Malèna (2000)

Amidst the war climate, a teenage boy discovering himself becomes love-stricken by Malèna, a sensual woman living in a small, narrow-minded Italian town.

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writers:

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

Stars:

Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 17 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 Cadei
Elisa Morucci	...	Lupetta
Domenico Gennaro	...	Farmacista
Vitalba Andrea	...	Moglie farmacista

Storyline

Malèna is about the peril of a beauty through the eyes of a 12 year old kid named Renato. He experiences three things on the same day, beginning of war, getting a bike and sees the arrival of Malèna in town. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed to be dead, and through his soul we see his love for her.

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Plot Keywords:

female removes her clothes | female pubic hair | masturbation | female removes her dress | female nudity | 

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Taglines:

She was too young to be a widow, and too beautiful to be alone. Every man wanted to have her. One boy risked everything to protect her.

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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:

2 February 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Malena

Filming Locations:

Messina, Sicily, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$62,282, 25 December 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,429,045, 1 April 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Medusa Film,Miramax,Pacific Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 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?

Trivia

Giuseppe Sulfaro stated in a interview that he had never seen a live naked woman and that Monica Bellucci was the first.

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Goofs

When Malèna is hit by the local women after becoming a whore and her hair is cut, she doesn't have any marks or cuts on her head. But later there are sometimes two spots or cuts on her head.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Renato Amoroso: I pedaled as fast as I could... as if I were escaping from longing, from innocence, from her. Time has passed, and I have loved many women. And as they've held me close... and asked if I will remember them I've said, "Yes, I will remember you." But the only one I've never forgotten is the one who never asked... Malena.

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Crazy Credits

The movie is dedicated to Tornatore's Father

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Alternate Versions

Among the scenes cut from the American version of the film include several of Renato's sexual fantasies, including a scene where he undresses Malena, and another in which Malena strips naked in front of him in a fantasy and then in reality a lookalike prostitute climbs sensuously on top of him in bed.

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Connections

Spoofs Jane Eyre (1934)

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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.