Melissa P. (2005) User Reviews

Ruthless approach to female teen libido

[Imdbidia · 5/10 · 14 February 2011]

An Italo-Spanish co-production about the sexual awakening of teenager Melissa, loosely based in the semi-autobiographic novel "100 colpi di spazzola prima di andare a dormire" by Melissa Panarello.

The movie shows the dilemmas, challenges, and darkness that young women face when they become sexual beings, try to accept their sexuality, but have no sexual education or guidance.

It is truly rare finding a movie that focus on teenager women and sex, and not men, and in which the woman is presented as an explicitly sexual human being.

The movie is frank and even ruthless in its approach to contemporary teens' sexuality in general and Melissa's in particular. We see her strong shameless strong sex drive, which she cannot harmonize with her wish to be loved and respected as a woman by a man. She struggles making sense of the importance of accepting social boundaries and not giving way to peer pressure to fit into a group, which is a quintessential teen problem. Melissa's awakening is a path of pain as well as of pleasure, but takes her to very dark places, in scenes that can be disturbing.

Despite the good premises, the script is uneven, not always engaging, and has most adult characters barely sketched except for Melissa's and for Melissa's charming eccentric grandmother -played by Geraldine Chaplin-. The character of Melissa's mother Daria -played by Fabrizia Sacchi- is barely drawn, and very stereotypical. The absent father, and his marital relationship with Daria, is barely explained, just a reference outside. Most male teen characters are depicted as despicable villains, stereotypical machos, and I don't think I want to believe that is always the case.

Maria Valverde is very good as Melissa, actually, she's the best thing in the movie. She has an impressive acting registry for such a young age. Her face is splendorous always, her expression innocent, childish, weak and boyish sometimes, hyper-feminine, dramatic, strong and sexual some others. Valverde has to deal with very raunchy scenes, some of them very dramatic, and she succeeds at making believable her character. Geraldine Chaplin is always a delight, but I did not find her especially inspired in this movie, mostly because the way her character is written. The rest of the actors are just OK.

A not always engaging movie, but with some interesting themes and a good performance by Valverde.

Not a baby

[sol- · 5/10 · 10 December 2016]

Based on a controversial novel, this coming-of-age drama from 'A Bigger Splash' director Luca Guadagnino focuses on a fifteen year old girl who begins to sexually experiment in unconventional and degrading ways. María Valverde is well cast in the title role and wearing negligible makeup, Geraldine Chaplin looks at least a decade older than her actual age in a memorable turn as Valverde's feisty, free-spirited grandmother. Interesting as Valverde is to follow around, there are some gaps in her character progression. At times, it seems like she is acting out as a result of being rebuffed by her high school crush with at least a couple of points in which she agrees to do things to prove that she is "not a baby". And yet, it is what happens to her grandmother that actually initiates her quest, and try as the film does, it has trouble finding a balance between being about grief and societal pressures. There is also something to be said for the lack of graphic imagery. Most of her exploits are told to us via diary entries and while this has the advantage of leaving it up to one's imagination to fill in the blanks, everything that occurs resonates less since we only ever see fleeting glimpses of her quest. Curiously enough, even with the explicit content kept to a minimum, the film has still sparked some controversy. It is certainly not a film for all tastes and its low IMDb rating is only representative of just how divisive a movie it is. 'Melissa P.' is hardly a flawless motion picture, but there is more of interest to it than one might expect.

Loosely based on an atrocious "novel"

[torched84 · 2/10 · 19 July 2007]

I saw very little of the book in this film, this is not to say that this alone makes for a poor movie. As a matter of fact it was better that the book despite the fact that I still thought it was awful. I personally feel that the only reason any one bothered to make this book into a film was because of the shock value. Melissa's sexual exploits were for the most part disgusting and whatever was left over was disturbing. I'm not prude but that book nauseated me, and the movie wasn't much better. At least the movie had some kind of a story. The book was more or less a detailed list of all the raunchy things she had done in her past, there was no connection between her and any part of her family. No mention of the grandmother that figures quite largely into the movie's plot, not a peep. All in all if you have the choice between the movie or the book pick the movie, at least it is shorter.

Keep your kids away!

[JimKoy · 1/10 · 24 November 2010]

This movie is not for adults. It's about some high school kids, reflecting on their usual underdeveloped personalities and high levels of hormone. Unless you have some pedophile deep under, there's hardly anything an adult would relate to. So, kids will naturally be attracted to it, and therein lies the rub. The problem is this movie trivializes for an underage girl to give blow job instead of being kissed, have sex with someone she has not met before just to prove that she's "not a baby", agree to walk down into a cellar blindfold and have an orgy with 5 strangers, participate in sex fantasy of an adult man she's met in internet chat... horridly gullible, spoiled beyond all repairing, where you would expect her to commit suicide or something in the end. But no, she's alright, she accepts who she is and embraces it (yeah, every hormonally unstable 15 year old knows such things, right?.. hello?). Overall this movie shall morally make a septic effect on your kids, beware!

Disgusting

[braved-ark · 1/10 · 17 August 2021]

This movie is disgusting. She sleeps with multiple guys? She is a slut. But boys doing the same? Alfa males. She say she doesn't want to have sex? She's "kidding around". That's called rape.

She is having sex to "prove she's not a kid anymore"? Seriously? How is that "empowering"? What kind of a message this sends to teenage girls? You should only have sex when you are ready to.

A guy is being a total dick? (Daniel) How hot, let's fall in love with him and do a threesome to make him jealous.

They way very young girls are objectified in movies like this one is a very disturbing and questionable "art." Where is some self-respect, boundaries and a set of standards that would keep young women safe? As opposed to throwing themselves into some very dangerous situations? What are promoting here? Sex is great, but only when it safe and consensual. And this "movie" sends a very wrong message to both men and women.

Cruel and tender movie - just like the teen age which it describes

[truuzz · 6/10 · 5 December 2010]

I saw many embarrassed and even angry reviews on this film, which were pushing me off the chair, and i wanna talk not about the film itself, but the topic it chose. Because that caught me in memories of my youth, that is what also makes a great film, the script, and I can't be grateful enough for this made me remember.

The film is not as much of a fiction as many would like it to be. In very realistic way discloses the hyper-sensitivity of youth, the feelings, the special way everything is coming to a man's brain, the sex, the colors, messed up thoughts...and then here are decisions. It is wonderful how Melissa always want to choose what to do with her life, what to feel, how to act, what to search for, but somehow the change is only in her deeds but not in her inside, her diary pickups are often in disharmony with what happens to her afterwards. But although she is in fact doing this to herself, she is just so full of it! And so she is coping with her teenage pain as rational as she can in her age. Of course, the sex. When you don't know what it is, but you want it badly. She is less self-aware then the character played by Liv Tyler in Stealing Beauty, but much more pro-active. She doesn't let situations pass by, she is grabbing what she can of them, she does not wait in a corner. That's what i liked at Melissa. The cruelty of acts and the sweetness of the inside. Unsplittable. And that this movie is more real than a sweet romance movie. It is of the age - if she were a little more older, the tender detailed camera would lost its narrative function. And maybe the casting would pickup another actress.

Anyway, I love it more and more. It's telling exactly the teen story, which have been missed.

it deserves a sign 15 circle

[kalay · 7/10 · 4 July 2006]

At first glance, it was a little bit disappointment, when I saw Melissa P. I had an expectation that Melissa P. herself would have played in this movie. But Maria Valverde was really fitted in the role either with appearance or with talent. In spite of the movie has been showed with the sign 18 circle, when we look at the scenes in reality it deserves a sign 15 circle. There was an incompatibility with the books itself and the movie. Some parts had failed to hit, some parts have been drawn into the scenes fast and verbally. That makes the story snapped. Maybe because of the movie depends on a memoir not on a complete scenario. It seemed that at the end of the movie Melissa had commit a suicide. Then, she appeared on surface and visited her father's mother Nonna Elvira's grave with her mother. It was a misty scenario, not open as we understood. As if Melissa quit these kinds of sex games and correct her communication with her mother forever when she realized she was in wrong way. It is not easy to find a right way after diving too deep. In the book Melissa did not stop playing games.

Highly Under-rated

[vijaymd44 · 8/10 · 10 February 2007]

First-off, the only reason I'm writing this is because the 4.3 rating is almost impossible. I mean the direction and cinematography by itself will get this movie to a 6. No, I haven't read the book and I genuinely do not believe that the movie should be rated as per the adaptation from the book. The performances standing out are Melissa (of course) and her grandmother. The music and cinematography have a presence of their own throughout the movie. And the plot never gets boring or unrealistic, given a slightly open imagination. If you're aged anywhere between 15 and 35 I would highly recommend a viewing. The only reason I gave it an 8/10 is because we have movies like Fight Club and Animatrix.

Film below expectations... The book? No thanks

[martasavila · 6/10 · 11 October 2009]

I just learned this movie is based on a book. I must say I would never read it. The story line has absolutely no value -a young girl believes that just because her first sexual encounter was somehow traumatic, that made her instantly an expert on men and sex- it's really a poor subject. Besides, there are no interesting dialogs nor an appealing related story to support it. The main actress Valverde doesn't look young enough and most of the rest of the cast seems isolated. On the plus side, the movie is nicely shot, the background songs are appropriate and Geraldine Chaplin brings some brightness as the bohemian grandmother. Teenagers sexuality is a subject that should be treated with more depth otherwise the result is sooo vain.

A little movie, with some value

[hardland · 6/10 · 7 January 2010]

When you see a movie about something controversial you can focus on your opinion on the subject... or you can focus on the film.

This is a movie about sex and teenagers, and yo have to choose between your opinion and what the movie is. But when putting stars to a movie or writing down a review... I prefer thinking only about the movie.

And... it has an excellent photography, and a pair of really good actress (Marisa Valverde, as Melissa; and Geraldine Chaplin as her grandmother).

But the film relays excessively on its matter. It lacks dramatic progression, or any deep sight inside the characters. So you have to get tied only to the sexual experience of the girl.

That's why for me the film just deserves a six.

But I think it will be ethically wrong to avoid saying a word about its subject. This movie begins as a transgressive one... only to turn around as a conservative one near the end.

And I deeply dislike it. The true usually lies in libertine lives.

Well Put together realism

[qwestwc3 · 8/10 · 28 April 2018]

I was so glad to see a film reach for reality. Too many films drop the ball on actually hitting what truly does happen in real life. Built the story and ran with it , great decision making on all accounts during the filming. Just wished they push the envelope a lil more, would've made this a lot better. Certain scenes missed on how it went down & what happened immediately after, not the next day or hours later. Would've been great to see how a few scenes actually ended & how the main character walked away from it ? ***IF anyone knows any other films similar to this, Please fill me in.

I've written 5 movies myself, just not sure how to get them out there ?

In many ways a good movie, but still a failure

[namob-43673 · 6/10 · 5 December 2020]

I was flipping around for something to watch since I was bored. Saw this. Sicily, which is a place I love and visited many times, a good director, some erotica from a young female perspective, and so I thought eh, why not?

And although I was not really bored and there are some good things about this movie, it is not a well time spent and I cannot recommend.

First the good; María Valverde is excellent. She play her lead role brilliantly with a mix of sexual awakening, teenage angst, sometimes adult, sometimes a kid, and with a great range of emotions. The sexual scenes (rather hinted at scenes) were also handled really good, with nothing but some breasts showing, and acted really well. I also think this is a thoughtful movie in many ways, or at least it tries to be. The sexual awakening of young females is not so often depicted in movies, and here it is shown (or: tries to show) some of the traps that comes with it. It is really hard to become a teenager and wanting sex, but also wanting love and closeness, and not fully being able to differentiate between the two. Something that often lead us to make mistakes growing up and also go looking for love/sex in the wrong places. We have all been through it, strange that parents are not able to convey it properly over the generations and teach their young a bit more about reality. But it is not easy being parent, and the young filled with hormones seldom listen.

It is also here the negatives start.

Although the movie tries to tell the story I draw up in the positives above, it fails. Partly it is the acting of the rest of the cast which, with perhaps only one exception, is pretty bad. Partly the writing is way off and is basically only saved by María playing the character of Melissa to perfection, but she cannot save this movie, nor is it saved by its good intention. The directing misses are also there, which is weird since I really love Guadagnino as a director but this is one of his first films so perhaps that is why. The movie also show very little of Sicily which was the main reason I watched it. This could basically have been filmed anywhere. The sets are not very good, the light is off, the sound design is seldom on point, the music bland and seem very random. The great and slightly creepy dungeon scene with all the boys which is very well done is unfortunately the only excellent exception since the entire design of this movie, from the set, to clothes, to directing, to music, to acting, it is all amateurish and subpar. Sadly all the negatives also hide the good intention of the movie and make it into a failure.

I am being very generous giving this movie a 6/10, because I cannot recommend this to anyone. However I really love the main actress - Oscars level of acting! And I like the intention of the movie and what they tried to do deserve an extra point. If you watch this, keep expectations down and enjoy María's acting and you might get some positives out of it.

A Guilty Pleasure with creepy commentary.

[ObscureFilmLover · 8/10 · 28 June 2021]

The great critic Roger Ebert is credited with coining the term "guilty pleasure". This is something you enjoy in spite of the fact that its not a very good movie. Its about a teenage girl's entrance into the world of sex. She does not enjoy every encounter but many viewers will. Maria Valverde was eighteen when the film was released and give a brave performance. There are four scenes which push the envelope. Early in the movie a boy she likes takes her to a secluded spot and instead of kissing her, has her kneel and perform oral sex on him. Then later he picks her up and takes her to his house where he deflowers her and then walks out. Later he brings her back for a romantic encounter only to have a friend show up. At first she storms out but when he calls her a child, she returns and to prove she grown up has sex with each in front of the other. Finally, she is blindfolded and taken to an underground chamber where she is force to kneel and service five boys with oral sex.

I recently got the DVD and discovered that there was a commentary track that had subtitles. I think it was the director and the writer, both men, with virtually no insight into their material. During the first scene instead of talking about building tension or the difficulty that a young actress would have had simulating oral sex in front of grownups, they make fun of the male actor and the pimple on his ass. During other scenes they comment on the way the male actor matured during the film. What! Then in the final sex scene, which they referred to as the "five blowjobs", they talk about how hard it was to get the equipment into a confined space. There was virtually no commentary on Maria Valverde and the challenges she faced filming difficult sex scenes in front of adults.

I would love to read an interview with Valverde now that she is an established actress in her thirties about her thoughts and experiences filming this movie.

Oh Melissa, 'You're in my dreams!' Mercyful Fate...

[juanmuscle · 10/10 · 21 July 2018]

Melissa P. This was a fantastic piece of writing, it went from sweet to wild to gruesome to anti-climax, to don't let it end like this, OK this is the end, no now this is the end, to All right this is the end, to finally somehow when all the pieces fit together the third act went from evidently ending at that low point for the protagonist and that's all right, because it was built like this, but then swoop, she is swept away and we think an angel saved this poor devil girl to a few more scenes which left the protagonist in a nice safe place with possibility for true love. The writing is incredible, I love the makeshift ablution scene that seemed like a sterling anti-climax for sure! haha, but no, we are saved, it was a wonderful tale, yes bad things happen but sometimes so can good things, just a wonderful piece of film-making, I guess this is based on memoirs but I'm upon the little fissures here and there wrought his special magic to really sharpen the narrative, just stunning, striking! 'Oh Melissa, you're in my dreams, you're with me every day, Oh Melissa, could that really be your voice I hear? Too soon for you and I the priest took your sacrifice and sent you to the other side!' Mercyful Fate, lol

portrait of unique age

[Kirpianuscus · 8 February 2023]

I saw this film for the presence in cast of Geraldine Chaplin. And it was just a very good motif, her elvira being just inspired way for define a wise grandmother portrait. But, scene , by scene, I was seduced by the fair, precise, honest image of a teen life. The vulnerability, the innocence about interests of the attractive guy , the last using, in cynic manner, this, the discover of her sexuality , as source of fear, later as tool for manipulate, the pragmatism of age and the diary are the good points of a film proposing a realistic image of a not so comfortable age and the mechanisms of adaptation.

In short, smart crafted story, nice acting, good moral.