Malèna (2000)

A woman provokes sensual awakenings in a group of adolescent boys.

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writers:

Giuseppe Tornatore (screenplay), Luciano Vincenzoni (original story)

Stars:

Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Monica Bellucci	...	Malèna Scordia
Giuseppe Sulfaro	...	Renato Amoroso
Luciano Federico	...	Renato's Father
Matilde Piana	...	Renato's Mother
Pietro Notarianni	...	Professor Bonsignore
Gaetano Aronica	...	Nino Scordia
Gilberto Idonea	...	Avvocato Centorbi (as Gilberto Idone)
Angelo Pellegrino	...	Segretario politico
Gabriella Di Luzio	...	Mantenuta del Barone
Pippo Provvidenti	...	Dott. Cusimano
Maria Terranova	...	Moglie Dott. Cusimano
Marcello Catalano	...	Lieutenant Cadel
Elisa Morucci	...	Lupetta
Domenico Gennaro	...	Farmacista
Vitalba Andrea	...	Moglie farmacista

Storyline

On the day in 1940 that Italy enters the war, two things happen to the 12-year-old Renato: he gets his first bike, and he gets his first look at Malèna. She is a beautiful, silent outsider who's moved to this Sicilian town to be with her husband, Nino. He promptly goes off to war, leaving her to the lustful eyes of the men and the sharp tongues of the women. During the next few years, as Renato grows toward manhood, he watches Malèna suffer and prove her mettle. He sees her loneliness, then grief when Nino is reported dead, the effects of slander on her relationship with her father, her poverty and search for work, and final humiliations. Will Renato learn courage from Malèna and stand up for her?

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Plot Keywords:

grief | boy | poverty | 1940s | italy | 

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Taglines:

A world at war. A young man coming of age. And the woman who changed his life forever

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality/nudity, language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Italy USA

Language:

Italian English Latin Greek, Ancient (to 1453)

Release Date:

27 October 2000 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Malena

Filming Locations:

Messina, Sicily, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$62,282 (USA) (29 December 2000)

Gross:

ESP 127,249,350 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Medusa Produzione, Miramax Films, Pacific Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 92 min (heavily cut) 84 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The bike that Renato rides, suddenly has a modern derailleur-type chain tensioner at the rear at about 20-21 minutes into the film. At all other times, his bike has a fixed rear gear without the chain tensioner.

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Quotes

Renato Amoroso: From now on, I'll be at your side. Forever, I promise. Just give me time to grow up.

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Crazy Credits

The movie is dedicated to Tornatore's Father

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Connections

Spoofs The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)

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Soundtracks

"Ma l'amore no"
Written by Giovanni D'Anzi and Michele Galdieri
Performed by Lina Termini

User Reviews

Cinematographic Symphony

Malena is a beautiful and deeply touching film. It is a masterful combination of sites, sounds and colors. The two leading actors (Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro) are simply excellent at what they are supposed to convey in this movie. 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. Malena's stunningly beautiful eyes remain constantly downcast, and her face -- tense and pierced through by psychic pain (she rarely raises her face, let alone speaks words). Renato (the teenage boy) wins his audience by his incredibly pure and valiant love for Malena (this affection he carries in his heart for several years). She becomes his muse, his courage, his sense of honor, his whole rationale for confronting difficult and disruptive life of the war-torn Italy. I agree completely with another commentator who said that the ending of the movie is perhaps one of the most genuinely melancholic moments in modern cinematography. Simply brilliant. Superb music! This movie should be watched several times to be fully appreciated.