Hochzeit in Rom (2017)

Young architect Max Hauser, who is from Cologne, and Bianca D’Arcadia, an Italian noblewoman from Rome, declare their love for each other after just two days and are determined to marry. Max has followed her to his parents’ house, where Bianca introduced him to her astonished parents. When Bianca sees from the balcony Max embracing a young flight attendant, it seems to confirm what her confidante Sofia told her—that Max would be unfaithful. Furious, Bianca storms out of her family’s estate and drives off in the convertible parked in the courtyard. Max just manages to jump into the car and explains that it isn’t what she thinks. Bianca can only reply sarcastically that his excuse is hardly original. Milan. One week earlier: Bianca loses her job as a waitress after she contradicts and rebukes a young woman who is making a show of herself in the restaurant. Max, the young woman’s companion, feels responsible and apologizes to Bianca. Their mutual attraction leads to a night together, which is so special for Max that he proposes to Bianca the next morning. But Bianca doesn’t believe they have a future together and runs away. Max has no intention of giving up on her, and searches for her, finding her in her parents’ palazzo in Rome. She is a genuine princess, with several other titles and a long line of ancestors, which leaves Max quite amazed. He tells Bianca that he has come to say he loves her and wants to make her happy, undeterred by the revelation that his “waitress” is a princess. Bianca’s parents, especially her mother, are not at all pleased with their daughter’s new boyfriend, whose mother runs a wine shop and whose father is a dentist. Max wastes no time and asks Vibaldo and Gioia D’Arcadia for their daughter’s hand. The Princess is appalled and wants to put an end to this match, so far beneath her station, as soon as possible. Her husband, however, thinks there is nothing they can do, since Bianca is an adult. Max calls his parents and tells them he is about to get married. They set off at once. The Hauser family’s time together at the D’Arcadias’ estate is tense. The men get along reasonably well, but the Princess looks down on the commoners, whom she considers ill-mannered. Then Walter Hauser arrives with his mistress, flight attendant Xenia, whom he had promised to speak to his wife and tell her that he was leaving her. At the same time, Eva Hauser is insulted by the Princess, who has come to see her once more to say goodbye. Vibaldo D’Arcadia manages to calm Eva somewhat as she angrily leaves the palazzo. Bianca tells Max that her grandmother wants to meet him, and Max admits that he has to start his job as an architect in Dubai in just ten days. The couple decide to marry before then. The Princess is especially appalled. Max visits Bianca’s grandmother, Her Highness Donna Costanza, and the two quickly strike up a conversation. In the end, the elderly woman signals her approval of her granddaughter’s choice. The Princess, too, realizes she can no longer do anything to stop the wedding they have decided on, so she at least wants it to be an unforgettable celebration. She begins making plans. At a meal together, however, it emerges that the princely family is on the verge of bankruptcy. The Prince can no longer pay the outstanding bills, and the estate has to be sold. When the Prince collapses from an anaphylactic shock, Dr. Hauser saves his life. Eva has come to the gathering with her husband, but by now she knows Walter intends to leave her and is only playing along so as not to spoil her son’s wedding. Donna Costanza wants her granddaughter to inherit at least the family jewels, if the palazzo is to be lost. In Max’s presence, she tells the story of a treasure hidden in the building’s walls, which her ancestors had searched for in vain. Bianca thinks it is only a legend, but Max’s interest is piqued. Back to the wedding day: Max manages to convince Bianca that Xenia is his father’s mistress, who is probably pregnant by now. Bianca asks him to promise that they will never become like their parents. But then new misunderstandings arise between them, leading Max to leave the palazzo in a hurry. As a result, he never finds out that he was right in suspecting that the treasure Donna Costanza mentioned might be hidden behind a hollow wall. The discovery so deeply upsets the elderly woman that her heart gives out and she collapses, dead. Their shared grief brings Bianca and Max back together. The couple marry, and the palazzo is turned into a museum because of the Michelangelo wall paintings discovered behind the hollow wall.