Malena

rewatched malena on a slow sunday and remembered why this movie ruined me as a teenager. it's about looking and what looking does and morricone's score is one of the great italian themes ever written. the way tornatore frames her walking through the town is doing the entire thinking of the film. monica bellucci has maybe 40 lines and is somehow the entire emotional architecture. yes the gaze stuff is uncomfortable and yes that's part of the point. some of the comedy beats with the kid haven't aged well but that's a minor complaint about a movie that still wrecks me at 33 like it did at 16. the war ending is brutal. it's about being a woman, being seen, being unprotected. it's about a boy realizing too late what was happening. i don't think there's a clean way to feel about this movie and that's exactly why it stays with me. happy to give this 9 again. probably will be 9 forever