Let me briefly introduce the film first -
"The Beautiful Legend of Sicily" (Malèna), also known as "Malena"
Director: Kisep Tonatore (representative works include "The Pianist at Sea" and "Paradise Cinema", Both are amazing classics)
Region: Italy
Year : 2000
Release: Miramax Films
Starring : Monica Bellucci
This is a story about beauty being reduced to mediocrity by the forces of the world, and The story of how an adolescent child grows up step by step. I think that's what the film is mainly about.
Malena is a noble and beautiful woman, but in this small town in Sicily, her beauty has attracted countless rumors for her. The men are all fanciful and the women are gnashing their teeth. People can't seem to tolerate the existence of such a tall and sexy woman. When the war broke out, Malena's husband was said to have died, and under the pressure of making a living, she became a prostitute. After the war, the women finally released their anger. They dragged Malena out and beat her. The scene was terrible. She was forced to leave Sicily. In the end, Malena's husband came back. He found his wife and returned to life in Sicily. Malena, who has returned to her hometown, is no longer as arrogant and proud as she was in the past, and the torment of the years has made her a little more vicissitudes and heaviness-although she still has a tolerant, noble and distinctive temperament.
Many people have analyzed the devastation of war on people's lives from this film, but I prefer to keep it simple. Perhaps it is the most basic human nature that turns such beauty into tragedy. Malena's beauty brought her many unexpected disasters. Men all regard her as the target of sexual fantasies and hope she is lewd. Women hate only Malena in the eyes of men and think she is lewd. After losing her husband, Malena just wanted to live a simple life but couldn't, her innocence was destroyed long before her choice. At the end, the women of Sicily accepted her again. The reason for accepting it is just because "she has wrinkles" and "she has a thick waist", in other words, she is no more outstanding like them, there is no threat, and she can naturally live in peace. That scene was very sad for me.
What I like more is another emotion in the film. Twelve or thirteen-year-old boys are heartbroken when they see mature beauties, and they start a love that is unique to their adolescence. The boy pays attention to her life every day, falls asleep thinking about her masturbation at night, keeps writing letters to express his feelings, and throws another letter into the waves. In the scorching love of this young boy, the boy began to grow up, began to understand the human heart of the world, and began to want to protect others.
This kind of youthful memory may resonate with many people. Seeing the boy's speeding heels on a bicycle, peeping at the life of his dream lover, and ripping off a woman's panties and running home, they can't help but smile. There is probably such a period in the growth process of boys, when they infinitely long for and love a mature woman with all kinds of styles, and grow up slowly in all kinds of fantasies. When I watched it, I thought of "Sunny Days" and "Hong Yan" countless times, both with such a green but nostalgic taste.
There are many light and interesting parts in the film, such as when the boy is masturbating, the squeaking of the boxspring makes his father furious, such as the exaggerated actions of the father when he beats and scolds the child, such as the boy's performance when he goes to the barber shop when he grows up. What amazes me the most is that after the boy fell ill, the father yelled at the mother who wanted to use evil to cure the disease: "Your son is not sick, he has grown up. He wants to fuck a woman!" Then he took Renato to the I went to a local brothel and said to my son, "Do it, it's fine." There is such a big difference in education between the East and the West. Eastern families focus on moral cultivation, while the West seems to focus more on love.
Finally, let me say that I think the most beautiful scene in the film--sorry not Malena--is the scene where the teenager sits alone on the beach and throws the once cherished record into Haitao. I was stunned by the white rock coast in Italy. The flowing clouds in the sky were so pure and lovely. The whole shot was pushed down from far to near, very smooth.
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