A teenage boy, a pretty woman and a brand-new bicycle are the key elements of an Italian movie named Malena which brings the audience an exaggerated but real and fierce world with people jealous of the beauty.
A short boy with typical Italian look rides cheerfully to his friends to show his new bicycle, but none of them cares about it because all of them are attracted to the new resident of the small seaside town, a tall hot black-haired and black-eyed woman just married with a guy in the town who is Malena. The boys are waiting outside her house just for seeing her because she is so perfect. The boy falls in love deeply when he sees the fascinating woman for the first time. Then his major job is watching, following, dreaming, imagining her, and he even writes to her but never sends it out yet.
Initially Malena is an elegant young woman like a blossom flower. All she wants to do is living a peaceful life and waiting for the letters from her husband on the front line. But such a beautiful woman living alone in a large house and seldom talking to others in the neighborhood always brings lots of imagination and most of the imaginations are not good. While she is walking through the square, all the men are staring at her with the strong desire to get her and all the woman are jealous of her attractive face and terrific figure and want her disappeared. It’s not surprising that rumor rises up all around, the contents of which are not beyond her private life mostly the assumptions that she sleeps with such and such a guy and the like. That situation lasts for a while until the killed-in-action notification of her husband arrives. While hearing the news, the town is boiling. All the men in the town seem to see the hope to make their dream realized. And they come to her house one by one in the dark of the night and promise everything to her.
In the period of night-dating time, an old woman found her husband at the door of Malena’s fighting with a sergeant for the right of dating Malena. Then Malena is charged with breaking others’ family. Although she is sentence to innocence, she falls into a tougher situation that she loses the right to make a choice of her own life. She is raped by the lawyer defending her in the case. Meanwhile her father, a Latin teacher, closes her outside his house because of the rumor. Actually no one trusts her except the boy. Although it’s sort of disgusting, the lawyer wants to marry her. But his mother is not willing to accept such a daughter-in-law. At this time, the war comes to the small town and bombers destroy the school. Her father dies in the school building. What makes things worse is lack of food as a result of the war. Now not only does she lose her body, but also her hope of life. Then she cuts her curve long hair short and washes herself to start a dreadful life, using her body for life. She bleaks her hair and serves the Nazis.
At the end of the war, American troops arrive and people crowd in the streets to celebrate the victory. The entire town is in the sea of cheers, when a woman comes up with beating Malena in public. Then a bunch of women run up stairs and drag her down. They pull her hair, kick her body, cut her hair and beat her fiercely and insanely without any humanity. Their emotions, their jealousy burst out in just one second. Their ugly faces show in the sun thoroughly without any reservation. Malena lies on the square dreadful wounded, but no one is willing to stretch their hand. She stands up slowly and cries loudly at the men surrounding in a circle. All of them used to promise everything to her in order to get her or just sleep with her, but now their promises and their so-called love are all gone.
She has to choose to leave after that and gets on the train to another place far away from here.
Some day, a weak young man comes back with one arm lost in the war. He is Malena’s husband. He is still alive and seeking his wife everywhere who is the one who loves Malena sincerely and Malena’s true lover. Finally he finds out where she went with the help of the bicycle boy and brings her back. And he leads her walking through crowds in the square and bringing her dignity back in public, in the place where people once treated her unfairly and even insulted her badly.
When the movie was over, I was lost in thought deeply. Actually it’s hard for standout people or things to survive in the world, maybe it’s sort of exaggerated but we can always witness the not-so-exaggerated edition in our daily life. Beauties or standouts are always subject to jealousy from the surrounding people and the rumors always go along with them.
Moreover, I really appreciate Malena’s husband. He is a true man because he can protect the woman he loves and bring her dignity and respect. More importantly, he understands her tough situation and forgives her what she did before.
2007-7-31 11:05:00 
