Malèna

On June 10, 1940, in the fictional small Sicilian town of Castelcutò, a teenage boy named Renato Amoroso experiences three major events: the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini announces that Italy is entering World War II; he receives a new bike; he sees for the first time, together with his friends, the beautiful and sensual Maddalena "Malèna" Bonsignore Scordìa, who is the most desired young woman in town. Her husband Antonino "Nino" is in the armed forces fighting the British in Africa and she lives alone. Because of her physical appearance and her solitary status, she is an object of lust for all the town's men and of hatred for its women. She keeps an eye on her father, who is the school teacher of Renato and his friends and also lives alone, until he receives an anonymous note slandering her, which causes him to reject her.