Cinema Paradiso
The blue eyed ones are the worst
Starring: Philippe Noiret
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Awards: 1 Oscar 1990, 1 Golden Globe 1990 (Best Foreign Language Film)
So, I’ve heard about this movie for a very long time. It’s one of my dad’s favorite films. Naturally, I argued with him that the Spongebob Movie was the best film out there. Now I see his point.
Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 Italian film set in the small village of Giancaldo. Young Salvatore is obsessed with film and operating the projector at the local theater. Alfredo, the local projectionist, trains Salvatore to operate the projector and the rest is history. Salvatore knew what he wanted to do, even when Alfredo told him he’s capable of so much more.
A fire breaks out in the projection room, leaving the entire theater in ashes and Alfredo blind. The theater is rebuilt and Toto becomes the projectionist. The story jumps forward to his teenage self where he is still working at the theater, and falls in love with Elena. He’s madly in love with her waits outside her window for 100 days, hoping she’ll fall in love with him.
Elena is the daughter of a rich banker who is the main love interest for Salvatore. He films her and realizes how beautiful she is. After some hard work, they fall in love, but it only lasts for a very short time.
Now, it’s a very good film. I enjoyed every minute of it. But, that’s not to say I didn’t have some problems. This movie had a lot of continuity errors. The one that really disappoints me is the transition they used from young Salvatore to his older one. Young Salvatore is with Alfredo in the projectionist booth, Alfredo puts his hand on his face and releases it to reveal an older Salvatore. BUT ALFREDO LOOKED THE EXACT SAME. His clothes were even the same! It’s like they didn’t even try to make sense about it.
The other one was at the end of the film when a much older Salvatore comes back to Giancaldo for Alfredo’s funeral. Now, the actor they got looked like he was late fifty’s, early sixty’s. He was talking with the owner of the old theater who didn’t age at all! In fact, he looked younger than Salvatore. There were plenty of these going around the movie, and I normally don’t knit pick like this, but it was way too much to let slide by.
I really liked the relationship between Toto (Salvatore) and Alfredo. Toto was the pesky kid and Alfredo was his friend that he would go to for advice. Throughout the movie, they’re best friends. Toto loves him, even when he’s getting yelled at (which is a lot, I might add). He’s the only person that he showed respect to throughout the film.
One very interesting part of the story is about censorship. Every film that was ever played at the theater left out the sexual scenes. In the beginning of the movie, the priest is watching a movie with a “sex scene” (people kissing), rings a bell and Alfredo would cut them out. Then, when Toto took over, he just wouldn’t do it. For some reason, the church didn’t fight it or anything, but all they said was, “I won’t watch pornography”.
The film has a great relationship story arc. Starting around the middle of the movie, it quickly becomes one of the main points of the movie. Toto meets Elena, the daughter of a banker, at school. He confesses that he loves her, but she says no. To convince her, he waits outside her window every day for 99 nights. After that, they begin a passionate relationship. They’re happy. But, her father disapproves of him and takes her way from him. A tragic love story that haunts Toto for the rest of his life.
One of my favorite parts about the film is the score. It’s a mixture of beautiful pieces that conveys love, sentimentality and loss. I’m not one for classical music, but I kept listening to the score even after watching the film. It’s a beautiful score.
Cinema Paradiso was a fine film with some good qualities. The story is sweet, the score is great and the acting is good. I recommend it, but I won’t be raving about it.
