MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

lunablacklight First of all, if there is any mistakes in my grammar I apologize. English is not my first language. The film is a piece of art in many topics. Bellucci's character was perfect for her. Most of all because her character winks her real life career and stereotypes. It would be perfect if at the end, Malena will return as she has always been. Not as a prudent married woman. The film is great but after all the exaggeration with her sex appeal and the city people obsession that was most at all misogynist. The least that the plot should did was to make a strong statement about women reality and oppression conditions. And for more reasons because of the historic and political moment where the story takes place. This diminish the film significance for me.

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.

braddugg We grow up on dreams and then dream to grow.Before reviewing this film I would share my personal related to this. In college, adolescent movies, porn used to be discussed and when I was in one such discussion a friend told that he was fascinated by this movie. I ed it and privately watched it alone expecting this to be a very evocative and a sexual movie. Now it was all to my surprise, it turned out differently. A week later, I showed this movie to my friend Raghuveer. Initially, he was interested in nude scenes (coz I got to know of this only through him) but once the film began, we both completed it. And after a week when I called him to know what he was doing, he just said, he was dreaming and thinking only of Malena. That was the impact. I got back to this 2 years later while in job but the reaction was the same by my other friend. Now today when I watched it, I was again satisfied coz this is one of the most compelling stories that stood out in time.Hmm, to review this movie is a tough job for me coz it's difficult to judge what you love the most. I love Monica Bellucci thoroughly in the movie and while younger, fantasized about her the same way Renato did in the movie. It's a story of how cruel beauty is to self and how beautiful it is to the eyes of the beholder. Malena's only curse is she is beautiful in a village filled of demons. It is one of the most simple stories told and still it kept me going because the way camera works and each scene be it an adolescent or a court room fight, or even a dream sequence just made me feel something if at times happy then at times sad and in fact very angry. So each scene did move me, they touched me for sure and that's where the writing of the screenplay is a winner. Mind you, it is based on a short story and this can be anywhere and at anytime. Though based on world war 2 in Italy, the theme is universal, it's of abuse and how beauty is used.A kid has a dream but is still helpless and most adults are powerful but devoid of comion. While in movies, nudity comes as an X factor or for publicity it is very precisely used here to take the story forward and rather substantiate the theme. The music by Ennio Morricone grips you and empathizes with the characters emotions be it a chase on a cycle or a song La Amore, they are very aptly placed and used. The way camera moves tells you what the whole village is talking and what each character is about. The art direction takes you back to the time of world war 2. So everything is done well but acting by Giuseppe Sulfaro (son of the director Giuseppe Tornatore) is terrific. I think, since the director could not romance Monica, he let his son do just like a scene where the father takes the son to brothel when he realizes his son has grown up. And Monica is quite a revelation with silence she spoke a lot.Spare the nudity please, if that was not there this could just be another story.Thank you Tornatore for such a compelling film and thank you for showing Monica Bellucci as the ultimate beauty whom every man should crave for.It's 4/5 for this one. Many may not like it but I will go with Malena any day.

Terence Frederick Malèna Scordia shown as an object of desire for men and an object to envy for women. Set in 1940, the movie deals with the story of 27 year old beautiful widow in an Italian village. From the eyes of Renato, a 12 year old, Malèna arouses sensual feelings (quite normal as the other kids in the neighborhood) and I ire the way the director shows it in a series of scenes. The way the boy's father beats and scolds deserves laugh and applause. IMO, I feel that the director pushed way too hard abusing the character (Malèna) almost every other scene and it makes the viewers feel that the village women ain't got other work than abusing the poor widow. The level of sentiment quotient in this work makes it one short of being 'Irresistible', yet Monica Bellucci looks Irresistible in the scene where she is dressed as the Holy Mother