Product Description

The latest triumph from Giuseppe Tornatore, the writer and director of the Academy Award(R)-winning CINEMA PARADISO, MALENA is an utterly unforgettable story of a boy's journey into manhood amid the chaos and intolerance of World War II. In a sleepy Italian village, the most beautiful woman in town, Malena (Monica Bellucci), becomes the subject of increasingly malicious gossip among the lustful townsmen and their jealous wives. But only her most ardent admirer, young Renato Amoroso (Giuseppe Sulfaro), will learn the untold true story of the mysterious and elusive Malena! In a captivating motion picture nominated for two Academy Awards, the eventual struggles and hardships that Malena must bravely endure serve to inspire Renato to new heights of compassion, courage, and independence!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7467 in DVD
• Brand: Disney
• Released on: 2001-07-10
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 109 minutes

Amazon.com
When 12-year-old Renato, riding through his small Italian town on his new bicycle, sees the voluptuous Malèna, little does he know he's launching on an infatuation that will carry him through the tumultuous days of World War II. Malèna begins as an enraptured depiction of Renato's adolescent mind--the way he stares, hypnotized, at Malèna's garters pressing through the material of her tight skirt, or his frustrated rebellion against the indignity of wearing short pants--but soon transforms into a portrait of small-town prejudice. Malèna's looks spark lust and envy in the townspeople; when her husband dies in combat, the gossip only intensifies, to the point that Malèna is dragged into court to defend herself against accusations of adultery. When the women of the town refuse to sell her edible food at the market, Malèna has little choice but to become what she's been unjustly accused of being. At the end, a twist of fate turns this tale of longing and jealousy into a heartbreaking love story. Monica Bellucci exudes the can't-help-it eroticism that makes Malèna such a lightning rod for everyone's desires; she's like a more zaftig Isabelle Adjani. The movie seems to wander at times, but the ending has a powerful emotional impact. From the director of Cinema Paradiso. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Why watch a censored DVD?
The European release of this film was 106 minutes. This version was cut down to 92 minutes for North American audiences, both to make it more acceptable to short attention spans and to eliminate some of the scenes that included nudity. For those of us who are capable of sitting still for 106 minutes and who are not horrified by the nude body employed in the presentation of a film such as this one, this is nothing less than insulting. Serious viewers of film should be able to see films as the director intended them to be seen, and should not settle for this sort of censorship.

Do Not Buy This DVD!!!
Malena is rich and beautiful film, starring the very fine Monica Bellucci in the title role. It is essentially three films in one, it contains the story of a woman who lost her husband to war, the coming of age of a young boy and also how Facism and war affected the Italian people.

Alot of other reviewers have summed up the plot and made valid comments, so I will only speak of the horrid DVD presentation. Being a huge fan of both the film and Bellucci, I wanted the single best DVD version and I'm afraid to say that this one is far from it! Miramax claim to be an independant and artistly geared studio, yeah right, they have dramaticly censored MANY great scenes from this film. Anyone not as repressed as the suits down at Miramax HQ should look into purchasing the NTSC Korean 2-Disc release. It is the ONLY completely uncut (a few minutes short than the Italian DVD due to PAL to NTSC conversion) DVD with English subtitles. The Italian disc is uncut but doesn't contain English subtitles, so it would only be good for Italian Speakers. Believe me once you see just how much this DVD is missing (over 13 min shorter than Korean NTSC, 16 min shorter than Italian PAL) you will be glad you put in the extra effort to get a real Malena DVD.

PS to the reviewer who thought that the beating of Malena scene was unrealistic or over exagerated for the film's sake, read a histroy book some time! Women who "went with Germans" were beaten, had their heads shaved and sometimes even killed in towns all over Italy and France the second the town was liberated.

Heavily Censored Malena
Malena is a fine film. Sadly, you will not be able to see this film in the U.S. as Mirimax/Disney Home Video has heavily censored it for DVD release in the U.S. Monica Bellucci is a beauty, but to fully appreciate her in Malena, you'll need an Italian import of this DVD and a region-free player.