Storyline
On the day in 1940 that Italy enters the war, two things happen to the 12-year-old Renato: he gets his first bike, and he gets his first look at Malèna. She is a beautiful, silent outsider who's moved to this Sicilian town to be with her husband, Nico. He promptly goes off to war, leaving her to the lustful eyes of the men and the sharp tongues of the women. During the next few years, as Renato grows toward manhood, he watches Malèna suffer and prove her mettle. He sees her loneliness, then grief when Nico is reported dead, the effects of slander on her relationship with her father, her poverty and search for work, and final humiliations. Will Renato learn courage from Malèna and stand up for her?
Directors
Cast
Salvatore Borghese, Monica Bellucci, Emanuele Gullotto, Luciano Federico, Ornella Giusto, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Matilde Piana, Pietro Notarianni, Gaetano Aronica, Gabriella Di Luzio, Angelo Pellegrino, Paola Pace, Lucia Sardo, Aurora Quattrocchi, Claudia Muzi, Conchita Puglisi, Gilberto Idonea, Giuseppe Pattavina, Domenico Gennaro, Pippo Provvidenti, Maria Terranova, Marcello Catalano, Elisa Morucci, Franco Catalano, Daniele Arena, Giovanni Litrico, Gianluca Guarrera, Michel Daniel Bramanti, Fabrizio Ferracane, Salvatore Martino, Orio Scaduto, Antonello Puglisi
Trailer
Reviews
100
Qualifies as director Giuseppe Tornatore's second full-fledged masterpiece. His first: "Cinema Paradiso."
90
Malena the film is as beautiful and seductive as its heroine, with its ravishing Lajos Koltai cinematography and sweepingly romantic Ennio Morricone score.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Gives audiences something more than just a heart-stopping beauty to contemplate.
70
What begins as a blushing, priapic opera buffa about coming of age turns into a verismo shocker, before softening into something mellower.
70
Village Voice
A nostalgic coming-of-age sex comedy tastefully lecherous enough to indicate that its intended demographic is several decades past puberty.
