Malena [DVD]

I first saw this film via Netflix streaming last year and loved it. I often suggest it to others, and came to the conclusion I should own it. After searching online, I discovered some issues. One being that there are two separate versions, cut (for American audiences) and uncut / special edition (apparently for the rest of the world...who have eyes and minds that can tolerate a visual portrayal of the nude human form). Of course I wanted the latter, not only because Monica Bellucci is easily one of the most beautiful women in the history of forever and ever...but also because I despise an artist's creation being hacked and slashed due to a vocal minority of insecure 'potential' viewers. Censorship of artistic expression is shameful, unless it breaks the law in some way. The second issue I found was that as an American the only Blu-ray option I had was the cut / censored version. Because of this I opted to search for the uncensored 2-Disc DVD set from Korea, which I'd found through research was supposedly Region zero and would play on Region 1 (United States, Canada, Bermuda, U.S. territories) players. I contacted the Amazon merchant "Import CD's" out of California concerning the region issue and they provided me with all they had, which was not much more than Amazon had. I went ahead with the order through Import CD's as I've dealt with them in the past. Shipping was very prompt and the merchandise was in fine quality when received. The back of the case stated region 3, so I used Wikipedia to find any more information and noticed that region 3 should NOT play in region 1 players. I took a chance anyway, noting both the information from Import CD's and Amazon's website, as well as user reviews acknowledging the Korean version as the one to buy. I was pleased to find that it indeed does work on a US Playstation 3, however the 2nd disc (special features) would not load. Just a continuous clicking as the system continued the attempt. I tried the disc in my PC. GOM Player would not load it, but VLC did load the menu and managed to play through roughly 5 minutes of the first "making of" before stalling and not allowing any more playback, even after multiple attempts at different menu selections. This is not a huge deal for me as I got the movie at a reasonable price and the actual movie was all I really wanted anyway. I'll check YouTube, etc. to see if I can find special feature items at some later time. Overall the movie quality is great (other than the first minute or two, in which video quality does suffer from lack of clarity a bit) for a DVD being up-converted on a PS3. The picture is 2.35:1 Anamorphic widescreen and the disc is single layer, NTSC. Audio was fine (the movie includes a great soundtrack!), with both Dolby Digital 2.0/DTS and Dolby 5.1 surround as options. If you're new to this movie, do understand that it is a foreign film (Italian) without English dialogue, so you'll have to opt for English or Korean subtitles with the Italian spoken dialogue. I found that the subtitles did not really detract from my enjoyment of the film at all...and once you've seen the film you'll be watching it again anyway, so you'll have plenty of time to see it all. The packaging reads mainly in English on the cover and binding, however the film description on the back is only Korean. In summary, if you love this film buy this Korean 2-Disc version (Barcode # 8 809154 130234)...unless a Blu-ray uncut special edition for your region is announced, in which case that is a must buy over this!. If you're on the fence and a Netflix subscriber, I suggest streaming it now, or rent it wherever you can find it...either version. You won't regret it. This is a fantastic coming of age film with wonderful acting and great atmosphere. Highly recommended!

I thought this was the unedited version, but it's not. There is a scene or two in this one that are so heavily edited they don't really make sense. Still, it ranks in my top five movies of all time. Funny, charming, sexy, and insightful.

Such a wonderful movie. Will be watching again and again

Monica Bellucci always so beautiful. Nice story about a boyish crush. Love the music by a great composer.

I like this movie

Good movie

This is one of the best movies I ever watched. This movie explores the theme of love, beauty, and sexuality. The whole life of Malena is presented through the eyes of the young boy. Every time I watch this movie I cry because I understand what this boy feels. I think that this was his only love that he will never forget. Malena's beauty is her punishment. Our society is such that people like to create stereotypes. Malena was forced to become a prostitute; she had no choice. This is definitely a philosophical movie that reminds me of works of Fedor Dostoevsky . In one of his books Dostoevsky also described girls who had to work as prostitutes. Dostoevsky describes these girls as angels with bright feathers. Malena's fate is to suffer. The crowd in the city where Malena grew up could not swallow the fact that Malena is a gorgeous woman. Both men and women are mesmerized by her beauty. Women and men jealous and gossip, and as a result, Malena's reputation is damaged and she could not find a job to survive. The community is heartless. The boy is the only one who seems to understand Malena's situation and bravely helps Malena. This movie is about the true love.

A very thought provoking movie. I know mostly about “Les Tondues”, France. It did happen across Europe during the post WW2 era.

Fascinante drama enmarcado en la Italia del fascismo y de la II Guerra Mundial en la que por un lado vivimos el drama del adolescente y su fijación obsesiva por quien se convierte sin proponerselo en oscuro objeto de deseo onírico y que a su vez vivirá su propio drama en el mundo adulto fruto de ese mismo objeto de deseo y de sufrir por ello las peores envidias. Todo ello narrado con una exquisita sensibilidad por el gran Giuseppe Tornatore, autor de la premiada y alabada "Cinema Paradiso", y que aquí concibe otra pequeña obra maestra. Magnífica fotografía que realza los escenarios naturales del rodaje y atinada partitura sonora del gran Ennio Morricone. En definitiva un excelente film para disfrutar y reflexionar presentado en una magnífica edición de imagen y sonido en correcto formato Scope 2,40 / 1.

I think it's my favourite Italian movie I've ever seen and I honestly prefer it to Cinema Paradiso. I'm not gonna review the movie because it's a classic but I'll say this is an unrated version with extra 16 minutes of nudity that I haven't seen before and my oh my... I wish I'd seen it when I was a kid. Any other version sold in Europe is cut which defies the purpose. Also, Imprint releases are amazing. Not only they have new extra features but the artwork is stunning and always different on the rigit slipcover than on the insert cover. 4k transfer is very sharp and clean. The colours in this movie are very warm. The music of Ennio Morricone is beautiful and changes according to the scenes. It can emphasize funny scenes and then it goes back to this romantic nostalgic theme. Absolutely stunning release of an underrated classic and a must-have for Monica Belucci fans.

I purchased this DVD however it is a region 1 disc and unable to be played in New Zealand. Do you have the correct disc for our region

Ein kleines Dorf in Sizilien 1941 - Italien tritt in den Krieg ein. Unter Malèna hatte ich mir einen Ort vorgestellt. Statt dessen ist es eine Frau, sie heißt eigentlich Magdalena und ist bildschön, sinnlich und zauberhaft. Malènas Mann muss in den Krieg ziehen und kämpft gegen die Engländer. Die Männer des Dorfes sind verrückt nach ihr - die Frauen des Dorfes sehen auf sie herab. Der 12-jährige Renato verliebt sich unsterblich in sie, darf aber noch nicht einmal lange Hosen tragen ... Dieser Film aus dem Jahre 2000 von Giuseppe Tornatore mit der Filmmusik von Ennio Morricone Giuseppe Tornatore Suite: Malena (Main Theme) wirkte auf mich zunächst wie eine Satire; alles ist sehr übertrieben dargestellt: die pubertierenden Jungs auf ihren Fahrrädern, die gehässigen Weiber auf dem Dorfanger und die Malèna nachsabbernden Männer des Dorfes. Malèna ist jeden Tag Tagesgespräch. Der Film ist in dieser Beziehung sehr stark zugeschnitten auf Monica Belucci und bei den Extras auf der DVD erfährt man, dass Giuseppe Tornatore mit ihr seine Idealbesetzung für den Film gefunden hat. Monica Belucci muss zunächst nicht viel mehr machen, als die Straße entlanglaufen und gut aussehen. Doch das ändert sich. Andere Rezensenten bemängeln hier die beschnittene deutsche Version auf dieser DVD. Dazu kann ich nichts sagen, weil ich die längere Kinoversion mit Renatos Lust-Phantasien nicht kenne. Dieser Film hat mich dennoch sehr berührt und ich musste dabei heulen wie ein Schlosshund, als Malèna wegen Ehebruch vor Gericht gestellt wird und im Anschluss daran von den Dorffrauen gedemütigt und geschändet wird. Spätestens hier wurde mir klar, dass es sich nicht um eine Satire handelt. Die Liebe des jungen Renato zu Malèna ist eine Liebe aus der Ferne. Er beobachtet sie heimlich, er ist in Gedanken bei ihr, er stellt sich vor, wie es mit ihr ist, doch sie bleibt unerreichbar für ihn. Als es zum Schlimmsten kommt, ist Renato zu jung, um ihr zu helfen. Renato wird gemimt von Giuseppe Sulfaro, der hier das erste Mal vor der Kamera stand. Das alles kann man in Interviews mit dem Regisseur Tornatore und mit Monica Belucci auf den DVD-Extras noch einmal nachvollziehen. Von daher ist die DVD sehr gut ausgestattet und den Film halte ich neben Cinema Paradiso für ein weiteres Meisterwerk von Giuseppe Tornatore.

Great film.