Malèna

Plot synopsis:
The film begins in Sicily in 1940 during World War II just as Italy enters the war. A young boy, 12-year-old Renato, experiences three major events in one day: First, Italy goes to war; second, he gets a new bike; and third, he first sees the beautiful lady, Malena. Malena's husband, Nino Scordia, has been taken away to fight in Africa and Malena is left alone with her father, an elderly and almost-deaf man. Malena tries to cope with her loneliness, as the town she has moved to tries to deal with this beautiful woman who gets the attention of all the local men, including Renato. However, in spite of the gossip, she continues to be faithful to her husband. Renato becomes obsessed with Malena and starts fantasizing about her. His fantasies become increasingly elaborate and he becomes obsessed with the shy young woman, peeping in her window often as she waits sadly for her beloved husband to return. Renato eventually steals Malena's underwear and begins to fantasize about her in bed, to the horror of his parents. They do everything to stop his behavior, but it is all in vain.
Malena soon receives word that her husband has been killed and her grief consumes her. Renato continues to watch Malena as she suffers from grief. Malena is shunned by the townspeople who begin to believe the worst about her, simply because of her beauty. Women spread terrible rumors and men encourage the rumors by lurking around the poor widow, who does nothing to defend herself; she just wants to be left alone.
She visits her father regularly and helps him with his chores, but when a slanderous letter reaches his hands, their relationship suffers a catastrophic blow. Things only get worse when the wife of the local dentist takes Malena to court, accusing her of having an affair with her husband, but Malena is acquitted. The Court is told that Malena is being harassed for being beautiful, as other ladies feel insecure and threatened by her. The only man that the lonely and sad Malena has a romance with, an army officer, is sent away after saying he and Malena were "just friends". The betrayal cuts deeply, but Malena says nothing to condemn the officer. After her acquittal, Malena's lawyer Centorbi comes to her home and asks for a dance and during the dance, using her unpaid legal fee as leverage, rapes her while Renato peeps in from outside her house.
Renato increasingly sees himself as Malena's protector, but he does not even realize that his views of her are little better than those of the townspeople. While he asks God to protect her and personally performs little acts of vengeance against those who slander Malena, he takes no time to realize how Malena herself feels. He even rationalizes the rape as a choice Malena made to pay her legal fee.
Meanwhile, the war reaches Sicily and the town is bombed. Malena's father dies and she is left completely alone. Desperate for food, Malena's poverty finally forces her to become a prostitute. She cuts off her long black hair and begins to dress provocatively. When the German army comes to town, Malena gives herself to Germans as well. The townspeople smugly watch as she is forced into the role of whore; they are almost more content now than when she was a virtuous young wife. Renato sees her in the company of two German officers and faints. His mother and the older ladies think that he has been possessed and take him to church for an exorcism. His father, however, takes him to a brothel; Renato has sex with one of the prostitutes while fantasizing that she is Malena.
As Sicily is liberated by the Americans in 1943, the women gather and publicly beat and humiliate Malena viciously, forcefully shaving her hair and stripping her in the square. A depressed Malena leaves for Messina to escape further persecution. A few days later, Nino Scordia, Malena's husband, returns looking for her, to the shock of all the residents. He finds his house occupied by people displaced by the war and nobody willing to tell him what became of his wife. Renato tells him through a letter about Malena's whereabouts, the fact that she always loved only him, and the lie in all the rumors about her cheating. Nino goes to Messina to find her and, a year later, they are seen walking down the street, Nino proudly arm-in-arm with his still-beautiful wife. The villagers, especially the women, astonished at her courage, begin to talk to "Signora Scordia" with respect. Though still beautiful, they think of her as no threat, claiming that she has wrinkles near her eyes and has put on some weight. Malena, however, is as shy as ever and wary of the attention after her experiences.
In the last scene near the beach, Renato helps her pick up some oranges that had dropped from her shopping bag. Afterwards, he wishes her "Buona fortuna, Signora Malena" (good luck, Mrs. Malena) and rides off on his bicycle, looking back at her for a final time, as she walks away. This is the first and only time they speak to each other in the movie. As this final scene fades out, an adult Renato's voice-over reflects that he has not forgotten Malena, even after the passage of so many years. He says, according to the English subtitles, "Time has passed and I have loved many women. And as they've held me close and asked if I will remember them, I believed in my heart that I would. But the only one I've never forgotten is the one who never asked ... Malena"

Tags: dramatic, romantic

Review:
I say 'image' because he doesn't know her at all to begin with, but as he watches, her increasingly sad truth is seen through his eyes.It's also about Sicily during the war, but deeper than that, to me, it seems to be about the mob mind, jealousy and hatred and about how people tend to become what is expected of them, or don't.
The film brought me into the bustling street life of the Sicilian village by eye-level camera work and the comments of the people in crowded scenes, through which I was taken with the characters.
Apart from her truly majestic elegance, Monica Bellucci invests her character (Malena) with an aura of tragedy, of some profound and unrelenting emotional trauma and pain which remains unspoken throughout the film and reaches its climax at the very end.
We can only suspect what she feels and we can enjoy the sight of her sad gorgeous face.And absolutely no words are necessary!This film compliments the saying: BE BORN HAPPY RATHER THAN BEAUTIFULI do agree that Monica Belucci, who I consider to be the most beautiful actress alive and one of the most enchanting beauties in the world, was perfect for this part!.
A teenage boy (Giuseppe Sulfaro) is initiated into manhood when his friends introduce him to the glories of Malena (Monica Belluci), the most beautiful woman in town.
The fantastic story revolves around the teenage boy Renato, ever on his bicycle, who falls in a rather platonic love with the town's beauty Maléna.
And all these happens when Italy went to the World War.Expressions of the War came in every aspect of the film, even in Renato's feelings towards Malena or the hatred towards those men who wanted her.
The first time I got to watch this utterly beautiful film, I knew nothing of the awesomeness of Giusseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) or the ethereal beauty of Monica Bellucci.Well, all the needed knowledge flooded my mind within the two hours I spent watching Malena.
It's a coming-of-age film, set in the World War 2 years in a small town of Sicily.
The main lead is a young boy named Renato, and through his perfectly understandable obsession of a married woman named Malena (there couldn't be a more perfect cast than Monica Bellucci in this role),we get to see him maturing over a few years time.
It's no wonder that all males in the town (even teenagers) mostly view her as a hot piece of meat, but this boy's pure love is what eventually makes the difference in his (and her) life.The ending credits will leave you with the "life goes on" aftermath and possibly the strongest feeling of melancholy you ever achieved from a movie.Great cinematography, excellent performances from Monica Bellucci(though she barely speaks throughout the film) and the boy playing Renato, amazing score by the grand Maestro Ennio Morricone (nominated for an Oscar), this film has become my absolute favourite and Monica Bellucci my most recent (and strongest) obsession!
What her character goes through is heartbreaking and, through Bellucci's acting and the wonderful performance given by protagonist narrator Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro), we experience everything she does.At times the movie is hilarious, particularly when detailing the lengths the men of the village will go to just to catch glimpse of Malena.
The star is a horny 13-year-old who fantasizes about a relationship with this grown woman, "Malena," a sexy lady who gets all the mens' attention in the town, and all the wrath of the jealous town women.This is a strange film at times but beautifully filmed and almost always interesting.
The viewer's feelings of appreciation for Malena's beauty are slowly overtaken by a feeling of utter despair for Malena's beauty, which is the cause of all her woes.Technically the film is true to its period - a small Italian village that passes through the crisis of the 2nd World War. The story unfolds through the eyes of a young boy, who carries us along on a journey of lust, love and maturity.
In "Malèna" Giuseppe Tornatore mixes a lot of his own memories of war time Sicily à la Fellini's "Amarcord" and combines them with adolescent curiosity à la Truffaut's short "Les Mistons", all centering on the radiant and enchanting beauty of the title character played by Monica Bellucci.
It's also nostalgic, endearing, funny, touching, daring at times, erotic is a given, yet beautiful and innocent, but then also tragic, sad and even unexpectedly shocking - the film is a symphony of all those emotions brought together through two very strong characters, the boy and the desired woman.
(Malena played by extremely beautiful & well built Monica Bellucci) This 13-year-old boy (Renato) & his obsession with a small-town outcast woman in World War II Sicily make for a beautiful tale.
Cinematographer Lajos Koltai's gives us a truly beautiful warmly lit screen making the most of the Sicilian locations & the long stretches of the sun drenched port a(which was reconstructed in Morocco) Music Wise there is Ennio Morricone's insistent score which works well to enhance up the poignancy & emotional resonance of the film especially in the final scene.
The film is developed on WWII in a small town from Sicily,there live an adolescent(Renato)coming of age,he is obsessed of a married woman(Monica Belucci)whose husband was to the war.The young man tries to help her but he is enamored and is too young .We see him growing up during a few years and by Malena he changes his life forever.The picture contains drama and nostalgia completely wrapped in an enjoyable love story between an innocent young boy and a beautiful woman.The movie gets a sharply social critical about village customs,habits and gossips leading to mistreats and violence.
The story is narrated with great sense and sensibility,the intelligent screenplay is by Luciano Vincenzoni(Sergio Leone's usual screenwriter).Gorgeous Monica Bellucci is sensational although she barely talks throughout the movie and the starring boy is sympathetic and agreeable;another actors are good but they are unknown.Glowing cinematography with scenarios colorfully and splendidly photographed by Lajos Koltai who reflects the elegant beauty Monica Belucci.Sensible and moving score musical by the veteran master and prolific Ennio Morricone who was nominated with a deserved Academy Award.The picture is produced by the great American brothers producers:Harvey and Bob Weinsten and well directed by Giuseppe Tornatore who made a similar nostalgic film,the excellent¨Cinema Paradise¨.
(and I have seen a lot!)This is a deeply sad movie which you could actually compare to the Elephant Man, albeit for beauty, not ugliness, I won't say any more about the story than that.The direction, cinematography and the score here are all flawless but the most amazing thing about this film was Monica Belluci, her subtle performance is beautiful and I could not imagine another actress in the role..The thing that is so poignant about the performance she gave is that she has very little dialogue at all, but the deep sorrow you could see on her face and in her eyes was astonishing.Overall: You'd be hard pressed to find a better film today so watch this one.
Having seen and loved Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso, I had high hopes Malena, but instead I was disappointed by this sentimental, manipulative piece of cinematic caricature.A coming of age film is difficult to pull off without sinking into cliche.
Renato keeps following her and he begins to realize how much pain she takes because of her appearance.That seems like a nice basis for a story about the human relationship, life in an italian town during the war and about the problematic maturing of a teenager.
The characters are too flat - they do not develop throughout the film (except the fact, that Renato starts to bear the Malena's suffering in the beginning of the movie).
You could describe Giussepe Sulfaro's expression throughout the film as 'caring face number 7' and the males surrounding Malena are crippled into slobbering hornies just like the women into jealous and cruel vixen.This movie will quickly describe the scene and then it will try to squeeze out the last drop of compassion from you.
Giuseppe Tornatore in one the most known today's directors outside Italy, not only because he won the Oscar with "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso" but also because his films are quite clever, and very well exportable: i.e. The Pianist.Castelcuto Marittima is a small dry town in Sicily during the second world war, politically framed by the fascists.
Renato assists passively, but deeply involved, to her town leaving and when her "non" death husband returns back he informs anonymously about Malena's faithfulness.In spite of the excellent shots and professional editing -the scene like the harangue of Malena's lawyer is great- these do not justify the achievement of this commercial film which is rather empty and do not add anything to the italian neorealism.
"Malena" is a malevolent depiction of an Italian town in World War II, the movie's flavor foreshadowed by an early scene in which cretinous adolescents torture and kill an ant.
But the only one I've never forgotten is the one who never asked, Malena." An equally important excuse for watching this tale of obsession that crosses all bounds is to witness the beauty of the Goddess-like Monica Bellucci.
(I'm finding it a little hard to appreciate other women after this, I hope this is just a tiny phase.) The film starts out quite funny, the humour coming from 12 year old Renato's (Giuseppe Sulfaro) lewd imagination about Malena (Monica Bellucci) and the consequences of this that he faces at home.After the first few minutes, the film tends to get repetitive, a lot of wishful thinking on part of the protagonist is on display.
Beautiful Melena, wide of a soldier gone to war, becomes object of desire for men, raises the envy of the women, and enflames the imagination of the teenagers, the film main character among them.
This sensually photographed movie is anything other then an erotic rag sack.Malena is a beautiful woman whose beauty in that small town may have become her curse, center of lustful attention of almost every men in town and envy for every women of the town.
But that's the beauty of the film as it depicts renato's young feeling for Malena in unpretentious manner, as the boy goes about exploring his new found sexual awareness in his wet & wild dreams about Malena being a damsel in distress and him being the her knight with a shining Armour.
His love towards her is undying as he makes sure she lives happily ever after as he races towards becoming a man from a boy.Monica belluci balances her act to perfection while showing great maturity while also making audience feel vulnerable about her.
I rented this movie out of pure curiosity and found a true treasure.A elegantly crafted film, makes you feel as though you have been swept away.One of the most moving and heart wrenching films I have ever seen.Monica Bellucci is absolutely riveting!
I could only feel sympathy for poor Malena/Monica Bellucci, having to walk down all these busy streets/film sets with a bunch of horny, google-eyed little boys watching her like so many hungry wolves.And, even worse, she has to live with the fact that she's kissed a ten year old kid many many times for money, without ever suggesting to Tornatore that the screenplay has been done before, and its very silly and shallow.
Words can't describe how brilliant this movie is!"Malena" is simply one of the best Italian movies I have ever seen.Monica Bellucci(Malena)is truly gorgeous:her ethereal beauty is incredible.For me  she is is the most beautiful woman on this planet!I'd love to see her in more movies-especially in some stylish Argentoesque giallo/slasher.Giuseppe Sulfaro is outstanding as a young boy Renato,who falls in love with Malena.The supporting cast is also fabulous and the cinematography is excellent.The score by Ennio Morricone("The Bird with the Crystal Plumage")is fantastic,and the scene in which the women of Sicilian town brutally beat Malena is pretty powerful.All in all this is rather sad film,which can be also funny at times.An absolute masterpiece-and the first non-horror movie I actually reviewed..
Malena is an excellent film if one realizes the camera is seeing the world through the eyes of 12 year old Renato.
I'm writing this review only after minutes of watching the film, and I must admit, I feel high from its beauty.i could find myself laughing out loud, find tears in my eyes, hold my head in shock, and clinch my eyes from the hurt, and even turned on at times, as the story takes you to unbelievable scenes, and rushing feelings.the movie is simple, it does not need visual effects, it doesn't need typical moves, its shown as everyday life, the streets it takes you to, the crowd, the vision of an innocent boy, which i could personally feel his thoughts, and just by looking at his eyes, the role could not have been played better, and the dazzling performance by Monica Bellucci, which I can think of no one more perfect.the movie doesn't have spare parts, it doesn't lack any either, every scene is perfect, taking you exactly to where it wants, and so by far, this is the most moving and intense movie i have ever watched.a must see indeed!.
The story is shown from the view of an 13 year old boy who like all other people in the town loves Malena.
The story of a boy coming of age and his fascination with a woman who he cannot have is a common idea for a film, however, it is done here so exquisitely through director Giuseppe Tornatore's realistic writing style, cinematography and the moving score of composer Ennio Morricone.
It is a story about innocence lost and the love gained through obsession."Malena" follows the story of a young man named Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) and his obsession with a local woman, Malena (Monica Bellucci) widowed during World War II in Sicily.
(The start of the bombing is one of the best shots in the movie).The director has the difficulty of not only making Malèna attractive for the villagers but also for the viewers and in order for this to work the choice of telling the story through the eyes and fantasies of teenager Renato is a good one.
she is like goddess and he is just a young boy who cannot express his hot feelings just because his youth....when you watch this movie you know that he would do everything for this woman - he tracks her and hunts every single moment of her "activity"....he follows her when she goes out and follows her when she stays in...he cries when she gives herself to other man....he writes her many letters but never dares to post them....
I specially Like the scene which is running close to five minutes in the town center, where people gossip about Malenas' Lovers, The whole scene seeming done in one cut this choreographed conversations is one of the perfect piece of directing I've seen.I still feel some of the scenes are overly dramatized (consider the cigarette lighting scene), But it does not hinder the perfect artistic nature of this beautiful movie.
The strongest urge i had after watching this movie was to kill all those men and women who disgusted Malena (Monica Bellucci).
an excellent movie about a boy's coming of ageand his loyal love of a beautiful woman despite any circumstances.It's billed as a vehicle for Monica Bellucci who is indeed quite beautiful but she as good an acting job as her presence which is soft and outstanding at the same time.This movie questions loyalty and exposes petty jealousy and who it can destroy anyone.Each blessing can sometimes be a curse and no one knows that better than our heroine in this film.However, her plight is interposed with a boy in love.and ultimately a truly loyal man.See this film and understand that both the fantasies of a young boy and the trials of a beautiful woman are but canvas for a larger and more poignant story than first meets the eye..
Little did I know that the director would return to a similar story in 2000 and outdo my expectations again.An intriguing story that follows the love, lust and confusion of a Sicilian teenager as he matures from 'short-shorts' to long trousers during the Second World War years.Setting the global WW2 background in radio newscasts, the town society and gossip is beautifully captured both visually and orally as the years pass by.Your thoughts run from the naive teenager to the mother-hen-pecked local lawyer to the old deaf schoolmaster.Underlying it all is the reaction of the town - polarised between the lustful men and the jealous women to the beautiful wife of an Italian officer.
Set in a picturesque, coastal town of wartime Sicily, young Renato, played wonderfully by Giuseppe Sulfaro, becomes obsessed with the beautiful and sensual Malena (Monica Bellucci.) By the end of the movie, nobody's life will be the same, including Renato, who becomes a young man much too quickly.
What more can one ask for than a beautiful actress/character who plays her part with subtle nuances and sensitivity, a young actor who performs with the dexterity and skill of a seasoned veteran and whose frustration, due to puberty and the situations that he is exposed to, keeps the viewer on the edge of her/his seat, a wonderful supporting cast (esp., as others point out here, the character of the elder Renato), great dialogue and non-verbal communication, a bittersweet and heartwrenching story with touches of levity, a lovely locale, and splendid cinematography?
Cinema Paradiso meets Summer of '42 in this coming-of-age movie about a voyeuristic adolescent boy's fixation with with a beautiful young widow in war-time Sicily.
Monica Bellucci plays Malena, the most beautiful woman in her small Sicilian town.
Once again director Giuseppe Tornatore delights his core film audience with a beguiling coming-of-age piece as seen through the eyes of a young Sicilian boy.