Gradiva

A lonely young archaeologist is intrigued by the grace and beauty of the women in Etruscan and Roman sculpture. One work becomes an obsession, a panel in the Vatican museum he calls the Gradiva. In a dream he sees her in Pompeii as the volcanic ash buries the city. Going to Pompeii, he thinks it must again be a dream when in the courtyard of a ruined house he meets a beautiful young woman in antique dress. When he addresses her, first in Latin and then in Ancient Greek, she laughingly replies in Italian and leaves.

What a romantic beginning to a story! Melding the world of 2,000 years ago with the present, falling in love with a lovely woman created in stone by an ancient artist and then falling for her delectable flesh-and-blood double. I shall not spoil the film for you by saying whether will or chance allow the two to come together in present-day reality, but can say that you will find the Italian scenery and the Italian heroine worth every minute they are on screen.