Malena

Rating:
Summary: Glad to see this movie appreciated!!
Review: I really enjoyed this film although most people that I have talked to didn't share my enthusiasm and rated it poorly. I gathered from the conversations that they didn't like it due to the unfair prejudices that Malena suffered throughout and the fact that the victimizers (the townspeople) didn't get their "comeuppance". Although I do agree that (by American standards of filmaking)it would have been nice to see those nasty townspeople "get theirs", that did not ruin my appreciation for the film. Having suffered unfair prejudisms/gossips in my own life (haven't we all at one point?)I experienced that sometimes the culprits really don't get their comeuppance (unfair--yes, but it's a reality). Maintaining/regaining your dignity is the only way to combat that. Vengence only sours things more and Malena did not fall into that pit. Through the eyes of the boy, we saw that she truly is beautiful in more ways than the physical.

Rating:
Summary: very sad, albeit truthful movie
Review: This movie is so intense that I'm not exactly sure I'll be able to see it again. The pain I felt while watching it was almost unbearable.
The acting was great; Monica Bellucci is perfectly cast in it for obvious reasons, but also shows good acting skills during the most tragic scenes of the film. Music and photography are excellent.
The reason I could barely make through this movie is that it does a very good job at showing the worst characteristics of Italian people (unlike "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," which shows the best aspects of my fellow countrymen). Should anyone think that things are different now in Southern Italy, let me warn them that the situation is only slightly better.
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Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: i love foreign films, and felt very lucky when this and girl on the bridge (french) came out at about the same time. this movie, malena, is excellent, but a bit cliched. it is great eye candy and the dialogue is great up till the very ending scene... which is when the movie somewhat falls apart. i am glad i own it and watch it often, but i always stop it two minutes before the end.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling!
Review: I've watched this movie twice already and think that it's simply brilliant. The acting is first-rate and the story just draws you in right from the start.

The movie is set during WWII in Sicily and is basically about the cruelty and social prejudice brought on by feelings of jealously and lust among mankind. In this case, the victim is the beautiful Malena who's the envy of the women in her town, the lust of the men, and the subject of cruel gossip by everyone. Her only "fault" is being born beautiful. When her husband is believed to have been killed in the war, she tries to look for a decent job to support herself but nobody would offer her one out of sheer prejudice. Even her father believes in the rumours and disowns her. The women, jealous of her, and the men, who couldn't obtain her, continue to spread malicious gossips all over town about her having an affair with so-and-so. Finally, driven by hunger and sheer destitute, she succumbs to using her body in exchange for food and money. All this while, a young boy (Renata) who thinks himself in love with Malena, tries to protect her from the malicious gossips. He does them secretly, so Malena never knows. Scenes involving Renata are usually very funny and provide plenty of laughs. After the war, the women get their revenge on Malena in the most horrible way, and that scene is painful to watch. How Malena picks up her life after that, you must watch the movie to find out. The last 5 minutes of the movie provides a wonderful closure and is worth the price of the ticket alone, so to speak.

Great storyline apart, the beautiful and exquisite-looking Malena (played by Monica Bellucci) provides plenty of eye-candy (for the guys). For the girls, watch out for the appearance of the very handsome and dashing Lieutenant Cadel (played by Marcello Catalano) in his smart uniform, who alas, only appears in 3 scenes.

In my opinion, this movie would have won (and deservedly so) the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture it was nominated for, had it not been for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", another great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling!
Review: I've watched this movie twice already and think that it's simply brilliant. The acting is first-rate and the story just draws you in right from the start.

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Great storyline apart, the beautiful and exquisite-looking Malena (played by Monica Bellucci) provides plenty of eye-candy (for the guys). For the girls, watch out for the appearance of the very handsome and dashing Lieutenant Cadei (played by Marcello Catalano) in his smart uniform, who alas, only appears in 3 scenes.

This movie was (deservedly) nominated for Best Foreign Picture in last year's Oscars (however, it lost to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon").

Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: Finally, a really good Italian film of modern times. I would not rave about Monica Belucci's beauty; at first it did not even ocured to me that she was supposed to be beautiful. She resembles Isabelle Adjani a lot. What knocked me out were the looks of the dilapidated Sicilian town of Siracusa where the film was shot. It's not really a remote village but rather quite a decent size town; it would be considered a big city if it were here, in America. But this is beside the point.
I come to realize that it is a long-standing tradition of Italian intellectuals to mock Sicily for its backward attitudes, and probably deceivingly so. Things must have changed since then, as it is unimaginable now, at least at the surface, such a barbarian, ancient and brutal attitude toward a woman. It is heartbreaking to watch how the sanctimonious townfolks push the poor widow into prostitution and then outcasting her in the most horrendous way. Somehow I am disappointed, though, that only a reappearance of her husband redeems her as a woman of dignity and admits her back into society. I find it an utterly humiliating idea - did she not despise her torturers? Was she really seeking their admitting her among themselves? What it her husband would have indeed been killed? I also wonder how someone could come back to a place that once treated her so brutally. Perhaps it's an Italian syndrome called campanilismo, which means that a person has an inborn bond with a place of his birth.
Overall, I would rate it as a success of the Italian cinema, although it's not as sophisticated as works of masters of the past and is rather simplistic in a presentation of the story, i.e. through the impression of an adolescent boy. In some respect, the movie is secondary to Amarcord and others in the methods it employs.

Rating:
Summary: Malena can be funny, deep, depressing, you chose.
Review: I had few hours to kill at my friends place as he was eating dinner so I decided to give Malena my full attention. The movie was gripping, as it was one of those stories where you want to know the ending. In addition, you want something to happen and you sit there wondering if it will, I'll let you figure out what I'm talking about.

Was it good, was it worth our time? That all depends on what you are looking for. If you want a comedy, Malena could pass as one as long as you have a broad sense of humor. If you want a drama Malena can be that too, it can even make you cry if you are too sensitive. Want a simple good story, it is there, unpredictability, yes, Italian culture, all the way.

All in all, I think that this movie is all about how cruel, superficial and misguided people can be sometimes. Perception is everything and most characters of this film could not see past Malena's exterior, which you can judge by the box cover.

To sum up, see this movie if you want to see a good story, but don't expect it to impress you... unless you can relate to the story or you feel like viewing a bit of stimulating erotica.

Rating:
Summary: Only beauty is women's value
Review: The movie tells us: Women are the intolerant persons. Only beauty is their value.
If a married woman start a rumor that the beautiful neighbor is a wanton who will make love with everyone, it will good for her marriage? I don't understand. I don't know why the movie talk scandal about married woman. Only single girls need to compete with Malena for men by the fact itself.

Rating:
Summary: Beauty and the beast
Review: After an unsuccessful foray into Hollywood, Tornatore goes back to his roots and does what he knows best: a coming of age movie. With 'Cinema Paradiso', Tornatore helped build the kingdom of the Weinstein Brothers also known as Miramax and it is only proper that he received from them the financial support to make this film in his homeland. Many years have passed since the masterpiece, however with Malena, he shows that he hasn't skipped a beat.

Tornatore definitely has an acute sense for beauty. The casting is top notch. The beauty of Monica Bellucci definitely complements the sweeping cinematography. Every frame is breathtaking, the Italian seaside will never look any better. Even if the movie fails to deliver anything else, the cinematography is worth your money. I am not sure that it did not deserve the Academy Award it was nominated for in 2000.

As in Cinema Paradiso, this film deals with a boy's coming of age. His infatuation with the new village beauty, Malena, becomes the fuel of his libido. He painfully observes how the widow is chastised by the whole village after she loses her husband in the war. Powerless, he witnesses her agony and suffers along with her.

As in Tornatore's previous cinematic efforts (Cinema Paradiso, the Starmaker), the social commentary is very apparent. He contrasts the ugliness of a close-minded town that passes judgments a little too quickly with Malena's passive beauty. He would even goes as far as associating it with the loser mentality. This is no more evident than in three different but similar scenes: when the fascists , the Germans and subsequently the Americans come to town. Each is greeted with so much fanfare that you have to wonder if this is anything but mockery.

This is no Cinema Paradiso, and in a way I am glad it isn't. With Malena, Tornatore proves that he still has a few good movies left in him. One wonders how does a director come back after Cinema Paradiso, however, this should be enough to cast your doubts away.

Rating:
Summary: Malena
Review: This is one of the best films that I have ever seen. Well-developed characters, beautiful music and incredible cinematography.