Melissa P. (2005)

An adolescent girl, living with her mother and her grandmother, will have her first sexual experiences in a heavy and excessive way.

Director:

Luca Guadagnino

Writers:

Barbara Alberti (screenplay), Cristiana Farina (screenplay)

Stars:

María Valverde, Letizia Ciampa, Primo Reggiani

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
María Valverde	...	Melissa P.
Letizia Ciampa	...	Manuela
Primo Reggiani	...	Daniele
Fabrizia Sacchi	...	Daria
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Nonna Elvira
Nilo Zimmerman	...	Marco (as Nilo Mur)
Claudio Santamaria	...	Custode del museo
Carlo Antonelli	...	Prof. Italiano
Pier Giorgio Bellocchio	...	Istruttore di nuoto
Marcello Mazzarella	...	Chiunque
Elio Germano	...	Arnaldo
Alba Rohrwacher	...	Clelia
Davide Pasti	...	Leo
Francesca Madaro	...	Livia
Esmeralda Prete	...	Titti

Storyline

Melissa lives with her mother and her grandmother in Sicily. She has a close relationship with her grandmother, a heavy smoker, who seems to be the only person in the world who understands Melissa. Melissa's father lives in another country. One day Melissa and her friend go to a party at a school friend's home. While there, Melissa meets Daniele, a boy from the school, and has her first sexual experience. The experience is far from being what Melissa always has dreamed it would be, because Daniele forces her and later forgets her. However, Melissa has fallen in love with Daniele. Back at school, when Melissa tries to get Daniele's attention, he barely remembers her. He takes advantage of Melissa's feelings for him, convincing her to have sex with him whenever he wants. When Melissa discovers Daniele's true motivations, she takes revenge by having even wilder sexual experiences with him and other boys. She even begins keeping a diary to document her sexual experiences. Melissa's mother...

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Plot Keywords:

teenage sex | sex scene | orgy | loss of virginity | oral sex | 

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Taglines:

You have to lose yourself before you can find yourself

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

18 November 2005 (Italy)

Also Known As:

100 Escovadas Antes De Dormir

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$606,934 (Italy), 2 December 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bess Movie, Pentagrama Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's title, Melissa P. (2005), is derived from author Melissa Panarello's source novel, "One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed."

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Quotes

Nonna Elvira: Paradise is where I am, your grandpa used to say.

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Connections

Spoofed in Ti stramo: Ho voglia di un'ultima notte da manuale prima di tre baci sopra il cielo (2008)

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Soundtracks

Aimer est mourir & materico, concreto
Written by Walter Fassano
Performed by Nathalie Tanner

User Reviews

More parents should watch this movie.

All too often a young girl's first sexual experience is not pleasant. Girls have love in their hearts and want desperately to be liked. Boys, on the other hand, just want to get their rocks off.

Melissa P. is a well-written, realistic depiction of what happens to a young girl - Melissa - as the result of her first sexual experience with an arrogant, self-centered young man who uses her as a receptacle. Angry and disillusioned, Melissa takes a destructive path.

Well-done is Melissa's redemption (and payback): a symbolic "cleansing" as she falls backwards into the sea as her horrified peers gape.

Melissa P. is not for viewers who are uncomfortable watching a teenage girl being treated like a sexual object. The scenes between Melissa and her "suitors" are realistic, but not graphic like an x-rated movie. Just remember, what happens to Melissa happens to too many young girls. And this is why I think this movie should be watched by parents and young teenage girls.

If parents did their jobs - discussing sex with their daughters and telling them how and why some boys are pigs - there wouldn't be the Melissa's of the world. Or, if this movie was shown in sex ed classes - that ain't ever going to happen - young girls would know which boys to look out for, and avoid.

As far as the cast, Maria Valverde's portrayal of Melissa is Oscar-worthy. Geraldine Chaplin always takes small parts and makes them memorable.