Malena, while more ambiguously and less obviously inflammatory than Loren, is conscious of the stir she causes, keeps a deadpan face, and hardly ever speaks. Unconscious of their desire for a local beauty, they take out their confusion on her and her boyfriend, stalk them, and play silly pranks on the couple. The movie portrays the Sicilians as loud and excitable, in a post-neorealist way. Then comes a change of modes and moods. Malena's husband is reported dead at the front.
Widows are acceptable prey.
The old tabu is lifted for some of the lusting males. Is enter the town. Jealous wives attack Malena for having consorted with the enemy. On an isle once colonized by Ancient Greece, the women beat Malena viciously, acting like Maenads or the vindictive Thracian women of Greek mythology. Malena goes away, joining hordes of refugees.