriage.  At a certain point Francesca, fearing for the life of Nanà, one of her nine children, makes a vow: if her baby lives, she will adopt an orphan.

And so Nunziatina, an angelic 8-year old girl, enters their lives, forming a strong bond with Francesca.  Incredibly Nunziatina is the child that most resembles Francesca, especially in her helpless dedication to work. She's the only one to stand by Francesca in the pasta shop, and she's the only one to whom Francesca reveals all her professional secrets.

Years later the family has fallen on hard times and Francesca begins to broker a marriage between her eldest son Federico (Raoul Bova), who has returned from his studies in London, and the daughter of a wealthy shipping tycoon.  However Federico is less than enthusiastic about the idea, largely because he instantly falls in love with the now very attractive Nunziata (Claudia Gerini). 

From the novel by Maria Orsini Natale