Set in WWII Sicily, Malena is a comedy/drama about beauty's power to inspire and to destroy. Thirteen-year old Renato is infatuated with the town siren Malena. (So is every hot-blooded male in the town.) He follows her around town in his bicycle. He skips class and camps outside her house. At night he becomes a voyeur and watches over her.
Such is Malena's beauty that whenever she walks by, the whole town just stops. The men ogle and the women gossip. When news that her soldier-husband has died in the war, matters took a turn for the worse. Malena became fair game, and the men converged on her. Their wives spread nasty rumors about her being a prostitute, and she was eventually sued in court. She sought help from a lawyer. The lecherous lawyer defended her well in court, but that night he made sure Malena paid top price, even though she has no money on her.
The climax of the movie was when Malena was barbarically tortured by the "moralists" of the town, who accused her of sleeping with the enemy. The wives dragged her to the streets, and proceeded to kick and beat her up, tearing her clothes and cutting her hair. As usual, the men just ogled. (A few people have suggested that Melana is actually a contraction for the biblical Magdalena - the famous carnal sinner who turns out to be virtuous in the end.)All this time Renato has been watching and waiting. When Malena's husband came back, crippled and ignored, he directed him where to find his wife.
The couple eventually returned to the town, and the hypocrites welcomed them as if nothing happened. Near the end of the movie, Renato finally got to talk to Malena after all these years. He wished her luck and pedalled away on his bicycle. He never told her what she means to him - his muse, his sense of honor, his courage. Till his dying days, he never loved another like he loved her.Direction by Giuseppe Tornatore, score by Ennio Morricone. The main theme eventually became You're Still You by Josh Groban.
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