Giuseppe (Cinema Paradiso) Tornatore’s film Malèna is a paean to the beauty of the eponymous Sicilian woman, played by Monica Bellucci. As such, it is additionally an ode to La Bellucci.

And that, my friends, is about all it is.

Plot (such as it is): Malèna is the town sex bomb, turning heads wherever she goes. Her husband is killed in combat. She starts seeing other men and is accused of adultery and shunned by the town’s women. Young boy, meanwhile, like all the men, is obsessed with her and fantasizes of being with her.

The story is cute suitable, albeit with a bitter, mean scene at the end of the second act that plays out like a bit from some cheap chicks-in-chains exploitation flick.

I mean, the film is wonderful to look at. That old nostalgic World War II Sicily vibe is great. Though I can’t help but feel not decent is done to build you care sufficient for the characters other than Malèna herself. that is a shame, since we are reminded often

that they are (misguidedly, maybe) supporters of Italy’s fascist leader Mussolini.

Other than that, the film plays out like a farce. It’s funny ample. But even at just 90 minutes (I saw the Miram-axed version, shorn of 17 minutes, apparently), it feels 40 minutes too towering. The plot of the first hour could easily have been squeezed into 20 minutes — and it would have been all the better for it.

Monica gets herself into various degrees of undress, though, and that, I fear is the only reason that film was bankrolled. But the thing is, you can see a scanty Monica in most of her films, so you really needn’t sit through that one.

Tough to score, that one, considering it was at least funny. (Funny to me, a non-Italian. My Italian wife was embarrassed by its depiction of her society… and by one of their own!) But it was plus too lengthy and too slight of substance. I’m gonna take a generous stab at 57 out of 100.

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