Good movies that feature people lounging in sunny villas
February 6, 2021 11:32 AM

Call Me By Your Name is a great movie but I also like that they’re hanging out in a lovely villa in a sunny spot, bike touring the town, etc. Any other good movies with this kind of setting? Thank you!
posted by ftm to Media & Arts (24 answers total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
The Talented Mr Ripley has a long mid-section where the main characters are hanging out at a villa in Italy. The action moves on from there, but by the time it does, you'll be gripped by the story anyway.
posted by essexjan at 11:53 AM on February 6, 2021


Enchanted April. Castle in Italy!
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 11:59 AM on February 6, 2021


I consider the 90's version of "Much Ado About Nothing" to be good. A whole flock of beautiful people sing and dance, connive, play jokes, and laze about in a picturesque villa in Tuscany. It's over-the-top pastoral paradise but it's oh so perfect.
posted by Gray Duck at 12:01 PM on February 6, 2021


A Bigger Splash, also directed by Lucas Guadagnino, stars Tilda Swinton as a voiceless rockstar vacationing with friends in sunny and idyllic rural Italy.
posted by ejs at 12:17 PM on February 6, 2021


Rohmers La Collectionneuse
posted by vacapinta at 12:40 PM on February 6, 2021


To stay on theme—Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love, also with Tilda Swinton. The film's locations are exquisite (including "the most elegant house in the world") and you can get a feel for some in the trailer or this clip.
posted by bcwinters at 12:48 PM on February 6, 2021


Sexy Beast
posted by caek at 12:49 PM on February 6, 2021


Under the Tuscan Sun for sure.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:50 PM on February 6, 2021


My Brilliant Friend is set in working-class Naples, so not quite, but there are a number of scenes in Ischia and besides the plot I got a lot of escapism out of the scenery.
posted by coffeecat at 12:53 PM on February 6, 2021


Stealing Beauty is this kind of movie, though I haven't seen it in 20 years. I can imagine the main character's romantic and sexual coming of age might not have aged well from a feminist perspective, but I don't know for sure. It's definitely beautiful, though.
posted by gideonfrog at 1:00 PM on February 6, 2021


Morvern Callar. (Kind of; the aesthetic is a little unsettling).
posted by vunder at 1:32 PM on February 6, 2021


Well, The Belly of an Architect certainly has that sort of setting, albeit in Rome rather than anything more bucolic. It's more a dying-old-man movie than a charming-sexual-awakening sort of thing, though.
posted by Grangousier at 2:54 PM on February 6, 2021


A Good Year. London financier inherits vineyard in the south of France, meets restauranteur Marion Cotillard, good life ensues.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:00 PM on February 6, 2021


To Catch a Thief is set on the French Riviera and has a very dreamy, escapist mood to it. I watched it recently and enjoyed the setting more than the characters or plot.
posted by music for skeletons at 3:21 PM on February 6, 2021


Roman Holiday!
posted by aquamvidam at 3:46 PM on February 6, 2021


Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:55 PM on February 6, 2021


Not a movie, but The Durrells on Corfu
posted by Ideefixe at 4:26 PM on February 6, 2021


Good is subjective, but _A Good Year_ with Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:36 PM on February 6, 2021


Ditto Enchanted April... It starts in gloomy, rainy England, but that's just for the contrast when the characters get to utterly gorgeous Italy and spend the rest of the movie lounging about there. Shot on location at Castello Brown in Portofino...and now I want to watch it again.
posted by theatro at 6:50 PM on February 6, 2021


The Trip to Italy. And probably The Trip to Spain and The Trip to Greece, but I haven't seen them.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:35 PM on February 6, 2021


Summertime starring Katharine Hepburn
posted by Constance Mirabella at 11:24 PM on February 6, 2021


A Room With a View!
posted by Threeve at 12:50 AM on February 7, 2021


Just want to caution that Sexy Beast, as I recall it, is not in the least relaxed, despite the setting. It’s a bunch of unpleasant British gangsters being nasty and threatening to each other. Ben Kingsley chews the scenery beautifully, but is, like everyone else, utterly repellant. Left me on edge the whole film, though ymmv.
posted by sumiami at 10:28 AM on February 7, 2021


The 1993 Much Ado About Nothing.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:05 AM on February 8, 2021


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