The Best Things in Life They’re Free, Part II: Exploring the Perils of Money in a High-Dimensional Vacation to the White Lotus

It started with floating bodies, and finally brought home its various threads with a sly nod to the fact that the sex in this visit to “The White Lotus” tended to be transactional. In between, the second installment proved almost as engrossing, uncomfortable and meme-worthy as its Emmy-winning predecessor, which is no small accomplishment for writer-director Mike White.

Although Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya represented the lone holdover from the first season, she won’t be vacationing in the third unless it’s a prequel, rather belatedly identifying the elaborate scheme that her husband had hatched, with the help of his friend Quentin (Tom Hollander, utterly brilliant), to orchestrate her untimely end. That happened, but in a most darkly hilarious way, after that woman shot her way to the door.

The show had many characters manipulated for money or advantage, and that was what connected the show’s various threads. That included the hard-working hotel manager, Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), who succumbed to her repressed sexual needs, and gave a job to Mia (Beatrice Grannò) after she satisfied them; and Albie (Adam DiMarco), the young American trying to play the white knight by rescuing Mia’s friend, the call girl Lucia (Simona Tabasco), talking his father Dominic (Michael Imperioli) into giving her 50,000 euros.

How are you making it in life with this big a mark? Dominic asked after his son promised to help him reconcile with his wife.

Lucia and Mia walked into the sunset to the lyrics “The best things in life they’re free,” an ironic, near-perfect coda to a show where money complicated everything, including relationships old and new.

Wealth also permeated the third major plot involving Ethan (Will Sharpe) and Cameron (Theo James), two college chums vacationing together with their wives Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Daphne (Meghann Fahy), respectively. Over the final episodes, Ethan became preoccupied with his suspicion that Cameron had seduced Harper, which he attributed to resentment over the fact that Ethan had become so much more financially successful than his friend.

Yet the rift between them was healed by Daphne, who had clearly found her own ways of dealing with her husband’s philandering, and after leading Ethan into a secluded cove, seemingly opened his eyes to possibilities – to mysteries, as she put it – within the confines of a marriage that might even have saved his moribund relationship with Harper as well.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/11/entertainment/the-white-lotus-fiinale-review/index.html

Unlocking Italy With CNN Travel: “The White Lotus” / “The New Black Lotus” The Real Life of a Sicilian Hotel

In addition to the change in locales there were key differences in the service worker-hotel guest dynamic that defined the original, including the way that class distinctions echoed through those interactions.

At the same time, White again conjured a disarmingly off-kilter vibe, and in both editions anchored the strange happenings not only around a foreshadowed death but the struggles of a hard-working hotel manager, grappling with what a personal life might look like while tending to all the spoiled infants entrusted to their care.

And while guests looking for their own White Lotus escape might not get quite the same racy experiences, Maraviglia insists his hotel will at least deliver the same level of service enjoyed by the show’s characters.

HBO isn’t free (and like CNN, it’s part of Warner Bros. Discovery), but thanks to “The White Lotus,” it’s home to one of the best things on television, and as anthology-style concepts go, potentially one of the most durable.

CNN Travel offers a free nine-part email newsletter named “Unlocking Italy” which contains information on Italy’s best and lesser-known regions to plan your trip. We can make you feel good before you go with Stanley Tucci suggestions, reading lists and recipes.

Sicily is the perfect location for the second season of the comedy series ” The White Lotus” due to its beautiful Baroque villas, exotic gardens, dramatic landscapes and seductive vibe.

The hotel, which was a 14th-century monastery, has a beautiful view of the volcano and the coastline. Lorenzo Maraviglia, its real-life manager, says that it’s a match for its fictional counterpart.

He says the resort’s vibe is similar to the one you see in the series. “It’s vibrant, it’s about Sicily — both romantic and sexy –and about our incredible guests who this year included Madonna and Sharon Stone.”

The San Domenico Palace is the heart of the intrigue and steamy liaisons that occur over the course of the seven-part series.

The success of the series is based on the reality of what happens in a high end hotel, where the interactions between staff and clients are real.

But the “extreme situations like the two local escorts coming and going to entertain guests are part of the drama and theatrics that add a layer of spiciness,” he adds, insisting that things generally happen at a more sedate pace — as far as he’s aware.

We don’t notice weird movements if there isn’t anything obvious, but Taormina and our resort are places where such things don’t happen. It’s for families and couples on their honeymoon. It’s not possible for someone to have a weekend adventure.

Not that Sicily is any stranger to frisson. The ancient Greek heritage of sexual freedom is reflected in the island, with pagan statues and religious frescoes silently watching wealthy guests’ extravagant activities.

The ancient Greek theater, panoramic piazzetta, pastel-colored dwellings, elegant alleys, and trendy restaurants of Taormina are all pictured in all their glamor.

The best suites in the hotel, where most of the show’s sex scenes take place, have plunge pools and paintings of saints made by the monks who once lived there.

While Maraviglia may not have had to field some of the more outlandish guest requests that crop up in “White Lotus,” he says he’s had to deal with extravagant requests since the San Domenico opened last year as part of the Four Seasons chain.

There are two real deviations from reality, the beach scenes and shots depicting guests arriving by boat. The Taormina resort, perched atop the high rocky peak, has no access to the sea. The private deck of a nearby fish restaurant, La Cambusa at Giardini Naxos, was used to film sea-arrival scenes.

Since the hotel doesn’t have a private shoreline, guests can enjoy the sun and umbrellas at the beach club at the other side of the cliff.

One of Sicily’s most popular snorkeling spots can be found on the islet which is connected to the shore by a narrow strip of sand. It’s part of an archeological park and has a villa surrounded by exotic plants that hosts a botanical museum.

A Polish woman was thought to have been killed by her husband over an inheritance in 1955 in Taormina’s bay.

Spats between couples in “The White Lotus” are also true to life. In 1967 a furious Elizabeth Taylor apparently smashed a mandolin over Richard Burton’s head on the terrace of their suite.

The White Lotus Hotel – Sicilian Traditions of Love and Violatance in the Ages of Perpetuation and Betrayal

A statue of a bearded Moor’s head is a nod to a local legend dating back to medieval times, and is often shown as a symbol of betrayal. It’s said one of Sicily’s Arabic occupiers had his head chopped off and used as a plant pot by a woman he had an affair with.

“This story shows the Sicilian essence of love, passion and vengeance which are all portrayed in the ‘The White Lotus’,” said Bonamassa. She beheads the Moor because she loves him, but he betrayed her.

Sicily’s Arabic heritage is typified by the mori. Sicilians believe colorful pigne pine nut-shaped ceramics to bring good luck.

“Director Mike White was very receptive of our local ideas and he even included many of the suggestions we had, like Italian songs, adapting his approach to reality,” says Maraviglia.

A local watering hole that the actors nicknamed the “penis bar” is probably one tip that didn’t make the cut because it was too extreme.

The medieval village of Castelmola has a bar called Bar Turrisi that is filled with objects like phalluses. “Bottles, watches, cups, everything,” says Maraviglia. Even staircases and floor tiles have penises.

The Waitress says the staff regularly visited after a hard day of shooting and hopes the series will bring in tourists to more obscure places around Taormina.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/white-lotus-hotel-sicily-four-seasons-taormina/index.html

“The White Lotus” as Villa Elena and “The Golden Lotus”: The Oscillating Villa Tasca in Sicilian Villa-Elena

Ponturo said that the bar used to be a brothel and gay hot spot. “Then the owner decided to adopt the phallus motif, which was an ancient Greek symbol of sexual potency and fertility, to reaffirm the virility of Sicilian men. Good luck can be brought by it.

Some scenes were filmed at Villa Tasca, which is in the town of Monreale, near Palermo. Set within a lush park it has sumptuous frescoes and statues, king-sized rooms and an exotic pool-pond with fresh spring water. Rented for weddings and private events, it’s said that German composer Richard Wagner stayed here while creating his masterpiece.

Villa Elena is an extravagant mansion that is featured in “The White Lotus” as the scene of an orgy. It’s decorated with old tapestries and marble pieces and has a huge pool jutting out of a temple.

The best of Sicilian food is in the series. Guests gulp down ricotta-filled cannoli, cassata cakes, gelato and arancini rice-balls. Characters regularly quaff local rosé and Martini. Two couples take a wine tasting day at the Planeta canteen on Mount Etna, where the volcano’s fertile black soil produces top bottles such as Eruzione.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/white-lotus-hotel-sicily-four-seasons-taormina/index.html

Taormina, the birthplace of D.H. Lawrence’s novel, is a legacy of American cine-turismo in Sicily

Since the 1800s Taormina has been a VIP international hotspot renowned for its wild parties and sexual freedom that harked back to the pagan Greek days when homosexuality was the norm. Oscar Wilde was a frequent visitor.

Taormina is believed to be the birthplace of D.H Lawrence’s novel. The author and his wife were guests at San Domenico Palace in the early 1920s and the book was apparently inspired by an affair between Mrs. Lawrence and a local donkey rider.

The tours will be to the locations of the series. “There’s enormous potential in cine-turismo (tourism linked to movies), we already take Americans to ‘The Godfather’s’ spots with tailored trips,” he said.

Giuseppe Bianco, owner of Le Bistrot du Monde restaurant in Taormina, thinks that the series will be good for tourism but doesn’t like how Sicily is portrayed.

He said: “These American series promote and portray the usual super-rich people and their glamorous spots, which are not the real, authentic soul of Sicily where traditions and simple lifestyles survive.”

“When three guests go searching for their ancestors in a remote village and get kicked out by their alleged relatives, that’s the opposite from our inbred hospitality,” he says. The negative image is depicted by the escort and reference to local criminal organizations.