Into the 12-year-old Renato, a few things happen on your afternoon in 1940 which Italy enters the war: he also receives his first bike, and he also gets his first appearance. She is a beautiful outsider who is moved to be with her husband. He promptly goes to war, leaving her into the sharp tongues of the women along with the lustful eyes of those men. Throughout the next couple of years, as Renato grows toward manhood, he watches Malèna have problems and establish her mettle. He sees the effects of slander in her association with her dad, her loneliness grief when Nico is reported dead, her poverty and hunt for employment, and final humiliations. Will Renato find courage from Malèna and stand up for her?