MovieChat Forums > Light in the Piazza (1962) Discussion > Nitpicking... ;)

Nitpicking... ;)

posted 17 years ago by BlueGreen
12 replies | jump to latest

Now, I know all of us who love this film love it for obviously "irrational" reasons (which love for beauty - or love in general - always is), right? ;)

But there's something that's been bothering me ever since I first saw it, and I was wondering if the same "plot hole" (sort of) exists in the novella, too.

After Naccarelli Sr. had seen Clara's passport and storms out of the monastery, there are some ten or fifteen "vital" (for the plot) minutes when the Johnsons are left in the cold, so to speak. "Something" has happened and they don't know what - but there seems to be an assumption on the part of Mrs. Johnson that he has somehow realised that Clara is not "well" (I think there's an implied hint at it during her telephone conversation with her husband.)

Now, the intended (?) suspense, of course, is watered down considerably by the fact that most viewers are likely to know the kind of information that passports contain - and what they do NOT contain. There is no way anybody could've found out about Clara's mental condition from her passport data. And Mrs. Johnson, after all, is not only literate but also a well-educated, well-traveled, worldly woman.

Is it possible that American passports in the 1950's and 1960's contained any such information?
And if you've read it, could you please tell how this strange - or should I say strained - "twist" is handled in the novella?

[–] DryToast 17 years ago

I can tell you how it's handled in the musical. Naccarelli Sr. is looking over Clara's shoulder as she fills out a church form at the wedding rehearsal. The form would request her age, but Mrs. Johnson also realizes that Clara's handwriting is childishly substandard for an adult and suspects that this is what has let the cat out of the bag. I'll have to take a look at my video to see exactly what happens in the equivalent scene.

"The back of my neck told me. The part that I talk out of."

[–] BlueGreen 17 years ago

Thank you very much, DryToast.
That, of course, makes much more sense!

[–] macguffinlassie 16 years ago

I'm thinking it's just Meg's guilty conscience. She's very concerned about how others perceive Clara (this is evident throughout the film) and let's face it--when we're concealing something, everything seems to suggest that others have found us out. It's not rational, but there it is.

[–] BlueGreen 16 years ago

That's not a bad explanation.
I still wonder whether the director really intended it that way (we as viewers shouldn't have such doubts), but in itself, viewed as a "life-like" reaction, it's very plausible.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] BlueGreen 16 years ago

Oh goody - a fellow nitpicker!

Regarding your first question, I think you'll find this thread interesting:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056183/board/flat/21721182?p=1

And I'll just repost a part of my reply about Fabbrizio (the son) within that thread:

I think that the father's mistake about Fabbrizio's age is there simply to provide some additional (comic) relief after the situation has been resolved to Mrs. Johnson's satisfaction.

It is comical because it's always somewhat funny to see a parent forgetting their child's age - and people, especially fathers, really DO sometimes forget their children's age! (Whether this is done consciously or not is another matter.)

And, as I said in my first post in this thread, I think Fabbrizio's definite "simple-mindedness" is no greater than that of very many young men, especially back then.

As to your question about the money... frankly, I am not sure, but I suspect that money WAS an important part of the equation. And Mrs. Johnson obviously understood that; after ll, she was the one who brought up the "dowry" in the first place...

[–] macguffinlassie 16 years ago

I think it was a mostly honest mistake--I qualify "honest" because Fabrizio's perceived age increased from 20 to 21 when the father assures him that all is well. And Meg surely wanted to sweeten the pot because she caught on pretty quickly to the fact that negotiations had commenced--perhaps the suggestion against mentioning the diminished age difference to Meg had to do with that in part (plus, he really would have looked silly). Let's face it--there are lots of secrets being kept in this movie but I doubt any of them could cause problems in the long run. Clearly, the authors planned it that way--a very happy ending. :)

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] BlueGreen 16 years ago

I suspect the scene really "loomed" larger than it was only because you didn't watch the film from the beginning. ;)

As I recall it, it was a relatively short scene - but it does end, as has been mentioned here before, with a strange shot of Hamilton/Fabbrizio making an odd face. I am not sure whether it was intended for us to read something from it (or into it), or was it just an editing slip.

Anyway, there's a good excuse for you to watch the film again. ;-)

[–] macguffinlassie 16 years ago

As I recall it, it was a relatively short scene - but it does end, as has been mentioned here before, with a strange shot of Hamilton/Fabbrizio making an odd face. I am not sure whether it was intended for us to read something from it (or into it), or was it just an editing slip.

Again, the novella. The father-son discussion clarifies that Fabrizio was aware of Clara's age and had mentioned it previously to his father, and also includes dialogue by Fabrizio that explains that strange look.
"... Do you want them to think we are crazy?"
"You are innamorato of the signora. I understand it all." (end of chapter)
It's even funnier in print. (Hey, these are Italian men!)

[–] pharmom 15 years ago

I think Meg makes the money play because she, as an American, thinks that all Italians makes all their decisions based on money. While it may not have been something he was fishing for at the beginning, she "opened negotiations". Whether he went fishing for more, I'm not so sure. She was the one who kept upping the price every time she felt the whole thing was going to fall through. I think it was her own feelings of her daughter being "sub-standard" and being in need of some sweetening that drove her to keep talking about money. While the conversation would have been there at some point, she seems to turn it into something vulgar (as an "Ugly American" would). I think it's more a commentary on each country's perception of the other culture than an actual nuance to the characters or plot.

[–] macguffinlassie 16 years ago

Okay, again, I've just finished reading the novella. What's written follows.
"The instant she was alone, she had the passports out, searching through them. Would nothing give her a clue to what had struck Signor Naccarelli?"
And then later...
"Stricken silent, she walked on beside him. Somehow, then, [emphasis mine] HE HAD FOUND OUT."
Remember what I posted about her guilty conscience...?