Rating: 
Summary: ETMR - Malena
Review: 1. Humanity: The boy Renato, we learn, is a free spirit. He expresses, out of all the characters in the film, the willingness to step outside his natural, cultural boundaries and grow past his traditional philosophy. This film is not only about the life of Malena, but also about Renato's growth into an adult. What events force Renato to grow into this new kind of thinking?2. Implications: The film shows the evolution of Europe, and the break from traditional values, not only through Renato but through the insanity of the war. In what ways does the movie show a critical eye to the old world? 3. Evolution: In what ways is the movie distinctly European, and yet more in detail, distinctly Italian? Do you think the film is trying to make a general statement on the madness of war, or is it trying to make a visceral attack on the rigidity of Italian traditionalism? 4. Realism: The story premise is interesting: imagine if you had a guardian angel in the form of a young boy, but you never knew he existed... do you think the set-up of the story was meant to describe an actual sequence of events with the boy, or is the movie playing a more important role with symbolism? 5. Stageplay: The script provides for a seedier look at the foundations of Fascist Italy. Do you think what was included was sufficient, do you think it was lacking in raw material, or do you think it contained too much teenage sensuality?
Rating: 
Summary: Watch it
Review: It's the story of a feverish little boy's obsession with a beautiful woman. That about sums it up. However, the story in itself is captivating-it seemed that way to me- and despite some innapropriate scenes, leaves a moral. I would recommend that everyone see it, but it's all a matter of how you take it.
Some took it as perverted, but isn't that how it's supposed to be? after all, the story is told by the little boy as a grown man. After all, everyone has had a platonic crush right? fantasies included? and you know darn well that if they weren't a hard to reach person (i.e. celebrity)and that if we were still twelve years old, we would stalk that person day and night, particularily if they're very beautiful or handsome. So, why try and cover up the sun with one finger? watch Malena, it's more than just a pretty face.
Rating:
Summary: A movie worth watching!
Review: Definitely a wonderful movie, Malena, brings to the screen the story of a GORGEOUS Italian young woman whose husband is pronounced KIA in Eastern Africa during WWII. Subsequently, Malena falls victim to the gossip and prejudice of the wartime Sicilian town, resulting in the establishment of a vicious circle/self fulfilling prophecy where all that she if falsely accused of being and doing, slowly, steadily and gradually, becomes reality.
Malena is a film about human relations, hope and second chances, but most importantly about how trust, love, and inner strength, can lead out of situations, which might seem bleak or desperate at first glance.
In addition, the movie deals with such concepts as Envy, Jealousy, Prejudice, Intrigue, Lust, Greed and Hypocrisy, which are very unpleasant and yet are an integral part of human nature.
Needless to say, Monica Bellucci and the rest of the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least!
Strongly recommended along with Mediterraneo for the lovers of such films.
Rating:
Summary: A true catharsis.
Review: This film evoked some of the most archetypal truths in a beautifully innocent manner. The more I reflect on it, the more I think it is quite probably my favourite single film of all time... or at least damn well close to it.
The score and the cinematography are a superb blend. Some of the shots, particularly one series of Malena's home by the seaside, and another of the youths on the rock formation overlooking the sea, are simply breathtaking.
The story is a masterpiece and achieves a full peripety and final expiation.
I am sure many of the reviewers before me have lauded this movie highly, but IMHO, not quite highly enough as I see it has a four star rating. I gave it ***** (five) stars, and would positively urge you to watch it.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful little movie...
Review: ...and a beautiful Monica Bellucci! This woman(!) really looks like an angel, and has got to be one of the most beautiful women in the world. And so talented as an actress. Her performance in "Malena" is as impressive as it is rememberable, and the young boy does an amazing job as well. You forget after a few minutes that the language spoken (Italian) is a total foreign language (because of the subtitles of course), it didn't take me long to live myself into their little town in "Malena".
The story is sad, and while watching it you'd like to step into Malenas' world to help her, and the movie works this way to be so realistic.
The boys' father himself stands for the humour. And though it's not always just funny what goes on in this boys' life, his "a little mad" father does put a smile on the audiences' faces.
Great acting, Morricone does a great musical-contribution as always, superb direction, locations and camera-work also!
See this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadfully depressing movie (103 min NTSC Special Edition)
Review: I was curious to see more of Monica Belluci after seeing her in "Passion of the Christ". Whatever your opinions of that movie might be, Monica Bellucci just made for an awesomely beautiful and tragic Mary Magdalene. Wow, I wondered, where did this actress come from?
[...] I found the Special Edition version easily enough just by searching the Internet. The one I have appears to be a Korean make with options for Korean and English subtitles (and original Italian soundtrack). It's NTSC widescreen and 103 minutes long.
What a bummer this movie turned out to be! It's basically about how evil the men (and women) of this little Italian village are to this poor woman left alone during WWII after her father is killed in an Allied bombing raid and her husband-soldier is declared to have been killed in action. Left penniless and sexually abused by the men of the town, she turns to prostitution, and fraternizes with the German soldiers. When the Allies win and run the Germans out, Malena is dragged out of the whorehouse into the street by the women of the town, who savagely beat her in public, strip her naked and cut her hair off. This is a very hard to watch sequence that's not art or anything else, it's just very abusive stuff. The beating just seems to go on forever, way too long, and this is most certainly one of the scenes that got cut short, deservedly so.
I guess Monica Belluci made another movie along similar lines ("Irrevesible") where there's this savage hard-to-watch rape scene. Wow, to think that those oh-so-liberal and artsy European filmmakers persist in shooting such scenes and putting them into movies in the name of .... art? NOT!
Monica Belluci strangely enough looks very much like a mannequin in this movie, with her face constantly frozen into a forbidding mask. She doesn't look good at all. The movie is supposed to be done from the viewpoint of this young boy who is in his pubertal years. Yes, it's true that boys of this age can be oversexed, but this boy and his pals are positively a bunch of creepy perverts, the way they stalk Malena and peek like voyeurs into her bedroom.
Overall, there's not much that's enjoyable about this movie. And it's a two disc set.... I was so depressed after watching the movie that I haven't gone through the second disc of bonus materials.
What a waste of a great and beautiful talent.....
Rating:
Summary: 4/5
Review: An interesting little film from Italy with an absolutely beautiful international actress Monica Bellucci (Brotherhood Of The Wolf, Under Suspicion). The story is narrated by Renato, a young boy torn between adolescence and adulthood. We see Malena's life through his eyes and the eyes of the other men in the small village that lust over Malena who just so happens to be a a gorgeous, stunning girl that all men lust all over. Her husband is off on the battlefield fighting a war and she is left by herself. No money, no job. Nothing. She is surrounded by horny men who would do anything to get with her, this also includes the narrator Renato who is just now exploring sexuality and all he sees day and night is the breathtaking Malena.
The gossip around the small village circles around Malena but Renato is blinded by love. (This reminds me of Last Exit To Brooklyn a bit too much). Renato defends Melena in any way he can, he also fantasizes about Malena quite often which shortly after turns into an obsession. He follows her day and night, he knows her probably better than she knows herself. He ditches school and his family only to watch her walk by, seeing her is an absolute heaven to Renato. Shortly after the story turns sour and we learn how jealous the women in the village really are, rumors start flying left and right about various lovers which some of them are unfortunately true but there is much more to it. Malena is an exotic beauty that turns the local village upside down and also the life of Renato.
I guess this movie is one of the light-hearted dramas that is strikingly original and it will most likely be appreciated more by the European crowd than the American. I am simply saying this because certain people tend not to watch movies simply because they are subtitled. I strongly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of dramatic movies. Give it a chance, you might end of liking it, I know I did.
Rating:
Summary: If you like top rate cinema, this is it!
Review: It's not only that Monica Bellucci is one of the most beautiful women that have walked the earth, and also that she's truly talented, that alone is worth the ticket for me (and maybe not for you) but the film itself is a masterpiece, it drives you thru a roller coaster of emotions all the way 'till the end, you see how beauty can sometimes become a curse as it does for Malena, we're able to see all these tremendous events thru the eyes of a kid who falls in love ("platonic love") of the most beautiful woman he has seen, his intention to make contact with her are always cut short by the lack of courage, but as he tries always to be near her he discovers that a lot of animosity is building around the love of his life Malena, the events that follow are nothing shorter then a tragedy...
Tornatore is one of the best directors out there with out a doubt, and I think all of his films are about nostalgia, Malena is by far his best, even better then Cinema Paradiso, Malena has a special visual look, I guess to make Bellucci's beauty even more astonishing, the story is told in perfect rhythm and the production value is first rate, you can't afford to miss this one, Malena what a film!
Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS CENSORED DVD !!
Review: Ok, the film is great, Monica is a good actress and in Europe she's one of the top female stars...
But why release another censored version of this DVD? The tech details says it's 92 minutes, meaning 17 minutes are still missing (15% of the movie!) as was the case with the last release in which the movie did not flow right due to the heavy cuts.
I have both the Itailan and Korean DVDs and they are UNCUT, but the Italian has no subtitles and the Korean has a below average image quality.
Would Miramax please treat us as adults who can decide by themselves if a movie is appropriate or not and release an UNCUT version of this?
Note that in NTSC(R1) the Uncut film is 109 minutes while in PAL (4% speed up) the uncut length is 103 minutes, so if you find a 103 version in pal(R2) buy it, it's the full version.
Rating:
Summary: The quality of mercy . . .
Review: Malena (Monica Bellucci) is a beautiful young Italian woman whose husband is off fighting in Africa during WWII. The only male in her life is her deaf father who teaches Latin at the local school. The fact that Malena lives alone--without a man in her life--causes great excitement in the small town. The men speculate about her endlessly, and she is the object of their ribald jokes and comments. As a result, the women in the town hate Malena, and soon Malena is driven to desperate measures just to get enough to eat.
The story is told through the eyes of Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro)--a young boy--who idolizes Malena from afar. He follows Malena, and he is privy to Malena's darkest moments. In spite of the fact that he fantasizes about Malena, he still manages to see her as a suffering human being. As an outsider, she is viewed with suspicion, and eventually treated with immense cruelty. In a time when Italy plunged recklessly into WWII, the townspeople chose to focus their attention on Malena. She becomes their entertainment, the centre of their gossip, and the vessel for all their discontent.
The film includes some over-the-top scenes with Renato's noisy, rambunctious, extroverted family, and these amusing scenes contrast with the sterility and silence of Malena's life. Renato's father is stubbornly opposed to Il Duce during a period when it is not safe to voice that opinion, and he also recognizes the cause of his son's frustration. Unfortunately, for Malena, her father--her lifeline to respectability--fails to save her. War brings out the worst in humankind, and Malena is seen as a tragic victim of the times. Even those who are not addicted to foreign film should find this remarkable Italian film with English subtitles quite accessible--displacedhuman
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