

User Score
9 votes
The story begins in Albania where the heroine, Helen, suffers the abuse of her father, a former member of the Albanian Communist Militia. Troubling and extreme events in her life soon cause Helen to flee her homeland for Florence, Italy where she meets up with her friend Sylvia who works as a maid for a wealthy family. She soon learns that her boyfriend in Albania has been arrested for killing her cruel father. Though at first desperate to return home to help, Helen soon forgets her boyfriend's plight as she is seduced into a wicked life of vice and perversion by the wealthy family with whom she is staying. Helen finds herself spinning out of control in a frenzied cinematic vortex of sex, beer and manipulation. Helen does eventually return home to Albania, but only to discover there, her own erotic destiny.
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
IT

12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.

Fiore, an Italian conman, arrives in post Communist Albania with Gino, his young apprentice, to set up a shoe factory that will never open. The con requires a native Albanian, so they designate Spiro, an impoverished and confused former political prisoner as chairman of the board. When Fiore returns to Italy to get government funds for the project, Spiro unexpectedly disappears and Gino sets out on a journey to find him. The search leads him to discover Spiro's tragic personal history and witness Albanian poverty firsthand.