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Tea With MussoliniTea 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. It stars Joan Plowright, Cher, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Lily Tomlin, with Charlie Lucas and Baird Wallace playing Luca (both as a child and a teenager). Tea With Mussolini is a film appreciation of the circle of women who helped to raise director Franco Zeffirelli. In the film (which starts in Florence, Italy in the early 1930s) Luca (Lucas) is the illegitimate son of an Italian businessman. When Luca's mother dies his father shows no interest in bringing up his son and Mary Wallace (Plowright) steps in and offers to take care of the young boy. Luca learns many things about life from Mary and her friends Arabella (Dench in a very different role for her, one of an artist rather than a commanding leader) and American archaeologist Georgie (Tomlin). He is aided financially by rich Jewish-American Elsa Morganthal Strauss-Armistan (Cher) who knew his mother and is also watched over by Lady Hester Random (Smith) who is forever reminding everyone that her late husband was the ambassador. When things begin to get difficult for the resident English community due to the rising tide of fascism, Lady Hester takes it upon herself to visit Benito Mussolini to gain his assurance that the community will be safe. He gives his assurance and the group sits down to tea. However, things continue to deteriorate and Luca's father decides that Italy's future is with Germany rather than England and removes Luca from Mary's care and sends him away for several years to a German boarding school. When he returns (now played by Wallace) he is reunited with the Englishwomen, but not for long as they are soon rounded up as resident aliens and taken to San Gimignano to be held for the duration of the war. Luca follows them and with the aid of Elsa and some false documents they convince the guards that the group must be immediately moved to a comfortable hotel, where they stay for the duration of the war. Luca continues to grow up, including having to overcome his jealousy surrounding beautiful Elsa and her boyfriend in order to save her from capture and deportation to a death camp. In the closing days of the war San Gimignano is liberated and Luca proves to have truly grown up. External links
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