Movie: Malèna
Year: 2000
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Language: Italian
Synopsis: I think in every language this movie has been tried in some form or another but I think this version is the best. Renato is a young lad in a small town in Italy who just starts on his journey towards adolescence and starts facing the familiar problems. He starts his journey of sexual exploration by noticing Malèna, an extremely beautiful young war widow in town. As he starts peeping into her life he finds out the sorrow behind the beauty. Malèna’s father the village teacher is deaf and supports her. He is shattered when he comes to see a letter portraying Malèna as a lady of loose character, subsequently he dies in a bombing leaving Malèna alone and unsupported. The lustful looks of the villagers is complimented by the jealousy of the local ladies who think that Malèna is a strong enough influence for their men to stray. As Malèna struggles to deal with her sorrow and loss of husband she is also has to fend for herself financially. Very soon she slips into prostitution which is what the ladies talked about. Well the stry ends on a hopeful note overall when she is accepted back into the society. Find out how. Not to be missed.
My own take: The last line that Renato says on growing up is that “Of all the girls who asked me to remember them, the only one I remembered is the one who did not ask." You can feel the sentiments if you remember the first crush you had or that seemingly unattainable person you always hugged your pillow as a teenager, thinking… The movie is so sensitively made that you realize that the racy poster it had was only a bait to get people into the theaters. Monica Bellucci excels in a role with minimal dialogues and lots of emotion. The beauty of the scenery and sets only makes the movie more credible. Critics find the movie low in depth or subtlety. I cannot comment on it but all I can say is that nice watch.
