‘Malena’ Emerges as an Evocative Beauty

After the bravura esoterica of such films as “A Pure Formality” and “The Legend of 1900,” Giuseppe Tornatore, with “Malena,” returns to the wide appeal of his classic “Cinema Paradiso.”

Once again we’re in an enchanting, ancient Sicilian city; once again Tornatore is dealing with a coming-of-age theme. But “Malena” is a much tougher, riskier movie than “Cinema Paradiso,” yet just as successful as his 1990 Oscar winner.

Three things happened to 12 1/2-year-old Renato Amoroso (Giuseppe Sulfaro) on July 10, 1940: He was given his first bicycle; Mussolini declared war on France and Great Britain; and he laid eyes on Malena Scordia (Monica Bellucci) for the first time. The last of these three events was by far the most important, for Renato is hit simultaneously with the full onslaught of sexual desire and grand passion. Malena is an awesomely beautiful young woman with a spectacular figure. Her husband is already off to war, leaving Malena with her aged, deaf father.

Malena needs only to stroll through town on her ankle-strap wedgies to cause an uproar. Every male between adolescence and senility openly lusts after her; every woman, consumed with envy, loathes her and besmirches her reputation. Fired by the movies he loves as much as the somewhat younger hero of “Cinema Paradiso,” Renato imagines he is Tarzan to her Jane, among other couples of the silver screen.

Unlike the other males of the seaside town of Castelcuto, Renato loves her even more than he lusts after her. He projects onto her a nobility of spirit, a purity of heart, that are actually qualities he possesses himself.

We have here all the makings of a classic brief encounter between the gorgeous but lonely “older”--Malena is but 27--woman who inducts a sensitive youth into manhood. But “Malena’ is no “Summer of ‘42,” and while Renato becomes swiftly obsessed with the object of his passion to the extent that he spends all his free time spying on her, she does not seem to be aware of his existence. Mussolini may be of vastly less importance to Renato than Malena, but not to Tornatore.

Drawing from a short story by veteran screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni, the movie shows the citizens of Castelcuto to be ardent admirers of Il Duce--Renato’s leftist father seems the rare exception--thrilled to hear his declaration of war.

Indeed, the film equates the subsequent fate of Malena with that of Italy in general and Sicily in particular. The townspeople are ignorant in their view of both Mussolini and Malena. As the war progresses the aloof dignity Malena rigorously maintains becomes harder and harder to sustain in the face of escalating poverty and deprivation, making her ever more vulnerable to gossip-mongers. By the time Castelcuto is bombed you can’t help but feel it is just punishment for its evil treatment of her.

But Tornatore takes a much larger view, and the warm embrace of his wide scope is what makes the film such a triumph. Tornatore fills the screen with people who are small-minded and who behave horribly but whom he views with humor and loving forgiveness. If in fact he didn’t love his people so passionately, you would be hard put not to hate them.

Yet this film is an expression of faith that people can undergo a change of heart, leaving us to hope that good can come from evil after all--and that surviving war may serve to dent the Sicilians’ zealous puritanism.

Tornatore has at his command those grand operatic gestures that are at the heart of the classic Italian cinema; it’s easy to imagine that he, like other maestros, could wring tears from a stone. But unlike the recent hit “Life Is Beautiful,” “Malena” is relentlessly cleareyed instead of shamelessly manipulative, and it builds to an emotional crescendo that brings to mind the finales of the Neo-Realist classics. He would seem to have the artistry plus the depth of emotion to get by with just about anything.

“Malena” the film is as beautiful and seductive as its heroine, with its ravishing Lajos Koltai cinematography and sweepingly romantic Ennio Morricone score. Sulfaro mainly registers pain, longing and finally chagrin with his dark expressive eyes, and Bellucci has only a handful of words in the entire film. Yet so cinematic is Tornatore that they both can be said to give heroic portrayals.

There seems little doubt, too, that Bellucci will create an international sensation. She has the impact of the great Italian stars, her face recalling that of the late Silvano Mangano and her figure that of Sophia Loren.

* MPAA rating: R, for sexuality/nudity, language and some violence. Times guidelines: language, adult themes and situations; too intense for small children.

‘Malena’

Monica Bellucci: Malena Scordia

Giuseppe Sulfaro: Renato Amoroso

Luciano Federico: Renato’s father

Matilde Piana: Renato’s mother

A Miramax Films and Medusa Film presentation and production. Director Giuseppe Tornatore. Producers Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi. Executive producers Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti. Screenplay by Tornatore; based on a story by Luciano Vincenzoni. Cinematographer Lajos Koltai. Editor Massimo Quaglia. Music Ennio Morricone. Costumes Maurizio Millenotti. Art director Francesco Fregeri. Set designer Bruno Cesari. Set decorator Rona De Angelo. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes.

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