This review originally appeared on the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s “Roll Film” movie review site (http://www.biketraffic.org/content.php?id=219_0_6_0). Each film was also reviewed by my CBF colleague, Greg Borzo, who focused more on the bike content.
MALENA
1 1/2 Wheels
Malèna, an Italian film released in 2000, manages to accomplish a couple unusual feats. First, it's both juvenile and pretentious. More surprisingly, it's somehow managed to make the subject of sex utterly boring.
It begins as a typical coming-of-age tale in which 12-year-old Renato falls in love with the beautiful, but unattainable Malèna, played by model-turned-actress Monica Bellucci. Had this been an American film, it would be dismissed as a childish sex romp in the vein of Porky's or one of the American Pie sequels. I doubt their European counterparts are any better, but they certainly try to put more sophisticated gloss on their otherwise prurient subject matter.
So here we have an attempted sex comedy with serious overtones set in World War II Sicily, and Malèna is called upon to be both sex object and martyr. I'm sure we're supposed to read some kind of symbolism between the war and Malèna's suffering, but it would take a better film to hit that point home.
You see, in Malèna's village, nobody seems to have ever seen a beautiful woman before. When her husband goes missing in the war, every male immediately begins to lust after her and devise plans to get her into bed. Every woman burns with intense jealousy and assumes Malèna to be a prostitute. Only our young narrator, whose point of view we, as an audience, are expected to share, truly loves her. He proves this love by spying on her in various states of undress.
None of this is inherently inappropriate subject matter, but there are no full-blooded human beings portrayed on screen. We know exactly one thing about every character. For Malèna, it's loyalty to her husband. For Renato, it's his obsession with Malèna. For everyone else, it's either lust or hate for Malèna. So we really can't care about this kid's coming of age, since we don't know much about him. Malèna is reduced to her appearance and nothing else.
Unfortunately, this leads to a mean streak of misogyny in the film, demonstrated by its questionable use of nudity. Nudity, properly used, can be either an erotic force or a window into the souls of more fully developed characters. (See Body Heat for the former or Nashville for the latter.) While most of the exposure consists of quick, shadowy glimpses, the one scene of sustained and clear nudity is also one of violence and humiliation. Again, if Malèna were a three dimensional character, such a moment might have been powerful and horrifying. As it is, it's just exploitation.
Malèna is a bicycle movie in that Renato is given a bike at the beginning of the film and rides throughout. There's some dialogue to the effect that receiving his bicycle is a sign of his maturity. If so, it's the only sign of maturity to be found in this dull film.
MALENA
1 1/2 Wheels
Malèna, an Italian film released in 2000, manages to accomplish a couple unusual feats. First, it's both juvenile and pretentious. More surprisingly, it's somehow managed to make the subject of sex utterly boring.
It begins as a typical coming-of-age tale in which 12-year-old Renato falls in love with the beautiful, but unattainable Malèna, played by model-turned-actress Monica Bellucci. Had this been an American film, it would be dismissed as a childish sex romp in the vein of Porky's or one of the American Pie sequels. I doubt their European counterparts are any better, but they certainly try to put more sophisticated gloss on their otherwise prurient subject matter.
So here we have an attempted sex comedy with serious overtones set in World War II Sicily, and Malèna is called upon to be both sex object and martyr. I'm sure we're supposed to read some kind of symbolism between the war and Malèna's suffering, but it would take a better film to hit that point home.
You see, in Malèna's village, nobody seems to have ever seen a beautiful woman before. When her husband goes missing in the war, every male immediately begins to lust after her and devise plans to get her into bed. Every woman burns with intense jealousy and assumes Malèna to be a prostitute. Only our young narrator, whose point of view we, as an audience, are expected to share, truly loves her. He proves this love by spying on her in various states of undress.
None of this is inherently inappropriate subject matter, but there are no full-blooded human beings portrayed on screen. We know exactly one thing about every character. For Malèna, it's loyalty to her husband. For Renato, it's his obsession with Malèna. For everyone else, it's either lust or hate for Malèna. So we really can't care about this kid's coming of age, since we don't know much about him. Malèna is reduced to her appearance and nothing else.
Unfortunately, this leads to a mean streak of misogyny in the film, demonstrated by its questionable use of nudity. Nudity, properly used, can be either an erotic force or a window into the souls of more fully developed characters. (See Body Heat for the former or Nashville for the latter.) While most of the exposure consists of quick, shadowy glimpses, the one scene of sustained and clear nudity is also one of violence and humiliation. Again, if Malèna were a three dimensional character, such a moment might have been powerful and horrifying. As it is, it's just exploitation.
Malèna is a bicycle movie in that Renato is given a bike at the beginning of the film and rides throughout. There's some dialogue to the effect that receiving his bicycle is a sign of his maturity. If so, it's the only sign of maturity to be found in this dull film.
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