Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

SnoopyStyle It's 1940 Castelcuto, Sicily. Mussolini has just declared war on France and Britain. Renato is a 12 year old boy. He gets a new bike and joins a group of local boy. They are obsessed with Nino's new wife Malèna Scordia (Monica Bellucci). He starts spying on her and having erotic dreams about her. Her husband dies in the war. In the town, the men are obsessed and the women are jealous. Rumors of affairs with married men lead to a court trial.If this is a story about Malèna, it could be something great. However, she's really more of an object and what a beautiful object she is. This is really a coming of age story about Renato. We're seeing Malèna through his eyes. In many ways, he has to be more compelling as a character played by a more charismatic actor. He needs to have friends to play with. He needs to have connections other than an imaginary one with Malèna. There has to more satisfying conversations. He's obsessed with a naked Monica Bellucci. Who isn't? That probably is worth some extra points somehow.

mingmingbaibaigepi Just watched Malèna again, last time maybe 10 years ago, at that time, I was just addicted to beauty of Monica Bellucci. In Chinese, it is translated to " the beautiful legend of Sicilia ", at last, it is not beautiful but fierce humanities. Beauty is doomed to loneliness and indescribable, the root of evil, sin, lust and purity paradoxically? That is destroyed by the violence and silence from the masses. Gossip and jealousy drive people to be mad. Women self-suggest a beautiful woman must have defect on moral as a silly compensation because they envy the beauty from Malèna they could not possess, but the men, their possessiveness and the repression of reality also drive them to self-suggest , they thought Malèna a lust whore to relief or release their greedy because they could not touch her actually. Boy's sexual fantasy seems quite authentic as we are always doing, we are imagining we did everything with powerful heroism at all times, the sad reality is that we are dispassionate onlookers for the tragedy. Who can tell me why the young boys love maturing woman but they would love Lolita when they get old?

Bill George At last I have been able to watch the complete version of "Malena". It is a simple story, but one which speaks volumes about people, about love, while telling the story of a Sicilian town caught up in Mussolini's war, of a boy who becomes a young man, of a city ravaged not only by war but also by jealousy, greed and hatred; but above all it is the story of a woman who, at least in our eyes, stays courageous and never loses her dignity. The story unfolds through the eyes of the boy, in his words and through his eyes. Monica Bellucci, who portrays the woman, is not afraid to stop looking drop-dead gorgeous and to look ugly when the story requires it. She plays the part using not only her body (which for many actresses would be enough) but above all her dark eyes, speaking very little. All in all a picture of humanity, at its worst and at its best, told through the story of a city, of Sicilians, of Italians, indeed of all people, and a film which should be watched more than once, if possible in the original language.

Rich Wright I bet the director would say this film was about 'requited love' or 'a young boy's ascent into manhood.' I would describe it as 'A kind of collective madness afflicting a small Italian town during the latter stages of WWII'. I mean, this woman can't even walk down the street without people from both sexes staring at her and following her every move as if she was some kind of Goddess. Yes, she's pretty. But having that kind of effect on ALL the residents? So that they'd just stop what they were doing and act completely goofy? Wasn't there any gay men around then? What's even worse, she seems completely oblivious to it. Despite having hundreds of pairs of eyes on her, she never once looks left or right, acknowledging them at all. Besides, beauty is only skin deep. On the rare occasions she does speak, she doesn't seem the sharpest tool in the drawer. Taking all factors into consideration, perhaps the wolves who lust after her could (whisper it) do better?These events are witnessed through the eyes of a 12 year old, who despite all the attention lavished on her, declares himself as her greatest fan. And when he discovers she's lost her husband in the war, he declares to have her when he 'comes of age' in four years... and that means, punishing her detractors and following her everywhere, even to the extent of spying on her at night through a peephole at her house. Don't these kid's parents realise he's missing every evening? He keeps up this charade while she sleeps around, before finally becoming a prostitute in the service of the Germans. Meanwhile, he has his own adventures, including an accusation of being possessed by the devil which some nuns 'cure' him of. I'm not sure about that, but there's definitely SOMETHING wrong with him. And the rest of the province, come to think of it.Well acted and very funny in places, it's still hard to get round the initial idea... that Malena is so beautiful there is nothing else to think or talk about when she's around. This is such a far-fetched ideal it did affect my enjoyment of the film, to the extent I wanted to confront the characters and tell them to get a life. And how can someone be so blind as to not notice that you're being stalked and harassed by pretty much everyone? Either that, or she's the best ignorer ever. Regardless, there is pleasure to be derived from the film, as long as you're willing to accept the ridiculous behaviour of all concerned. Those crazy Italians... 6/10