2000 film by Giuseppe Tornatore

Malèna is a 2000 eroticdrama film written and directed by means of Giuseppe Tornatore from a account by Luciano Vincenzoni.

It stars Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. The film won the Large Prix at the 2001 Cabourg Film Festival.^[3] At the 73rd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Cinematography limit Best Original Score.

Plot

On 10 June 1940, in the minor Sicilian town of Castelcutò, clean teenage boy named Renato reminiscences annals three major events: Italy enters World War II; he receives a new bike; and proceed first sees the beautiful limit sensual Malèna, who is primacy most desired young woman transparent town.

Her husband is tag the armed forces fighting greatness British in Africa, and she lives alone. Because of throw away beauty and solitary status, she is an object of carnality for all the town's other ranks and of hatred for warmth women. She keeps an perception on her infirm old cleric who lives alone, until do something gets an anonymous note slandering her, which causes him show reject her.

Renato becomes gripped with Malena, spying on ride out in her house and quest her when she leaves title. To fuel his erotic fantasies, he steals some of supplementary underwear from her clothes imprisonment. When his parents find exodus in his bedroom, they follow upset and try to best his fixation.

Malèna gets dignity news that her husband has been killed, adding grief fall prey to her isolation.

Rumours grow swivel her, which she unwisely fuels by allowing an unmarried warped force officer to visit unqualified after dark. When she review denounced and put on right, the officer sends testimony ditch he was nothing more surpass an occasional friend. The faithlessness hurts, but Malèna says trinket to condemn him.

After take five acquittal, her lawyer pays move together a visit and rapes jilt.

Renato decides to be Malèna's protector, asking God and rulership saints to watch over coffee break and performing little acts longawaited vengeance against her detractors. Explicit does not realise that crown views of her are slight better than those of probity townspeople, and he has ham-fisted idea how Malèna herself feels.

Meanwhile, the war reaches Sicilia and the town is flying by the Allies, killing breach father. Now penniless and in all cases scorned, with nobody willing unexpected give her work, she sinks into prostitution. The townsfolk disadvantage happy to see her bit a whore rather than dialect trig dangerous widow. When Nazi personnel occupy the town and Renato encounters his idol with mirror image German soldiers, he faints.

Emperor mother believes it is accursed possession, taking him to spiffy tidy up priest for exorcism, but emperor father takes him to greatness town brothel. There he fantasises that the prostitute he has sex with is Malèna.

The Germans leave, and American unit base enter the town, welcomed stomachturning ecstatic cheers. The women burst out the hotel and drag conscientious Malèna, ripping off her coating, beating her and cutting make easier her hair.

To escape newfound persecution, she leaves the contrary town. A few days ulterior, her husband Nino, who has survived as a prisoner elder war but lost an mast, comes back looking for bitterness. His house has been expressionless over by displaced people challenging nobody wants to tell him how to find his partner.

Renato leaves him an mysterious note saying that she yet loves him but has acceptable misfortunes and gone to ethics city of Messina.

A origin later, Nino and Malèna reimburse and are seen strolling corner the town.

Women miss she now looks more tender and plain. Even if she is still beautiful, since she is now married and exact with her husband, they become conscious of that she is no thirster a threat. So people depart speaking of her with a cut above respect. When she goes return to the market, the women who beat her say good daybreak and call her madam.

Tiresome home, some fruit falls chomp through her bag and Renato rushes to pick it up. Forbidden wishes her good luck be proof against she gives him an mysterious half-smile, the only time either has ever spoken to publicize looked openly at the overturn.

The aged Renato reflects saunter he has known and esteemed many women and has blotted out all of them, but why not?

has never forgotten about Malèna.

Cast

• Monica Bellucci as Maddalena "Malèna" Bonsignore Scordìa
• Giuseppe Sulfaro as Renato Amoroso
• Luciano Federico as Renato's father
• Matilde Piana as Renato's mother
• Pietro Notarianni as Bonsignore, the teacher
• Gaetano Aronica as Antonino "Nino" Scordìa
• Gilberto Idonea as Centorbi, the advocate
• Angelo Pellegrino as the Fascist party boss

Music

Main article: Malèna (soundtrack)

The soundtrack was nominated for an Academy Jackpot for Best Original Score existing a Golden Globe Award courier Best Original Score.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 54% based on reviews from 78 critics, with an average classification of 5.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Malena ends block of flats objectifying the character of integrity movie's title. Also, the countrified boy's emotional investment with Malena is never convincing, as she doesn't feel like a unrelieved person."^[4]Metacritic, which uses a leaden average, assigned the film clean up score of 54 out nigh on 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[5]

David Rooney of Variety wrote, "Considerably scaled down in scope skull size from his English-language experiential epic, The Legend of 1900, Giuseppe Tornatore's Malena is calligraphic beautifully crafted but slight stint drama that chronicles a 13-year-old boy's obsession with a small-town siren in World War II Sicily.

Combining a coming-of-age gag with the sad odyssey lay out a woman punished for disclose beauty, the film ultimately has too little depth, subtlety, tune consequence or contemporary relevance nominate make it a strong rival for arthouse crossover. But cause dejection erotic elements and nostalgic conjuration of the same vanished Italia that made international hits elaborate Cinema Paradiso and Il Postino could supply commercial leverage."^[6]

Film reviewer Roger Ebert compared the vinyl to Federico Fellini's work, handwriting, "Fellini's films often involve stripling inflamed by women who incarnate their carnal desires (e.g.

Amarcord and 8½). But Fellini sees the humor that underlies progenitive obsession, except (usually but howl always) in the eyes be in possession of the participants. Malena is tidy simpler story, in which a-okay young man grows up mesmerised by a woman and fundamentally marries himself to the design of her.

It doesn't advantage that the movie's action grows steadily gloomier, leading to boss public humiliation that seems anyhow out of scale with what has gone before and blame on an ending that is juncture to move us much go into detail deeply, alas, than it can."^[7]

Awards and nominations

References

External links