‘The White Lotus’ Sicily & Monica Vitti
In the second episode of The White Lotus Greg wants Tanya to have a perfect day.
“My fantasy day in Italy is, well first, I want to look like Monica Vitti and then this man in a very slim fitting suit, he comes over and he lights my cigarette and it tastes relly good,” Tanya begins. “Then he takes me for a drive on his Vespa. Then at sunset, we go down very close to the sea to one of those really romantic spots. Then we drink lots of aperitif and we eat big plates of pasta with giant clams. We’re just really chic and happy.”
Greg complies with Tanya’s wishes, despite the resort manager Valentina’s dismay. The couple poses for photos with the Vespa before they tour Sicily. However, after their wonderful day, Greg shatters Tanya’s happiness with the news that he’s leaving in the morning. When Tanya asks him not to go, Greg reminds her that he can’t afford to quit his job because he signed a prenup. Then he speaks to someone he loves in the middle of the night. “Yeah, she’s clueless as usual,” Greg tells the unknown caller. “I’ll be home tomorrow. I’ll give you a call when I get in. Yeah, I love you too.”
Well, who is Monica Vitta and why does Tanya choose her for the ‘Italian Dream’?
Monica Vitti was an Italian actor known as the ‘Queen of Italian cinema.’ She won five David di Donatello Awards, seven Italian Golden Globes, the Career Golden Globe and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award. Vitti was known for starring in Michelangelo Antonioni’s films in the 1960s.
Vitti’s breakout role was in the International film L’Avventura. In Tanya’s Italian Dream, she became Monica Vitti in L’Avventura. Antonioni directed the drama and filmed it in Rome, the Aeolian Islands, and Sicily. It is about the search for a young woman, Anna, who goes missing during a boating trip in the Mediteranean. The woman’s lover, becomes infatuated with her best friend, Claudia (Monica Vitti), while they search for Anna.
Before Anna went missing, she complained to Sandro that she was unhappy with his long business trips, and he didn’t seem to care. Tanya wants to become Monica Vitti in The White Lotus in Sicily, however, she’s more like Anna than Vitti’s character, Claudia.
In the end, Sandro finds another woman to replace Claudia when they check into the same resort as Tanya and Greg in The White Lotus: Sicily - San Domenico Palace Hotel. The terrace that Greg stands on while making his secret phone call is the same one that Vitti stands on in the final scene of L’Avventura.