Malena poster & wallpaper

Angelo Pellegrino, Daniele Arena, Domenico Gennaro

In 1941, Renato was 13 years old and although the world was at war, nothing ever happened in his sleepy village in Sicily. Until the day he discovered something that would change his life forever... ...( read more  read more... )Malena, the beautiful young war widow who was the obsession of every man and the envy of every woman. Because of her, Renato will come to learn all of life's lessons and find himself in places he never could have imagined.

Flixster Users

86% liked it

24,238 ratings

Critics

55% liked it

75 critics

R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore

Release Date: December 25, 2000

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: July 10, 2001

Stats: 1,414 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

monica Malena Malena
Upload a Photo |

View All Malena Photos (3)

Your Rating


clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (1,414)

  • organgrinder136
    July 21, 2009
    organgrinder136
    the story runs smoothly just as if you were reading the pages from a book. obviously bellucci is beautiful and it adds to the film but frankly it could've been anyone... as the film carries itself. message of the story... if you hear anyone gossiping or spreading rumours tell the...( read more)m to mind their own business. fucking snakes in the grass!
  • kiriyamakazou
    May 2, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Malena is another heartfelt tale of growing up from director Tornatore. It shows a young boys first love/lust as he falls for a woman in his home town. All the men love her and all the women hate her. What starts as vicious rumours and wolf whistles soon turns more tragic. We alw...( read more)ays see Malena from the perspective of our protagonist, so you would think she wouldn't be developed well. This is kind of true. We never get to see the real Malena, but we do begin to feel for the the way the young boy does. This does build up an emotional connection and makes it even more traumatic when things turn sour. Unfortunately, the film stalls after a while. There are constant scenes of Malena walking and us hearing peoples comments about her. There are plenty of scenes showing the boy following her and fantasizing about her. It all gets rather stale, but at least the end starts changing things around. It's a wonderfully sexy film and one that does sum up adolescence rather well, but at the same time shows how repetitive and uneventful it is.
  • mrpopcorn
    October 28, 2008
    mrpopcorn
    Renato Amoroso: "I pedaled as fast as I could... as if I were escaping from longing, from innocence, from her. Time has passed, and I have loved many women. And as they've held me close... and asked if I will remember them I've said, "Yes, I will remember you." But the only on...( read more)e I've never forgotten is the one who never asked... Malena."

    A young man's infatuation for a beautiful older woman blooms amidst the outbreak of World War II in this bittersweet comedy-drama from Italy. Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) is a 13-year-old boy growing up in a small Sicilian community. Mussolini has risen to power and has declared war upon England and France, but Renato has other things on his mind -- mostly girls. While hanging out with his friends by the seashore, Renato spies Malèna (Monica Bellucci), the daughter of one of his schoolteachers, whose husband Nino (Gaetano Aronica) is fighting with Mussolini's army. Renato is immediately obsessed with Malèna and follows her like a lost puppy, spying on her whenever circumstances permit and imagining her as his co-star in elaborate erotic fantasies inspired by his favorite movies. Renato, however, is hardly the only man in town to be struck by Malèna's charms, and her beauty leads to resentment from the women of the community. Malèna's circumstances take a turn for the worst after her husband is reported to have died in combat, and she is forced to resort to prostitution to survive; she is brutally attacked by a pack of angry matrons and driven from town. Renato tries to keep track of her, and has some less than encouraging news to report when Nino turns out to be alive and finds his spouse is missing.

    Review
    I vividly remember seeing this film for the first time about six years ago when I was just a little young 'un and the version was dubbed and most of the scenes was edited. It was the time where I watched movies and skipped the talking parts and went straight to nude scenes and such. Don't blame me, blame the raging hormones I had at that time.

    So anyway, I was foraging for DVD's not too long ago and I found a copy of this film, immediately I was taken back to Memory Lane and I knew I had to buy this one.

    Well, after watching it for the second time (no I didn't skip to the nude scenes), I was amazed. What an amazing film. I laugh at my childhood self for not appreciating such a great film (well, can't blame him, it was the raging hormones *winkwink*). This film is touching and beautiful, the story is without a doubt one of the best that was interpreted on screen. My hats off to Giuseppe Tornatore, the director who also made 1988's Cinema Nuovo Paradiso for making such an ethereal movie experience.

    Monica Bellucci, the most beautiful woman who walked on Earth, gave a stellar performance although she only spoke a couple of times. Being in a film as a lead and barely even speaking is a tough act to achieve, you have to rely on your body language and facial expressions to convey such a tremendous character and yet she did it like a pro. The kid, Giuseppe Sulfaro on the other hand also gave a wonderful performance and yes, I envy the lucky bastard for seeing Monica's hot bod in the nude.

    Another amazing factor is the music of Ennio Morricone, the Danny Elfman-Hans Zimmer-John Williams combined of Italy. Malena is the perfect coming-of-age story, I suggest you go see it.
  • laVenrose
    October 19, 2008
    laVenrose
    A world at war. A young man coming of age. And the woman who changed his life forever.


    Director:Giuseppe Tornatore

    Writers:Giuseppe Tornatore (writer) & Luciano Vincenzoni (story)

    Genre: Comedy | Drama | Ro
    ...( read more)mance | War

    Starring: Monica Belucci


    Malena Pictures, Images and Photos


    THE MOVIE OUTLINE

    "In 1941, Renato was 13 years old and although the world was at war, nothing ever happened in his sleepy village in Sicily. Until the day he discovered something that would change his life forever... ...( read more )Malena, the beautiful young war widow who was the obsession of every man and the envy of every woman. Because of her, Renato will come to learn all of life's lessons and find himself in places he never could have imagined. "

    Malena Pictures, Images and Photos


    MY APPRAISAL
  • AgentLexi2132
    June 26, 2008
    AgentLexi2132
    ''Buona fortuna, signora Malèna.''


    An intimate portrait and an epic story of the courage we discover, the innocence we surrender, and the memories we cherish.....forever.

    Monica Bellucci: Malena Scordia

    Giuseppe Sulfaro: Renato Amoroso

    Malena i...( read more)nterested me straight away when I heard about Monica Bellucci's involvement. Mainly told through a boy's admiration and love for a beautiful woman who is fancied by every man and hated by every woman in the town. Malena ends up having the power to silence a whole crowd just from merely walking through the Town Square. Amusing to see we the audience people's horrible and lustful remarks.

    So young Renato Amoroso played well by Giuseppe Sulfaro tells us this story as he spy's on her every move even at her home through a conveniently placed hole. Very comical to see his imagination conjure up scenes of him and her together, or anyone commenting negatively of Malena resulting in Renato weeing in handbags or spitting in drinks, even throwing a brick into a store window because the shop keeper comments on her ass.

    What we get is a story of compassion, of survival and of beauty being a curse as well as a gift. When Malena uses her beauty for her own advantages, sleeping with men for things, she becomes the one thing people rumoured her to be.
    A Court case which comes about because of an argument over Malena being engaged is crazy. Here is a woman getting in trouble for being beautiful, for having men fight over her. And how does she repay her lawyer, yes you've guessed it, but does she have a choice?
    Even the German's get her attention as she partners up with a fellow ''lady'' to subject her self to the whore house. But again she's just capitilizing on the one great thing going for her much to the dismay of young Renato.

    Granted times are hard for her and it's understandable granted shes lost her husband and seems to have bad luck with men in general. Malena had one scene particularly that shows how cruel and spitefully jealous women are and how useless and placid men can be.

    It's a lovely quaint film which shows beautiful scenery and really does capture the feel of WW2 Italy. Accompanied with vibrant characters and an enriched Score Malena makes for a very enjoyable film indeed. There's also a lovely twist near the end and a heartfelt return for Malena as she is forced to leave. Does Renato finally get to say something to his beloved Malena? Watch and find out, it's lovely.
  • mvk61
    November 21, 2009
    mvk61
    Good and a funny movie!! Romantic movie? I dunno!
  • jeypop
    November 18, 2009
    jeypop
    fantastic,great role of monica,so passion..!
  • jackyfame
    November 18, 2009
    jackyfame
    woderful role by monicca
  • karishmahyder
    October 27, 2009
    karishmahyder
    you can't help but feel for her...and agree that the world is indeed tougher for a pretty girl.
  • Phonex
    October 23, 2009
    Phonex
    Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) adapted his new film Malèna from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), yet the whole thing comes off like a loud and humorless ripoff of Federico Fellini's Amarcord.

View All Malena Reviews

Critic Reviews

February 7, 2001
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

[Tornatore] eludes sentimentality with a romantic vision wide enough to embrace the range of human experience. full review

December 22, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

[Bellucci's] role is not so much dramatic as pictorial (a word I am using in the Playboy sense). full review

View more Malena reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • vw7387
    July 10, 2008
    vw7387
    gr8 movie..
    heart touching,emotional..
    moonica has done gud job
    n she looks hot n mind blowing...
  • princevarshney
    February 10, 2008
    princevarshney
    hiiiii
  • lilysflower
    October 2, 2007
    lilysflower
    love the way she looks ,the way she stands,mamma mia,love the film, great good looking actress .
Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Tea With Mussolini
    Tea With Mussolini (100%)
  • Jean De Florette
    Jean De Florette (100%)
  • Anita - ur en tonårsflickas dagbok (Anita: Swedish Nymphet) (Anita)
    Anita - ur en tonårsflickas dagbok (Anita: Sw... (100%)
  • Empire of the Sun
    Empire of the Sun (50%)

More Movies like Malena

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Malena : Watch Free on TV

Malena Trivia

  • Which actress was in the Famous Movie 'Malena' ?  Answer »
More Malena Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Malena. Want to create one?

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Malena Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Malena to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

osman Skin by osman
695 Profiles
Add to Profile

More Skins