Malena

2000 [ITALIAN]

Action / Comedy / Drama / History / Romance / War

278
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 84% · 78 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 84% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.4/10 10 123568 123.6K

jealousy sicily, italy widow world war ii longing beautiful woman

Plot summary

During WWII, a teenage boy discovering himself becomes love-stricken by Malèna, a sensual woman living in a small, narrow-minded Italian town.

Director

Giuseppe Tornatore Photo
Giuseppe Tornatore

Top cast

Monica Bellucci Photo
Monica Bellucci as Malèna Scordia
Claudio Castrogiovanni Photo
Claudio Castrogiovanni
Angelo Pellegrino Photo
Angelo Pellegrino as Segretario politico
Ornella Giusto Photo
Ornella Giusto as 2a Prostituta
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
887.23 MB
1280*544
Italian 2.0
NR
Subtitles it  
23.976 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 28
1.7 GB
1920*816
Italian 2.0
NR
Subtitles it  
23.976 fps
1 hr 48 min
Seeds 100

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lamaanhamid 8 / 10

The Burden of Beauty

Although mellowed by a narrative through the eyes of an adolescent, Malena is a movie that attempts to critique the savagery inherent in the 'civilized' society of men. Through the story, the viewer is shown the cruelty that people are capable of as a collective unit, with each individual playing a small part. It attempts to lay bare the gross hypocrisy and fragile morals that hide just beneath the surface.Malena is also a discourse on beauty, and its brutal power. The feverish lust it produces in a man, and the severe and horrible envy in a woman. The viewer's feelings of appreciation for Malena's beauty are slowly overtaken by a feeling of utter despair for Malena's beauty, which is the cause of all her woes.Technically the film is true to its period - a small Italian village that passes through the crisis of the 2nd World War. The story unfolds through the eyes of a young boy, who carries us along on a journey of lust, love and maturity. We watch helplessly as his innocent perspectives about life are jarred by the realities of society, while he watches helplessly the misfortunes of the beautiful Malena.
Reviewed by shanfloyd 8 / 10

The battle, the bike, the boy and the babe.

Maléna is a wonderfully crafted, mature and subtle tale of dedication, passion and true realization of beauty. The fantastic story revolves around the teenage boy Renato, ever on his bicycle, who falls in a rather platonic love with the town's beauty Maléna. I use the word 'platonic' because I felt Renato's passions towards Maléna's outstanding sexual beauty were mostly of profound appreciation, not just his own voluntary arousal of his sexuality, though the film has many scenes of his musterbation. And all these happens when Italy went to the World War.Expressions of the War came in every aspect of the film, even in Renato's feelings towards Malena or the hatred towards those men who wanted her. Guiseppe Sulfaro did an outstanding job in this extremely demanding role. My hats off to him. The goddess-like Monica Bellucci rarely looks up or speaks in this film. Besides providing the audience the guilty pleasures, she did a wonderful job in creating the aura of sadness and melancholy around her character. I considered hers is a fine piece of acting.
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