Stay As You Are

Stay as You Are, also known as Stay the Way You Are, is a 1978 erotic drama film, directed by Alberto Lattuada, starring Nastassja Kinski, Marcello Mastroianni, Barbara De Rossi, and Ania Pieroni. An Italian–Spanish co-production, it follows the May–December romance between a vivacious young college student and a middle-aged professional who is unhappy in his marriage. New Line Cinema gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States on 21 December 1979. The film was scheduled for release by Cult Epics in May 2015 on DVD and Blu-ray. Plot While in Florence on business, Roman landscape architect Giulio Marengo meets an alluring college student, Francesca, and spends the night with her. She is the foster daughter of an agriculturist named Bartolo who has looked after her since the death of her mother, Flora. Later, a friend of Giulio's sees Francesca in a restaurant and implies that she might be Giulio's daughter. It is a possibility since Giulio had been going out with Flora the year before Francesca was born. Shocked by the idea, Giulio tries to cool his relationship with Francesca. Meanwhile, he is distracted by the revelation that his unmarried daughter Alexandra, who is about the same age as Francesca, is pregnant. Giulio tries unsuccessfully to get to the truth of his alleged paternity, and finally decides to tell Francesca the reason for his conflicting behavior. She flatly dismisses the insinuation, however, saying she regards Bartolo as her only true father. She then accompanies Giulio on an uninhibited holiday in Madrid, where Alexandra has gone to try to sort things out with her lover. Upon returning to Florence, Giulio must get back to Rome to attend to his business affairs, but that night, Francesca insists they see the movie Vampyr together, and he falls asleep. Upon waking up, she is nowhere to be seen, indicating that their love affair has run its course.