Plot: Over a handful of days in 1938, a penniless English widow, on vacation near Florence, Italy, considers the marriage proposal of an aging British aristocrat who is the newly-appointed Governor of Bengal, accepts a pistol that he presses on her for safety, takes pity on an Austrian refugee, stands up to a fascist Police Chief, and gets in harm's way with an American playboy. After a good deed results in tragedy, she must choose between dependability and love, between her reputation and her feelings. Even that choice doesn't work out as she imagined.
Alternative Plot: Surrounded by the lush countryside of Italy, Mary Panton (Kristin Scott Thomas), a middle-aged and once-affluent widow, seems to have her financial future secured again when she attracts the notice of a wealthy wife-seeking diplomat (James Fox). But her fate turns when she meets bold American Rowley Flint (Sean Penn). Though he is married, the two cannot deny their passion and soon begin a complicated relationship that involves covering up a scandal and continuing deceit.
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