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For 19 years, Fabrizio Lombardo has stuck in my journalistic throat like a hairball that wouldn’t come up. To those who were on the entertainment circuit in the 2000s, he was well-known as Harvey Weinstein’s fixer in Europe, the sycophant who was at the mogul’s side at Cannes parties and a constant presence at the Venice Film Festival.
But who exactly was he and what did he do?
In 2017, I exposed Lombardo as Weinstein’s procurer of women while on the Disney payroll, making $400,000 in under a year in 2003-2004 as the head of Miramax Italy. He knew next to nothing about the film business.
Four women came forward to corroborate reporting I...
For 19 years, Fabrizio Lombardo has stuck in my journalistic throat like a hairball that wouldn’t come up. To those who were on the entertainment circuit in the 2000s, he was well-known as Harvey Weinstein’s fixer in Europe, the sycophant who was at the mogul’s side at Cannes parties and a constant presence at the Venice Film Festival.
But who exactly was he and what did he do?
In 2017, I exposed Lombardo as Weinstein’s procurer of women while on the Disney payroll, making $400,000 in under a year in 2003-2004 as the head of Miramax Italy. He knew next to nothing about the film business.
Four women came forward to corroborate reporting I...
- 4/9/2023
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Editors Note: In the wake of Harvey Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial for rape, another woman has stepped forward alleging the media mogul sexually assaulted her 22 years ago.
A ballerina and a model, Lisa Pekar moved to Los Angeles from Milwaukee in September 2000 to pursue her Hollywood dreams as a writer and possibly an actress.
Pekar wrote a piece about her experience and also was interviewed for TheWrap by Kelly Hartog. Pekar’s allegations were corroborated by a witness who spoke to TheWrap on condition of anonymity. Asked to respond to these allegations, a spokesperson for Weinstein said: “Harvey… believes that this sequence of events did not happen as suggested here and that the accusation just isn’t true. The fact is that this narrative is so similar to others, it is therefore easy enough to suggest to some that it is a valid recollection, yet it is also possibly being repurposed for other reasons.
A ballerina and a model, Lisa Pekar moved to Los Angeles from Milwaukee in September 2000 to pursue her Hollywood dreams as a writer and possibly an actress.
Pekar wrote a piece about her experience and also was interviewed for TheWrap by Kelly Hartog. Pekar’s allegations were corroborated by a witness who spoke to TheWrap on condition of anonymity. Asked to respond to these allegations, a spokesperson for Weinstein said: “Harvey… believes that this sequence of events did not happen as suggested here and that the accusation just isn’t true. The fact is that this narrative is so similar to others, it is therefore easy enough to suggest to some that it is a valid recollection, yet it is also possibly being repurposed for other reasons.
- 1/25/2023
- by Lisa Pekar
- The Wrap
I was surprised to learn that Ronan Farrow’s new book, “Catch and Kill,” is not about Harvey Weinstein at all. It’s about Farrow’s failed relationship with NBC News. It’s a love affair between an investigative journalist and the news organization that he trusted, gone wrong. Once upon a time, NBC News loved Ronan Farrow — until around August 2017, when network executives cut off his reporting on the Hollywood mogul. Therein lies a tale of how institutions — even those devoted to telling the truth — will sometimes choose self-preservation and the status quo over exposing powerful people in their own social, political and business circles. I read the book with a rising sense of hurt on Farrow’s behalf, because I recognized the signs of when an institution decides to duck rather than tell the truth. It happened to me on this very subject, when I tried to get...
- 10/14/2019
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
While Ocean’s 8 features several cameos from previous actors in the series’ history, but not everyone made the cut.
The film’s director, Gary Ross, explained why veteran Ocean’s actor, Matt Damon, wasn’t featured in the film despite cameos from other actors who starred in previous Ocean’s films being part of the new movie.
Ross told The Hollywood Reporter a decision was made to not feature Damon, 47, as he didn’t work for storytelling reasons.
“[Picking the cameos] is an eclectic process of how does it fit in the story and how is the narrative unfolding? This, more than any movie I’ve done,...
The film’s director, Gary Ross, explained why veteran Ocean’s actor, Matt Damon, wasn’t featured in the film despite cameos from other actors who starred in previous Ocean’s films being part of the new movie.
Ross told The Hollywood Reporter a decision was made to not feature Damon, 47, as he didn’t work for storytelling reasons.
“[Picking the cameos] is an eclectic process of how does it fit in the story and how is the narrative unfolding? This, more than any movie I’ve done,...
- 6/12/2018
- by Alexia Fernandez
- PEOPLE.com
For months now, Harvey Weinstein has been pretending that this whole #MeToo thing was going to blow over, that eventually he’d be back, somehow.
On Friday that fantasy came crashing in with the force of a thousand news cameras. It’s probably a day Harvey Weinstein thought would never come. But it did. He was marched into the New York criminal court like some low-level thug — like some mob operator, like some drug dealer, like some terrorism suspect — charged with three felonies, saddled with an ankle monitoring device and forced to hand over his passport.
And then marched out in handcuffs.
So after months at an Arizona spa where no one knew him, he is now confined to New York and Connecticut, where everyone, everywhere knows him. Where the media will stalk him like the click-bait he is, where restaurants won’t take his reservation, where people will hiss...
On Friday that fantasy came crashing in with the force of a thousand news cameras. It’s probably a day Harvey Weinstein thought would never come. But it did. He was marched into the New York criminal court like some low-level thug — like some mob operator, like some drug dealer, like some terrorism suspect — charged with three felonies, saddled with an ankle monitoring device and forced to hand over his passport.
And then marched out in handcuffs.
So after months at an Arizona spa where no one knew him, he is now confined to New York and Connecticut, where everyone, everywhere knows him. Where the media will stalk him like the click-bait he is, where restaurants won’t take his reservation, where people will hiss...
- 5/25/2018
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Matt Damon’s recent controversial comments on Hollywood’s sexual harassment scandal has prompted a petition for his cameo to be removed from Ocean’s 8.
At the time of publication, the online petition had nearly 18,500 signatures calling for his removal.
Citing Damon’s alleged involvement in an attempt to kill a 2004 story about Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct, the petition claims the actor’s inclusion in Ocean’s 8 would “trivialize the serious nature” of the allegations.
“Damon’s inclusion would trivialize the serious nature of the charges against sexual abusers like Weinstein — a show massive disrespect for the brave women speaking out,...
At the time of publication, the online petition had nearly 18,500 signatures calling for his removal.
Citing Damon’s alleged involvement in an attempt to kill a 2004 story about Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct, the petition claims the actor’s inclusion in Ocean’s 8 would “trivialize the serious nature” of the allegations.
“Damon’s inclusion would trivialize the serious nature of the charges against sexual abusers like Weinstein — a show massive disrespect for the brave women speaking out,...
- 12/22/2017
- by Jodi Guglielmi
- PEOPLE.com
My in-box and physical mailbox have been inundated with messages from people eager, finally, to reveal the real story behind former Miramax Italy head Fabrizio Lombardo and Harvey Weinstein. Many of them are heartbreaking. They mostly involve models who say they were recruited, stalked and otherwise pushed into having sexual encounters with important people in the entertainment industry, Weinstein among them. I have already shared the stories of four such people, but there is a lot more to know. Let us begin with what more I’ve learned about Lombardo. Also Read: 4 Women Corroborate Fabrizio Lombardo Procured Women for Harvey Weinstein “I met.
- 10/25/2017
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
It’s so funny about the truth. It’s so simple. And yet it’s really hard to tell. Last week, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet blithely knocked down questions about whether the paper gutted and then buried an investigative story about Harvey Weinstein and the head of Miramax Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo, that I wrote in 2004, as I charged in a post on TheWrap. It was “unimaginable” to him that a paper as august as the Times would cave to “pressure from Harvey Weinstein,” he said. “After all, The Times is an institution that has published investigative reporting that caused our Chinese-language.
- 10/18/2017
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Four women have stepped forward to corroborate my New York Times reporting on Harvey Weinstein from 2004 that the former head of Miramax Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo, acted as a procurer of women rather than a film executive. Actress-director Asia Argento — who alleged in the explosive New Yorker piece published on Tuesday that she was orally raped by Weinstein during a 1997 encounter outside Cannes, France — tweeted on Tuesday night that Lombardo brought her to the mogul’s room in 1997. “He told me it was a Miramax party,” she wrote. “Only Harvey was there.” It’s unclear if she was referring...
- 10/13/2017
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
Miramax executive Fabrizio Lombardo denies setting up Hollywood producer’s alleged sexual encounters
In the week that allegations against Harvey Weinstein rocked Hollywood, Fabrizio Lombardo has emerged as a central figure in the scandal – the so-called “Italian connection” accused of enabling the American producer’s alleged sexual harassment and abuses.
Two women – Asia Argento and Zoë Brock – have claimed that Lombardo, who formerly worked as a Miramax executive in Italy, helped set up encounters with Weinstein under false pretences.
Continue reading...
In the week that allegations against Harvey Weinstein rocked Hollywood, Fabrizio Lombardo has emerged as a central figure in the scandal – the so-called “Italian connection” accused of enabling the American producer’s alleged sexual harassment and abuses.
Two women – Asia Argento and Zoë Brock – have claimed that Lombardo, who formerly worked as a Miramax executive in Italy, helped set up encounters with Weinstein under false pretences.
Continue reading...
- 10/13/2017
- by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome, Lorenzo Tondo and Sam Levin
- The Guardian - Film News
Matt Damon was all smiles when he attended the Thor: Ragnarok premiere in La with his wife, Luciana Barroso, on Tuesday. The carefree outing comes on the heels of Matt publicly denying that he tried to kill a 2004 New York Times exposé surrounding multiple allegations about Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct. According to Sharon Waxman, a former reporter for the publication, her story was "gutted" after she received phone calls from Matt and Russell Crowe "vouching" for Harvey and then-Miramax executive Fabrizio Lombardo. "My recollection was that it was about a one minute phone call," Matt told Deadline about his previous chat with Sharon. "Harvey had called me and said, 'They're writing a story about Fabrizio . . . and it's really negative. Can you just call and tell her what your experience with Fabrizio was?' So I did, and that's what I said to her. It didn't even make the piece that she wrote.
- 10/12/2017
- by Kelsie Gibson
- Popsugar.com
Matt Damon crashed Chris Hemsworth‘s interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday night just hours after denying allegations that he had helped end a story about Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct in 2004.
During Hemsworth’s segment, held just before the premier of his Marvel film Thor:Ragnorak, Damon slowly popped his head in view of the camera next to Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo and the film’s director Taika Waititi, in the backstage area of the show.
As the crowd began to scream and applaud, Kimmel joked, saying, “It’s the mighty Thor not the muddy bore, so maybe take a walk!
During Hemsworth’s segment, held just before the premier of his Marvel film Thor:Ragnorak, Damon slowly popped his head in view of the camera next to Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo and the film’s director Taika Waititi, in the backstage area of the show.
As the crowd began to scream and applaud, Kimmel joked, saying, “It’s the mighty Thor not the muddy bore, so maybe take a walk!
- 10/11/2017
- by Alexia Fernandez
- PEOPLE.com
Matt Damon is trying to set the record straight.
In an interview with on Tuesday, the 47-year-old actor opened up about claims that he tried to kill a 2004 New York Times article on Harvey Weinstein.
In a article by Sharon Waxman, the former New York Times reporter claimed that she tried to file a story about Weinstein's alleged history of sexual misconduct in 2004, but the piece was cut after pressure from Hollywood elites like Damon and Russell Crowe. Waxman, who founded The Wrap in 2009, claimed that Damon and Crowe called her "directly" to shut down reports she was following about Miramax's Italian head, Fabrizio Lombardo, who was allegedly hired "to take care of Weinstein's women needs."
Damon denied that he tried to put a stop to the Weinstein story in his interview with Deadline, explaining that he made a "one-minute phone call" to Waxman at Weinstein's request.
Related: Ben Affleck Condemns Harvey Weinstein After Sexual Assault Allegations: 'I Am Saddened...
In an interview with on Tuesday, the 47-year-old actor opened up about claims that he tried to kill a 2004 New York Times article on Harvey Weinstein.
In a article by Sharon Waxman, the former New York Times reporter claimed that she tried to file a story about Weinstein's alleged history of sexual misconduct in 2004, but the piece was cut after pressure from Hollywood elites like Damon and Russell Crowe. Waxman, who founded The Wrap in 2009, claimed that Damon and Crowe called her "directly" to shut down reports she was following about Miramax's Italian head, Fabrizio Lombardo, who was allegedly hired "to take care of Weinstein's women needs."
Damon denied that he tried to put a stop to the Weinstein story in his interview with Deadline, explaining that he made a "one-minute phone call" to Waxman at Weinstein's request.
Related: Ben Affleck Condemns Harvey Weinstein After Sexual Assault Allegations: 'I Am Saddened...
- 10/10/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
Matt Damon says he didn’t help kill a story about Harvey Weinstein‘s inappropriate behavior over a decade ago, and promises to “be vigilant” in outing sexual misconduct when he sees it.
In a new interview with Deadline, the Oscar winner, 47, said that he “would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s not something I would do, for anybody.”
Weinstein famously championed Damon and Ben Affleck’s 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which he produced and distributed through his former company Miramax. Affleck and Damon two took home an Oscar for the film,...
In a new interview with Deadline, the Oscar winner, 47, said that he “would never, ever, ever try to kill a story like that. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s not something I would do, for anybody.”
Weinstein famously championed Damon and Ben Affleck’s 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which he produced and distributed through his former company Miramax. Affleck and Damon two took home an Oscar for the film,...
- 10/10/2017
- by Lindsay Kimble
- PEOPLE.com
Matt Damon has joined Ben Affleck in going on the record with remarks in regards to Harvey Weinstien’s history of alleged sexual harassment. The latest report from The New Yorker included 13 more women going the record against Weinstein. Three of the women, including actress Asia Argento, accused Weinstein of rape.
Read More:Matt Damon and Russell Crowe Reportedly Helped Kill a New York Times Article About Harvey Weinstein in 2004
Damon’s name got thrown into the scandal after The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman accused him and Russell Crowe of helping to kill a story about the Weinstein scandal back in 2004 that The New York Times was working on. Waxman said that Fabrizio Lombardo, who ran Miramax’s Italian office, was helping bring women to Weinstein and that Damon and Crowe had called her to vouch in his defense after The New York Times was tipped to his actions.
Speaking exclusively to Deadline,...
Read More:Matt Damon and Russell Crowe Reportedly Helped Kill a New York Times Article About Harvey Weinstein in 2004
Damon’s name got thrown into the scandal after The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman accused him and Russell Crowe of helping to kill a story about the Weinstein scandal back in 2004 that The New York Times was working on. Waxman said that Fabrizio Lombardo, who ran Miramax’s Italian office, was helping bring women to Weinstein and that Damon and Crowe had called her to vouch in his defense after The New York Times was tipped to his actions.
Speaking exclusively to Deadline,...
- 10/10/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The spirit of Fellini is very much alive in Giuseppe Tornatore's "Malena", a frisky coming-of-age wartime allegory about a 13-year-old boy and the ravishing town beauty who kick-starts his raging hormones.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
NEW YORK -- Miramax Films said Monday that Rome-based executive Fabrizio Lombardo will segue from his role as senior vp at Miramax International to an investment adviser at Miramax in Europe as well as for company co-toppers Bob and Harvey Weinstein. In his new role, Lombardo will become "personal European investment adviser to Bob and Harvey Weinstein and consult on European corporate investment opportunities for Miramax," according to the mini-major. In early 2000, Lombardo was named director of Miramax's Rome-based production entity, Miramax Italia, which was subsequently folded into Miramax International. As part of Monday's move, London-based senior vp production Gina Gardini becomes Miramax's primary executive liaising with the Italian film and television community.
- 10/7/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nicole Kidman's publicist has slammed reports that she is dating Fabrizio Lombardo after he accompanied her to the Cannes premiere of Moulin Rouge. He also forked out $26,000 on a white-gold, topaz and diamond choker for her. Lombardo is head of the Miramax's Italian operations and an old friend of the actress. However, Kidman's New York publicist has scotched suggestions of a romance. Speculation concerning their relationship has been riddling the world's press since she split with Tom Cruise, but the publicist described these reports as "completely untrue."...
- 9/7/2001
- WENN
The relationship between Nicole Kidman and hunky Italian movie maker Fabrizio Lombardo looks to be hotting up after he bought her a $26,000 gift at a charity auction. Lombardo purchased the white gold topaz and diamond choker at a fundraiser for AIDS groups at the Venice Film Festival which was hosted by Dame Elizabeth Taylor last Friday. A pal says, "They have known each other for years since she arrived in Hollywood. "They are very good friends and have become closer since she split from Tom."...
- 9/6/2001
- WENN
The spirit of Fellini is very much alive in Giuseppe Tornatore's "Malena", a frisky coming-of-age wartime allegory about a 13-year-old boy and the ravishing town beauty who kick-starts his raging hormones.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
But the "Cinema Paradiso" director has more on his mind here than a Sicilian "Summer of '42". What begins as a nostalgic sex comedy inevitably falls prey to those darker fascist elements, but the resulting tonal shifts never completely blend into a satisfying whole.
Ultimately, the handsomely appointed film remains as emotionally elusive as its unattainable title character. While "Malena" could entice some modest art house business, Miramax won't be in "Paradiso".
With those dark, soulful eyes, young Giuseppe Sulfaro, who had no acting experience, makes for an ideal Renato. Convincingly at that awkward age, he suddenly finds himself having to sort out dueling sensations of lust and love for Malena (Monica Bellucci), the new girl on the block with a husband off at war whose every stroll through the seaside village of Castelcuto seems to turn all men into drooling idiots and all women into bitter gossip-mongers.
Those pangs of adolescent desire don't exactly sit well with Renato's parents, who deal with his sexually obsessed behavior by first sending him to a priest, then to an exorcist and finally, in an act of pure defeat, dropping him off at the local bordello.
Meanwhile, as World War II escalates, Malena has apparently become emblematic of the growing fear and paranoia of Italians everywhere. No longer regarded merely as the town tart, she has become reviled as a Jezebel who brazenly sleeps with the enemy and is all but tarred and feathered by an angry mob of women.
After the war is over, with feelings of hatred and despair giving way to forgiveness and hope, the people of Castelcuto and the maligned Malena likewise start anew, while Renato finally gets to wear his first pair of long pants.
It's not that Tornatore, who also wrote the script, goes particularly wrong anywhere in his telling of a short story originally penned by Luciano Vincenzoni. It's just that "Malena" feels like a compendium of any number of similarly themed coming-of-age films without the ability to mine any fresh, satisfying resonance in the assembly.
MALENA
Miramax
Medusa Film/Miramax
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Giuseppe Tornatore; Based on a story by: Luciano Vincenzoni; Producers: Harvey Weinstein, Carlo Bernasconi; Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Teresa Moneo, Fabrizio Lombardo, Mario Spedaletti; Director of photography: Lajos Koltai; Art director: Francesco Frigeri; Set designer: Bruno Cesari; Editor: Massimo Quaglia; Costume designer: Maurizio Millenotti; Music: Ennio Morricone. Cast: Malena: Monica Bellucci; Renato: Giuseppe Sulfaro; Renato's father: Luciano Federico; Renato's mother: Matilde Piana; Professor Bonsignore: Pietro Notarianni; Nino Scordia: Gaetano Aronica. MPAA rating: R. Running time -- 94 minutes. Color/stereo.
- 12/19/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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