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This is an Italian production set in the village of Castelcutó in Sicily in the middle of World War II and revolves around a 27 year old woman whose name is Maddalena, but she is known as Malena, played by Monica Bellucci, Italian model and actress who was nominated for the Cesar Awards in 1997 as the most promising actress for her work in The Apartment and the platonic love that the 12 year old Renato Amoroso, played by Giuseppe Sulfaro, has for her.
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The woman is married to Nino who is fighting in Africa and every day she walks from her house located in the outskirts of the village to this one and as a ritual, a group of teenagers on their bicycles follow her and the men watch her because of her beauty.
She represents for the group of young men the sexual awakening and the fantasy of being her boyfriend in the future but she also suffers the rejection of almost everyone, especially after the invasion of the enemy in which she fraternizes with the soldiers.
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It handles a simple but at the same time complicated theme as it portrays the daily life of a lost village in Sicily and its inhabitants, with situations that are not so common.
It was directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, renowned for having won the Oscar in 1990 in the Best Foreign Language Film category for Cinema Paradiso and other awards at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, and he also wrote the screenplay with Luciano Vincenzoni.
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Criticism in his country of origin was good but in other countries was mixed, highlighting the interesting themes such as machismo, envy, eroticism, as well as the superficial and hypocritical society while criticizing the role of women as sexual objects and some strong scenes that made it to be classified as "R" in some countries.
It was nominated for an Oscar in the categories Best Cinematography and Best Music, while Giuseppe Sulfaro won the Italian Golden Globes for Best New Actor.
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This film opened the doors to Hollywood for its star, was released, cost approximately $12 million to produce and grossed around $31 million at the box office, making it the 5th highest grossing Italian film in its genre and was seen by an estimated 9 million people worldwide.