Malena (2000)
Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.
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If they ever decided to spin a weekly television series off of Federico Fellini's ''Amarcord,'' Giuseppe Tornatore, the Italian director of ''Cinema Paradiso'' and the new Malena, would be an ideal choice for executive producer.
Malena begins as a lighthearted drama that recalls one of Federico Fellini's best-known works, Amarcord.
Giuseppe Tornatore ( Cinema Paradiso ) adapted his new film Malèna from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni ( The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ), yet the whole thing comes off like a loud and humorless ripoff of Federico Fellini's Amarcord .
Tornatore does not have Fellini's deft hand, however, and the story eventually takes a dark turn, with some of its themes and ideas recalling the late Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Love , in which a young voyeur comes has his fantasy picture of a woman brutally shattered by an encounter with her.
Malena may first strike viewers as an Italian variation of Summer of '42, a coming-of-age story of a boy who becomes infatuated with an older, unreachable town beauty.
I'm sorry, but even though filmmaker Giuseppe ("Cinema Paradiso") Tornatore's name is on "Malena," a wannabe sensitive coming-of-age tale set in World War II-era Sicily, it still feels more like "Porky's" with marinara sauce than "Summer of '42."
(February 2, 2001) -- For Malena, director Giuseppe Tornatore returns to the rustic, sun-drenched and oh-so-sensual small-town Sicilian life he fondly recalled in Cinema Paradiso.
With "Malèna," Italian auteur Giuseppe Tornatore returns to familiar ground, once again chasing the widespread international success that has eluded him ever since 1989's Oscar-winning "Cinema Paradiso."
If they ever decided to spin a weekly television series off of Federico Fellini's ''Amarcord,'' Giuseppe Tornatore, the Italian director of ''Cinema Paradiso'' and the new Malena, would be an ideal choice for executive producer.
The latest film from the director of Cinema Paradiso - by turns sumptuous, sexy, funny, moving, thought-provoking and disturbing.
Along the way, Tornatore sticks to the same basic style that served him well in his 1989 international hit, Cinema Paradiso , by employing equal parts nostalgia, comedy, and drama.
I'm sorry, but even though filmmaker Giuseppe ("Cinema Paradiso") Tornatore's name is on "Malena," a wannabe sensitive coming-of-age tale set in World War II-era Sicily, it still feels more like "Porky's" with marinara sauce than "Summer of '42."
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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."
But it smacks of a desperation move for Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, who has at least two very good movies to his credit (1994's "A Pure Formality" and 1988's Oscar-winning "Cinema Paradiso").
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.
Giuseppe Tornatore, whose "Cinema Paradiso" was everyone's favorite Italian film before "Life Is Beautiful" came along, returns to his nostalgia roots with "Malena," a charming and vulgar story about a woman whose beauty enraptures an entire town.
Much like 1994's "Star Maker" and, to a lesser degree, last year's "The Legend of 1900," "Malèna" is a romantic fable in the "Paradiso" mold, a silky floe so tenderly conceived and expertly executed that it seems inconceivable it should fail.
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."
Last year's "The Legend of 1900" -- drama about a pensive piano virtuoso who lived his entire life on a luxurious ocean liner -- wasn't as accomplished a film, but it was no less potent in bringing vividly to life its turn-of-the-Century ambiance and demeanor.
The correct answer has to be Giuseppe Tornatore, the man behind "Cinema Paradiso" and "The Legend of 1900."