Malena

Image

This is an Italian production set in the village of Castelcutó in Sicily in the middle of World War II and revolves around a 27 year old woman whose name is Maddalena, but she is known as Malena, played by Monica Bellucci, Italian model and actress who was nominated for the Cesar Awards in 1997 as the most promising actress for her work in The Apartment and the platonic love that the 12 year old Renato Amoroso, played by Giuseppe Sulfaro, has for her.

Image

The woman is married to Nino who is fighting in Africa and every day she walks from her house located in the outskirts of the village to this one and as a ritual, a group of teenagers on their bicycles follow her and the men watch her because of her beauty.

She represents for the group of young men the sexual awakening and the fantasy of being her boyfriend in the future but she also suffers the rejection of almost everyone, especially after the invasion of the enemy in which she fraternizes with the soldiers.

Image

It handles a simple but at the same time complicated theme as it portrays the daily life of a lost village in Sicily and its inhabitants, with situations that are not so common.

It was directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, renowned for having won the Oscar in 1990 in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Cinema Paradiso and other awards at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, and he also wrote the screenplay with Luciano Vincenzoni.

Image

Criticism in his country of origin was good but in other countries was mixed, highlighting the interesting themes such as machismo, envy, eroticism, as well as the superficial and hypocritical society while criticizing the role of women as sexual objects and some strong scenes that made it to be classified as "R" in some countries.

It was nominated for an Oscar in the categories Best Cinematography and Best Music, while Giuseppe Sulfaro won the Italian Golden Globes for Best New Actor.

Image

This film opened the doors to Hollywood for its star, was released, cost approximately $12 million to produce and grossed around $31 million at the box office, making it the 5th highest grossing Italian film in its genre and was seen by an estimated 9 million people worldwide.

Malena, released on October 27, 2000 is an Italian romantic tragedy drama film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The casts of the film are Monica Bellucci, Guiseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana, Pietro Notarianni, Gaetano Aronica and many more. The film won David di Donatello Awards for Best Cinematography in 2001, Golden Globes Italy for Best Newcomer in 2001 etc.

Summary of the plot

Living in a small town of Italy, A 13-year-old teenage boy experiencing love and attraction for the first time. The desire to follow around his first love, unravel the tragic story of a woman with sad eyes.

Review

A couple of years ago on a social media platform, I came across a short clip of the film. A red hair woman with confidence in her eyes, walking down the street. While the men were drowning in her beauty, the people of her own gender were disgustingly jealous of her. She simple walked down the street, sat on a chair beside the road, pulled out a cigarette and lightly placed it between her lips. The result...

Screenshot (49).png

The sadness of her eyes intrigued me and all I could think was, I want to know her story. The dive into this film without any prior knowledge was a big mistake. At first, I was kind of disappointed that the film followed the teenage love sick boy’s perspective, but after finishing the film I am glad the story took place from the boy’s perspective as I couldn’t have finished the film if it was from Malenas perspective. The film contained some triggering events and I had to tackle three panic attacks and two hours break during the watching process. The film threw me into an emotional turmoil and I couldn’t decide what feeling should be the appropriate one. I was at the same time amused, confused, uncomfortable, disgusted, annoyed and at the end despised of every single person aside from Malena. The film portrayed a very cruel but realistic reality of our society, something that is still happening. Instead of appreciation, the beauty has always been over sexualized. The woman possessing such beauty becomes the lusting object for men and loathing target for women. A curse the woman has to bear till the time of life steal such youth.

Screenshot (50).png

Favorite quote

“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.”

Conclusion

The film will always be one of the iconic films I’ve ever watched, but sadly to protect my left-out sanity, I can never watch this film again. All the casts’ members acted their parts flawlessly but the actress who played Malena will always be one of my favorite actresses for portraying such a strong woman’s character flawlessly.

Reference

Cover poster - Source

(The rest of the images are taken from the film)

Reviews

Comments

1 more review

Summary of the plot

Review

Favorite quote

Conclusion

Reference