Believe me, grappa and anisette are NOT remotely the same. My guess that all the italians in the movie who are drinking in the daytime are either srinking wine, or if drinking from small galsses anisette.

Back in the day Grappa was considered a working class drink. It is made from the residue of the worst wine grapes and then distilled and more or less filtered. Until the '80s it tasted pretty much like gasoline. First time I drank it in '69 I thought I was going to go blind. And what a hangover!

For some reason in the '80's and through now, Grappa has become fashionable to drink and they have greatly improved the distilling process, and of course with smart marketing have made some brands of Grappa very expensive. Still, to borrow a psrase, you cannot put lipstick on a pig and call it something else.

Grappa is a strong drink, not for the feint of heart. It is most definitely an acquired taste.

One benefit of drinking a lot of grappa is that once you've downed your first glass, your tongue and mouth goes totally numb, and you can drink lots of it without having to taste it or feel it burning your esophogus and stomach lining.