Malena

(2000)
Im not a big foreign film buff. I like a few quite a bit, a few more a little, and most not at all. Of course when Im talking foreign film I am mostly speaking myopically of Eurocinema, which is purported to be both artsier and classier than our homegrown films. Thats the theory, anyway. Sometimes, however, you just encounter a film that could not have been made in the US, or made well, anyway (and the makers of Point of No Return would have been wise to understand that). Malena is one such film, an Italian movie, a story set during World War II, that follows the not-really intertwined stories of the eponymous character and a young boy of about twelve, Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) on the very cusp of manhood. When the story opens the future looks bright for the Fascists who run Italy, and while the nation is at war, the outlook is good and there is pride in the air. Malena Scordia (the astonishingly gorgeous Monica Bellucci) is a lonely wife whose husband is in the army; but she comports herself with dignity and stays faithful and loyal to him. The problem is, she is so attractive that men cannot help but be drawn to her, and women cannot help but envy her. Though Malena never once courts the attentions of any male, the men simply cannot help themselves and jockey around one another to get to her. Renato in his first full flush of puberty encounters Malena as she walks to work one day, and he is instantly stricken by her beauty. Naturally he develops a schoolboy crush, but Renato is very single-minded about his devotion to the gorgeous woman. Though he never speaks to her and never even really comes close to her physically, he follows her about all over the city, at first on foot and then on bicycle. He gets to know Malena as a stalker might, but it is demonstrated time and again that his crush is innocent and his intentions are harmless. Renato falls in puppy love with Malena and in his mind designates himself her protector against all the slander and rancor directed at her behind her back by lusty men and jealous wives. Renatos obsession with Malena and his gradual development into young manhood is all handled remarkably well and with a sharp sense of humor; what could have been embarrassing or even creepy is rendered charming and witty. There are twin messages in the movie that you never really forget your first crush, and that beauty, extreme beauty, can be as much of a curse as a blessing. We see through Renatos eyes that Malena must continually deal with the stinging words of the envious women in the town, and as her fortunes fall, the women begin to turn against her even though she never actually ever does anything against any of them. But again, with the lesson that extreme beauty breeds jealousy, we see the worst come out in people.

Its a far better movie than I am expressing. Bellucci supplies Malena with a lovely grace even though she is besieged through the entire film; its easy to side with her against the angry townsfolk because, thanks to Renatos skulking, we are able to get to know her better than anyone in the movie does. And young Sulfaro is terrific as a boy on the verge of becoming a man but young enough to nurture childish romantic fantasies about a woman who doesnt even know hes alive. Had this role been cast differently, or with a lesser young man, the movie would not have worked despite a nice turn by Bellucci. But with both leads hitting just the right notes, Malena becomes a beautiful if tragic film about love and beauty and, in the end, the ugliness it can engender if were not careful. November 2, 2002