Continuity mistake: After Signor Martini tries to find the snake in Frances' house he lights the stove with a match. He then places the match box on top of the stove with the long side of the box facing the camera. In the next several shots the box turns to the narrow side facing front and then back again. (00:45:20 - 00:47:00)
Continuity mistake: When Frances leaves her house she takes the blue vase. Only boxes of books were moved, the vase was seen on a desk at camp Divorce, however when the boxes of books arrived in Italy and she opened one, she took the vase out.
Continuity mistake: Frances finds and takes home a kitten when she first meets Marcello. Months later, when Marcello comes to the house to visit Frances, the kitten has not grown a bit.
Visible crew/equipment: When Frances and Marcello are standing on the beach, right before they kiss, Frances has her sunglasses on her head, and looks down at the ground and laughs. When she looks down, watch in the reflection of her sunglasses, and you can see the camera crew along with all the lights behind the camera.
Factual error: When Frances arrives in Cortona. prices in the market are all expressed in Lira (we cleary see 6.000/kg for some vegetables). But after a while she passes close to a newspaper stand which exposes the poster of the satirical magazine "Il Vernacoliere". That poster dates November 2002. By that time the Lira had been replaced by the Euro.
Continuity mistake: The first time Katherine is seen eating an ice cream cone outside, in Cortona with Frances, the ice cream changes in size and shape - not in the way one would expect, but rather haphazardly - as well as the melting around the cone, as the camera switches angle giving alternating POV between the two characters.
Character mistake: Marcello tells the girl to get his niece an ice cream, he then, when speaking to Frances, refers to the little girl as "my nephew."
Continuity mistake: When Frances is 'spherically' pulling ivy from the outside walls of her villa, she drops a branch behind her just as she see the snake and says, "Oh, my God." The shot changes from her face to the snake slithering over a window sill into her kitchen. As this shot pulls back and moves up to show more of Frances, we see that she now, once again, has a large branch in her hand.
Other mistake: When the contractor, Nino, is coming out from the fireplace, he says (in Italian) "I made this thing several years ago", but the real estate agent, Signor Martini, translates, "He says he fixed it himself many years ago."
Factual error: When Frances' friend Patti is close to give birth to her daughter, Frances says "Florence is one hour from here". Actually, Florence would be two hours and something from there. And anyway, there are several hospitals closer to Cortona. (Frances and Patti are not related even though Frances, at the 1 year Freedom celebration dinner at the beginning,announces that she is "going to be an auntie." In the scene where Frances calls Marcello to tell him she can't meet him, says tells Patti, "I want to spend time with my creepy American friend.")
Suggested correction: Regarding the use of the terms "auntie" and "uncle." I have a "zillion" NON BIOLOGICAL aunts and uncles. It is a custom in many Hispanic and Asian cultures to call close adult family friends Auntie and Uncle. Also in the movie Francis calls The Blessed Mother, The Virgin Mary or Jesus' mother, Mary - however you may refer to her - as "Aunt Mary." Obviously, she is not related to Jesus mother. Using auntie and uncle for non biological relatives is a term of respect and endearment.
Continuity mistake: When Frances is cleaning the bedroom when she first moves into the villa, there is a scorpion on the drapes that she smacks with a shoe. The scorpion falls, next shot it is back on the drapes.
