A story of the painful passage into adulthood from director Giuseppe Tornatore ('Cinema Paradiso'). The year is 1940, and in the sleepy Sicilian town of Castelucto teenager Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) has developed a crush on the the beautiful and mysterious Malena (Monica Bellucci). Malena's husband Nino, who has been away fighting in the war, has now been reported dead, and the women of the town have taken to spreading malicious gossip about this woman who never fails to turn their husbands' heads. But as the gossip spreads, and the town fills with half-truths and false rumours, there is only one person who knows the truth, and that is young Renato.