Malena (Blu-ray, 2012)

Product Description

With MALENA Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore spins a romantic coming-of-age yarn about love loss & courage Set in 1941 in a tiny village in Sicily the film focuses on a group of 13-year-old boys who fall madly in love with Malena (Monica Bellucci) the wife of a local soldier One of the boys Renato Amoroso (Giuseppe Sulfaro) a dreamer who yearns for freedom from his war-bound village revels in the exquisite beauty of the enchanting newcomer He becomes her shadow following her through the cobble stone streets & spying on her most intimate moments overwhelmed with romantic longing for the first time Malena has a magical spellbinding effect on the male villagers; her presence inspires fantasy & escape from their daily lives But the women of the village hardened by war are quick to judge the nubile outsider Malena becomes the focus of desire & seething jealousy in the town & she is eventually forced to face the female villagers in a bittersweet climax Reminiscent of Federico Fellini's nostalgic masterpiece AMARCORD native Sicilian Tornatore revisits the dusty village streets of his childhood where adolescent boys learn about sex desire & ultimately love Like Tornatore's critically acclaimed CINEMA PARADISO he bathes the film in the sun-drenched light of his homeland giving it a dreamy earthy sensuality & a poetic spirit Monica Bellucci is a delicious revelation the camera lingers seductively on her bewitching beauty Inspired by the story MA L'AMORE NO by Luciano Vincenzoni