(2000; Italian) The one one never forgets. On the day Mussolini declares war on France and Great Britain, in Sicily postpubescent Renato (Giusseppe Sulfaro) - narrating as an adult from Luciano Vincenzoni's story of a courageous woman, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore - gets his first bicycle, enabling him to join a band of teenage boys who boast about the size of their erections.

In the quiet village of Castelcuto, they stare in amorous amazement as the gorgeous Malèna Scordia (Monica Bellucci), the daughter of their Latin instructor, walks past. After his father punishes him for truancy and ordering a pair of long trousers to replace his short pants, Renato spies on Malèna at night, watching her through a peephole as she dances by herself to "Ma L'Amore No." Her husband Nino has gone off to fight in Africa.

Renato's thoughts obsessed with desire for her, he purchases a disc of the recording, writes letters to her without mailing them (the only true love is unrequited love), follows her on his bicycle, imagines himself with her in movie settings (Tarzan and Westerns), lights a candle in church everyday for her protection from the town gossips (spreading rumors of her being a loose woman), steals a pair of her black panties from a clothesline, and masturbates while fantasizing about her in his squeaky bed.

Following news of Lt Scordia's being killed in action, the attractive widow entertains the attentions of Lt Cadei, who outside her home encounters Dr Cusimano, the town's dentist and a married man, claiming her to be his fiancée. The lawyer Centorbi, defending her in court against the false accusation of an amorous affair with a married man, expostulates that she is guilty only of being "alone and beautiful."

However, Centorbi becomes the first of many to take advantage of Malèna. Unable to find employment (no one will hire her for fear of a wife's suspicions) and her father's death (crushed in a building collapse during a bombing), leaving her without a protector or legitimate means of supporting herself, she turns to the only option remaining - first for food then for cash.

Cutting her long raven hair and dying it red, then when the Germans arrive blonde, she enters a whorehouse. When the priest and his mother believe Renato has become possessed by the devil, his father realizes the adolescent simply needs to get laid and takes him to the house of prostitutes where Renato chooses Malèna.

Soon after the Yanks liberate Sicily, the women of Castelcuto drag Malèna into the street, beat her, shear off her hair, and run her out of town. Then the unexpected happens; only Renato is willing to explain the absence of Malèna.

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
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