If the opening scene of a movie pays homage to The Wild Bunch, and I was not a fan of The Wild Bunch, run! Malena is Tess of the D’Urbervilles meets Benny Hill with a dash of Cinema Paradiso. Malena is told from the perspective of a young Italian boy’s lustful obsession with the titular character, Malena, during WWII. Malena is played by Monica Bellucini so congratulations, you have eyes. She is indeed objectively hot. Malena becomes a lightning rod for the town as they project their desires and derisions on to her. When it serves them, she is a patriotic symbol, but usually she is a scapegoat for their frustrations and shortcomings thus revealing the poisonous hypocrisy of the town which also reveals the deeper malady of Fascism that would sweep through the population. Because Malena is set during WWII, Malena, the character, symbolizes Italy, and how Fascist Italy and the rest of Europe treated Italy. Malena is also emblematic of how women can’t win, even with other women, no matter what they do, particularly during an oppressive, turbulent time. While Malena, the film, is sympathetic to the character, I still found the tone off-putting. The boy imagines himself in sexual scenarios with Malena, which is fine until those scenes are depicted and Bellucci is basically in romantic situations with a child on screen. Pedophile alert! We never get to know Malena as a human being, but only revere her for her beauty and quiet suffering. Who needs love like that? Malena bemoans the unfair treatment of women, while treating a woman like an object. There is one valuable lesson that you should take away from Malena: dick measuring is usually a symbol that something very bad politically is heading your way.