Customer Reviews

Malena Uncut Special Edition 2 DVD Set [All regions]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Note: Italian with English subtitles.

This is an incredibly sad and poignant film about the despicable treatment levied by an insensitive community on a World War II wife (Monica Bellucci) left alone to fend for herself while her husband is away serving in the Italian Army. It's rumored that he has died in battle but no one knows for sure, not even Malena. It soon becomes assumed by all that she is now a widow and available.

By far the most beautiful and sexually desirable woman in town, the entire community virtually comes to a standstill whenever Malena walks by. The men make little to no attempt to hide their lust as they undress her with their eyes, while the women of the community stare at her just as fiercely for being what they could never be.

Men of influence and wealth are ready and willing to take advantage of the situation. Under the pretense of kindness and generosity they offer their services all the while seeking only to satisfy their carnal desires with her feminine charms. Refusing their sexual advances only makes matters worse for no matter what the truth may be she is unfairly branded a whore and a husband stealer.

While she continues on with her daily routines she silently suffers through all the slander and abuse heaped on by the town. Only one young teenage boy seems to see the sad truth of the situation but he can only watch and quietly deal with his own lustful desires for Malena.

Just as Malena is about to reach her breaking point the German Army occupies the town. Having been rejected for so long by her community she turns to the enemy for acceptance and comfort. This of course only serves to fan the flames of hatred towards her. When the soldiers are finally forced to retreat a final confrontation between Malena and the townspeople is inevitable.

Monica Bellucci is stunning in the role of Malena. Her silent, long-suffering portrayal is heartbreaking. This is pure speculation on my part, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover she was picked for the part of Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson's "The Passion" based on this performance.

Don't buy the - Region 1 - release which has been horribly truncated into 92 minutes. This 2 disc - All Region - "Director's Cut" - release from Korea is the one you want to purchase. It's 108 minutes in length, giving you an additional 16 minutes to enjoy the beautiful Monica Bellucci! "Viva Le Difference!"

For anyone interested in watching Monica Bellucci's "Malena", you should by this "Uncut Special Edition". As other reviewers have said, the version that is available in North America is one that has been censored by Miramax. I saw that version first and then bought this one. This version, imported from Korea, is the full film---the way it was meant to be seen. And it is ofcourse much much better.

They censored such truly beautiful scenes that once you see them, you wonder why in the world would Miramax cut them out of the film. I'll just give one example. In one scene, Malena is lying on a chair outside her house on the porch, relaxing in the sun and drying her wet hair. She is wearing a light summer dress and has her hair hanging behind the chair. Drops of water are falling on the ground. The young boy Renato hids behind a tree and looks at her. It is such a beautiful image of Malena that you just want to keep watching it. And apparently the Miramax censor board found this scene too erotic and removed it from the film. I won't tell you the other scenes, I don't want to ruin the movie. So watch the Uncut Edition, and you'll see what you're missing and what a great film this is.

The most striking thing about this movie is that the two central characters of the film, Malena and Renato, do not talk to each other in the whole film. They don't even have a brief conversation. There is only one line---the last line of the film that Renato directly says to Malena, but Malena's reply is a nod. She doesn't say anything in words. But still the whole story revolves around the two. It is truly remarkable that Tornatore, the director, was able to convey such a unique story, mostly through images and not words, showing the true magic of cinema.

With deleted scenes put back in, this is a 5-star movie. However, this 'Import, Uncut' version is CENSORED in a way that ruins the overall movie. Large, black blotches are used to block out pelvic anatomy without clothing, which now seems typical censorship for all these (Korean?) imports. If you don't think intimate scenes should be covered over with 'black spot' editing, and you're an adult that can handle seeing a naked body - send a message. Don't waste your money.

Like another reveiewer, I purchased this after purchasing the U.S. Miramax version. I have to agree with most of the reveiwers that the uncut version is vastly superior in every way. Without the complete scenes in which Renato is seen slwoly falling completely for Malena, the film is merely a beautifully shot film, with a lovely actress and a great soundtrack. Uncut, it becomes an insightful look into the passions that drive us, both as young adolescents and adults, for better(Renato)or for worse (Malena). Lastly, I don't know what version the one reviewer had who commented about the pelvic region being blocked out. My copy had no such censoring.

This film uncut is magnificent!

If you are looking for story, then you can see ether one of these. They are both good. It's a story about a hot girl who is left alone in a small town, during the war, and all the bad stuff she has to deal with because of her looks. There are 2 stories here.
One is the town's inability to accept someone so Hot. The women hate her, and call her a slut. The men trick her, bribe her, and force her into bed.
The second story is about a 12 year old boy who is starting to notice women, and of course, he notices Monica Bellucci (Matrix Reloaded). His constant fantasies about her are driving his friends, and family mad, and are all the nude scenes that are added back into this UNCUT version.

If you are looking just for a story, then see ether version. If you are looking for Monica Bellucci naked, then see this.
The reason that is was cut, is because it is illegal in the US to show underage children in sexual situations. The 12 year old boy in constant fantasies with her naked, is just that. And those are the only real nude scenes of her.

Good story ether way.
If you like this, you will also like Midnight clear. Another good WW2 film.

My review is directed towards those of you who have already seen the EDITED version of this film because I am more interested in informing you about this particular version rather than summarizing this wonderful story itself. If have not seen "Malena", the only review you need is "SEE IT".

First off, "Malena" is my favorite monica Bellucci film (and I have many of them as far back as "La Riffa", "The "Apartment" and "How Much Do You Love Me?". Admittedly, I got a late start on Monica Bellucci as "Malena" was the first film I saw of hers, although a pretty good jump start to the rest of America considering her films were unheard of in America before this film. But it's also a wonderful, wonderful film that is funny, sweet, touching, hurtful, heartwarming and just enjoyable to watch.

Now with the newly released uncut version, there are pros and cons. For those of you who have seen the film and love it, you MUST get the uncut version. There are many extended scenes and LOTS and LOTS of added scenes - 16 minutes worth! Many of these scenes enhance the storytelling in the desires and dream sequences that Renato has for Malena, thus most of these are of Monica Bellucci nude including many scenes of her topless, Renato rescuing her, fantasizing about her, Malena washing her breasts and even an extension on an existing scene where Renato imagines Malena coming into his room (the theatrical release has her walking up to him and the scene ends). In the uncut version, the scene continues beginning with what I thought was great detail as Renato slides up her skirt to reveal her garter strap (you remember when the boys were follwinng her around the village and there's a camera shot of her garter clasp through her silk skirt...that is a very sexy scene). Renato proceeds to undress her until Malena is totally nude from the front and side. Renato kneels down so he is eye level with her vagina, which you do not see as it is a side view, but it is a close-up of her pubic hair.

All of these scenes are tasteful and in context and consistent with the film. They NEVER should have been taken out. This is a beautiful film and a beautiful story and all these 16 MINUTES of deleted and extended scenes were actually the original version of the film and were later HEAVILY edited for American release. Again, these scenes are very tasteful scenes. I think the only reason they were cut for America is because of the young age of the Renato character being in direct contact with a nude, adult woman (especially one like Monica Bellucci...lucky, little bastard).

The ONLY problem I have with this film are he subtitles (what's with these Korean only releases of Monica Bellucci films anyway?). Make sure you press your "subtitle" button on your remote to access English subtitles. The problem with the subtitles, and it's only a few instances, is that a few scenes (that were in the theatrical release) are missing the subtitles (ex: when Renato is first masturbating in his bed and the squeaking of the bed springs wakes up his father and his father screams, "you're going to go blind!" - the subtitles are absent.). This is the case in a few scenes. Also, some of the subtitles come in too early or are not complete. For example, when Malena's father gets the note from the school headmaster in the middle of class regarding what's been going on with Malena and the student next to him reads it out loud to the class over his shoulder (Malena's father is mostly deaf), not all of the letter is in the subtitles as it is in the theatrical release. Also, at the funeral scene when people are offering their condolences to Malena, the man who sells her food reminds her that his "offer still stands", but if you hadn't seen the theatrical release and knew that, you wouldn't because the subtitle comes in several seconds before with a different character. If I was seeing this film for the first time, I would miss a few things here and there because of the subtitles, so if you are showing it to someone for the first time, you may want to fill them in on a few scenes. Otherwise, I'll never watch the theatrical release again as there is SO MUCH missing from it.

Lovers of this film will be quite pleasantly pleased with the added material that should never have been deleted in the first place.

VIVA MALENA!

- Tuma
Jacksonville, FL

If you have not seen this movie, go immediately to the title and order it! This is the best, without question, movie, of all genres, I have seen in at least five years.

First of all, with Monica Bellucci in it, I need not say much more. But seldom does a film capture the entire spectrum of emotions as this one does. At times I laughed until it hurt, at other times the sadness was maddening. Few films have exposed the Italian psyche during the confusing Fascist WWII years. Malena captures the backdrop of Fascist Sicily while providing a glimpse of human nature, human frailty and, especially, human failings.

6 stars on a scale of 1-5!

I'll not reiterate the plot, or the many beauties of the star, though whether the intentions of the young admirer go beyond voyeurism, I'm not so sure. I found the film surprisingly unmoving on a second viewing; yes she had hard times, yes she was forced and raped and squeezed, yes she had few options. But I was desensitized and appalled all over by then. The barbarity and depravity of the culture she lived in made me wince from the beginning. These leering boys are creepy. The men-only talk is ugly. And the famous scene in which she is brutalized by the women of the town....well, if I had been there I hope I would have had the courage to offer her a jacket and an arm to lead her back to her house. This is a grotesque world, a world of double-standards, lies, deceit and an unrelenting coarseness that made me weary.

But I write this for one reason only. My second DVD, the one with the bonus offerings, provides no English subtitles to the films. Korean only. Though the menu of the DVD is in English, nothing else is. Not too useful to this speaker of neither Italian nor Korean. Others may be different. But mine is of no value.

A city as though under the spell of Circe, every man grunting and hoggish, every woman a shrieking harridan, the boys a pack of feral dogs, their victim a young woman apparently entirely virtuous, whom her soldier husband has had to leave behind in a place not her own,and who is treated as foul because unbearably fair--this is the darkest movie I have ever seen, possibly excepting The Lord of the Flies. The atmosphere is one of impending human sacrifice, the near-ending is in fact torture, short of the very flawed boy hero there is no trace of decency, or courage, or even honest ardor among the men toward this lovely, tragic creature. That all this happens in a city of considerable elegance (it is most certainly not a village) and in a landscape with the austere magnificence of the Italian south only tightens the screw.
It is a movie of genius, impeccably acted, superbly cast, beautifully shot, perfectly paced (and, yes, of course this, not the maimed American studio version, is the only version to buy). Is it flawed genius? Does Malena represent a loathing of humanity too deep to be sustained? Or, even worse, the kind of thinking that here comes out of Yale that all small town people are necessarily crass brutes? There is similarly comprehensive scorching in the stories and novels of Flannery O'Connor, but O'Connor is holding us up to God, and this does not seem to be the game here--the young hero would seem (it is done in gestures and glances)at the very end to learn high secular virtues of courage and thoughtfulness, but not, I think, Faith. I know Italy very well (I do not know the south at all well) and such comprehensive vileness does not seem part of the landscape that I have ever known. In this whole city, is there not one intelligent and gracious woman, one man of delicacy, even one young man of courageous gallantry? They are usually around. Does not one father reprimand his son for behaving as obscene lout to an unprotected woman? It is all yet stranger given that Malena is no wretched serving girl. By her clothes, bearing, and her husband's house, she is a lady. In the wedding photograph she once dances with by herself, her husband appears to be a gentleman, and is likely serving as an officer. All this seems to do nothing to protect her.
This is, of course, a war movie. There is a suggestion at the very end that the hysterical wickedness, or wicked hysteria, of the people is a part of the condition of war, or, more precisely, of war under Fascism (the city is so locked into hatred that even a returning, wounded, Italian officer is casually knocked down in the street by one of the porcine city fathers). This may be. A sort of storm does seem to pass with ending of the war, and gleams of light do creep out.
There is much more to say, many scenes I would love to discuss. But this would spoil a glorious movie for those who have not seen it, which I do not want to do. Obtain this cut, and watch this movie. Don't expect "Mamma Mia!"

A terrific movie! Monica is extraordinarily gorgeous, of course. The story of a boy fascinated with her, peeping on her whenever he can, is very believable, and he plays it well. The whole picture is reminiscent of 'The bicycle thief' and Sophia Loren era of Italian movies, but much better. In glorious color and perfectly directed, I rate it unfairly criticized in some other reviews.