"Malena" is in the first place about a teenage boy falling for a more mature woman. As such it is rather simplistic. Much attention is paid to the erotic fantasies of the boy. This gives rise to a couple of nude scenes leading to the suspicion that the director is applying the "Betty Blue" (1986, Jean Jacques Beineix) trick. With that I mean wrapping up nude in a quasi serious story. All in all, from all the films I have seen about a teenage boy falling for an older woman ("Girl with a suitcase" (1961, Valerio Zurlini), "Y tu mama tambien" (2001, Alfonso Cuaron) and last but not least the film by which Tornatore obviously was inspired "Amarcord" (1973, Federico Fellini)) "Malena" is the weakest.
Malena (played by Monica Bellucci) is not only having an effect on teenage boys but also on the local adult men. She is the "femme fatale" who proves to be "fatale" mostly to herself. This part of the story is more interesting. It is sort of a mix between "American beauty" (1999, Sam Mendes) and "Fury" (1936, Fritz Lang). "American beauty" by the way the adult and adulterous men can't imagine that the object of their desires is less sex driven then they are. "Fury" by the way the women are blinded by jealousy and don't blame their husbands for their adulterous thoughts but the woman that induced these thoughts.
Just as in "La vita e bella" (1997, Roberto Benigni) the German soldiers are the villains in "Malena", which is remarkable when one bears in mind that Germany and Italy were allies in at least the first few years of the Second World War.
Giuseppe Tornatore is best known for "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso" (1988). In this film a little Sicilian boy is falling in love not with an older woman, but with cinema itself. Just as "Malena" this film is told as a flashback, the main character already being of old age. "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso is bittersweet and full of nostalgia. "Malena" desperately seeks the same mood, but does not create it. My hypothesis is that the influence of Hollywood (the producer of "Malena" is the infamous Harvey Weinstein) has something to do with it.
Malena (played by Monica Bellucci) is not only having an effect on teenage boys but also on the local adult men. She is the "femme fatale" who proves to be "fatale" mostly to herself. This part of the story is more interesting. It is sort of a mix between "American beauty" (1999, Sam Mendes) and "Fury" (1936, Fritz Lang). "American beauty" by the way the adult and adulterous men can't imagine that the object of their desires is less sex driven then they are. "Fury" by the way the women are blinded by jealousy and don't blame their husbands for their adulterous thoughts but the woman that induced these thoughts.
Just as in "La vita e bella" (1997, Roberto Benigni) the German soldiers are the villains in "Malena", which is remarkable when one bears in mind that Germany and Italy were allies in at least the first few years of the Second World War.
Giuseppe Tornatore is best known for "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso" (1988). In this film a little Sicilian boy is falling in love not with an older woman, but with cinema itself. Just as "Malena" this film is told as a flashback, the main character already being of old age. "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso is bittersweet and full of nostalgia. "Malena" desperately seeks the same mood, but does not create it. My hypothesis is that the influence of Hollywood (the producer of "Malena" is the infamous Harvey Weinstein) has something to do with it.