Malena (2000)

Load of rubbish!!

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It is not Malèna's fault she is so beautiful, nor is it her fault that she happens to find herself living in a society at a very specific point in history which happened to place a heavy emphasis on the appearance and internal makeup of a person: Italian; white; patriot; Catholic, etc. This is a film about beauty as much as it is beautiful people - certainly by the end of the film, all sorts of different individuals have sandwiched into their minds preconceptions on our eponymous herald, but a large chunk of the film is about what really transpired over a period of around four and a half years. It is also a film about behaviour - behaviour and outlooks at a time and in a place when behaviour and outlooks are scrutinised to within the inch. It is difficult for many of the men who live in the small Sicilian town in 1939 wherein "Malèna" is set to balance their lust for the eponymous woman with the honour they are supposed to feel towards their own spouses and the Catholic faith. Where director Giuseppe Tornatore toys with things in this respect lies in his placing of a young boy at the very epicentre of the film. At twelve years of age, Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) is too young for politics; religion and wives, and because he is so young he will never hook up with Malèna in the first place. Irrespective, he is still on the outside looking in like everybody else anyway. Amidst the ugliness of war; fascism; a volatile homestead situation and seclusion from a group of other boys, Monica Bellucci's Malèna character is both a visual tonic for our Renato as well as a key into an alternate reality where they are together; happy and blissfully ignorant of all the pain and misery which engulfs both of their worlds. But because the film takes place so long ago, there are no modern quick-fixes to relieve the cupid's arrow - having spent an afternoon spying on Malèna at her house, Renato has a pretty good idea of what music she likes to listen to, and must purchase it at the local music store if he wants to be reminded of her. The only problem is, he doesn't know what it is called, obviously, and must embarrass himself by singing it to the clerk in the vain hope he will recognise it. The film is emboldened by that sense of the nostalgic and of the romantic in this regard.Tornatore depicts the fascination Renato comes to possess of Malèna, the bulwark of the film, in such a way that we genuinely feel that the boy has come to feel a fondness for her that is authentic. We are already aware of just how out of favour Renato is with other boys in the town of his age, who bully him and pick on him. Their own fondness for Malèna is more superficial; they are not shy of crudely expressing their lust for her as she walks past them. We do not sense that they have the ability, or even the creativity, to visualise themselves in a motion-picture with her. In a film that is the antithesis to something like an "American Pie" sequel, or the ugly younger sibling to any of those films in the form of "Superbad", this is to be applauded. If you want to cover this sort of coming-of-age material, and give it a sprinkling of situational comedy, "Malèna" is how to do it.

First of all, if there is any mistakes in my grammar I apologize. English is not my first language. The film is a piece of art in many topics. Bellucci's character was perfect for her. Most of all because her character winks her real life career and stereotypes. It would be perfect if at the end, Malena will return as she has always been. Not as a prudent married woman. The film is great but after all the exaggeration with her sex appeal and the city people obsession that was most at all misogynist. The least that the plot should did was to make a strong statement about women reality and oppression conditions. And for more reasons because of the historic and political moment where the story takes place. This diminish the film significance for me.

Wow, just finished this, totally blown away. This is a shining example of European film. You just do not get movies like this from Hollywood. It must easily be one of the best films I have ever seen. (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. It's an unforgettable masterpiece and I'm speechless.

What a joy to live at this epoch ... To had a chance to see this masterpiece !!! This movie is like a documentary of human emotion .. It has good and evil , sorrow and joy , True feelings false feelings ... i could go on for ever .. To truly understand this movie we have to be able to distinct the feelings.. In English there is only one word LOVE ... In Greek there are 2 words EROTAS and AGAPI both mean love yet there are completely different .. Erotas is like a gentle flower of Love and if the soil of emotion will be fitted it will gradually grow to a beautiful and strong Tree which will be called Love .. Erotas is gentle and breathtaking emotion yet it is fragile to various climate of emotions .. and soil of emotions... SO it is not strong enough to bring the total joy to our heart .. we have to watch over it until it becomes LOVE a powerful and Almighty tree ... This movie will show you what is Erotas .. when you will see all this primal emotions that overcome our sense .. yet it is not enough to go through the end ... And watching this you can only imagine what True love is ..