Italy

Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana, Pietro Notarianni

109 min

2000-10-27

To the 12-year-old Renato, a couple of things happen on your day in 1940 which Italy enters the war: he also receives his motorcycle, and he gets his first appearance at Malèna. She's a gorgeous, quiet outsider who's transferred into this Sicilian town to be with her partner, Nico. He goes off to war, leaving the sharp tongues of these ladies as well as the eyes of these men with her. Throughout the next few decades, as Renato grows toward manhood, he watches Malèna establish and suffer her mettle. He sees the effects of slander in her connection with her daddy, her loneliness, when Nico is reported dead, then grief, her poverty and search for employment, along with humiliations that are final. Will Renato remain true for her and learn guts?