''The Fish in Love'' () is a 1999 Italian

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

film directed by

Leonardo Pieraccioni Leonardo Pieraccioni (born 17 February 1965) is an Italian film director, actor, comedian, screenwriter and cabaret performer. Born in Florence, he made his directorial debut with '' The Graduates'' (1995). In 1996 he directed his breakthrough ...

, who also stars alongside

Yamila Diaz Yamila Díaz-Rahi (born March 9, 1976), also Yamila Diaz, is an Argentine model. She has appeared in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' a total of 11 times, and made the cover of the magazine first in 2002 and again in 2006. She also featur ...

. Pieraccioni stars as Arturo, a writer of

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

, and Diaz stars as Matilde, the woman he falls in love with.

Plot

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, the young carpenter Arturo dreams of becoming a great writer. In fact he has the talent to be able to write fantasy stories for children, and so he is snubbed by Italian critics. However Arturo does not give up, and sends the proofs to a famous Florentine editor. Meanwhile, the family of Arturo is broke because his uncle is gone bankrupt with several useless shops. But fame for Arturo arrives early, because the publisher remains excited about the fantastic stories, and so the book is published with the title: ''The Fish in Love''. Arturo starts to know celebrity and wealth, but soon gets bored, because he feels himself suffocated by the fame. Indeed, Arturo falls in love with beautiful Matilde, promised in marriage to a pompous man of

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

. With her, Arturo flees into a house in the woods, and plans a new life, just like in the fairy tales.

Cast

as Arturo Vannino *

as Matilde Ventura * Paolo Hendel as Primo *Patrizia Loreti as Signorina Benincasa * Gabriella Pession as Lucilla Pacini * Angelo Russo as Maresciallo Scarchilli *Rodolfo Corsato as Valeriano *Rosanna Susini as Arturo's mother *Sergio Forconi as Arturo's father *Vincenzo Versari as uncle Arnaldo *

Don Lurio Donald Benjamin Lurio (15 November 1929 – 26 January 2003) was an American-born Italian dancer, choreographer, actor, singer and television presenter for RAI, the Italian radio and television public service. Biography Born in New York City in a ...

as Pacini *

Philippe Leroy Philippe Marie Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (15 October 1930 – 1 June 2024) was a French actor. He appeared in over 150 films between 1960 and 2019, and worked extensively in Italian cinema, as well as in his native country. After an early career as ...

as the chauffeur *Dario Ballantini as Domenico Costanzo *

Hal Yamanouchi , also known as , is a Japanese-Italian actor, voice actor, dancer, choreographer, stunt performer, writer and former mime. Born in Tokyo, he has resided in Italy since 1975 and holds Italian citizenship. Beginning his career as a mime, he has p ...

as the consul of Korea

References

External links

* 1999 films 1990s Italian-language films 1999 comedy films Films directed by Leonardo Pieraccioni Films set in Tuscany Films set in Florence Films set in Venice Italian comedy films Italian romantic comedy films 1990s Italian films {{1990s-Italy-comedy-film-stub