Cinema Paradiso Reviews
Cinema Paradiso review
Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 26 February 2023 02:080 comments, Reply to this entry
One of the best and most moving films of the 80s
Posted : 2 years ago on 30 March 2022 01:38I have seen many visually stunning films, and Cinema Paradiso is up there as one of the most visually ravishing films I've seen. The cinematography and editing are outstanding, and the scenery still looks gorgeous with an epic feel to it. Cinema Paradiso, alongside The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West, also contains one of Ennio Morricone's most haunting scores and it is also one of my favourites of his.
Cinema Paradiso is immaculately directed, has an touching, beautifully-written and honest script and a rich, compelling story that while it has an elegiac feel moves swiftly by draws you right in until the ending, which breaks my heart still after 5 times of seeing it.
The characters are very well defined, particularly Alfredo, and the acting is outstanding with Salvatore Cascio, Enzo Cannavale, Marco Leonardi and especially Phillippe Noiret particularly impressive. All in all, a masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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The Cinema Has No Boundary, It Is A Ribbon Of Drea
Posted : 11 years ago on 23 April 2013 01:09*** This review contains spoilers ***
Giuseppe Tornatoreās Cinema Paradiso is the ultimate movie loversā movie. A film which perfectly captures the obsessive and domineering power cinema has over its dedicated fans and their lives. In the manner of how the pictureās protagonist Toto becomes enchanted and engulfed by the movies,Ā Cinema ParadisoĀ is a movie which succeeds in doing just that.Ā Cinema ParadisoĀ takes the viewer back to a time when the movie theatre was at the heart of a community, where people would even have sex in the middle of a crowded theatre and teenage boys would engage in acts of self-pleasure to what was on screen (must be a European thing), or alternatively, many would just go to enjoy a nap.Ā Cinema ParadisoĀ is my favourite Italian film but also my favourite film not in the English language, and what a rich experience it is. Even the Italian people's over-the-top, histrionic nature isĀ hugely entertaining -Ā now thatās a good-a pizza pie! The music, scenery and vibrant architecture of the village of Giancaldo on the island of Sicily immediately draw me in with the stone buildings, fountains, cobblestone streets and wide open squares free of automobiles. This contrasts with the filmās latter scenes set in the modern day, where modernity has replaced a world in which the influence on Ancient Rome still lingered and instead with something more superficial and ugly.
Ā
Cinema Paradiso follows the relationship between the child Salvatore āTotoā Di Vita and his Freudian father figure Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), a projectionist at the local cinema. Alfredo himself is very much a mythical character; he has no back-story or even a surname (he does have a wife yet we only see her briefly), yet he succeeds in being one of the most unforgettable characters in film history. He is a man who appears to have never made much for himself in life yet to Toto, this cinema projectionist is the most fascinating man in the world - the archetype of a loser with a heart of gold. This is one aspect of the story which really punches one in the gut; Alfredo prevents Toto from going down the same road as he did but at the cost of moving to Rome and never seeing him again of his family again as the village would have a destructive influence on the artistic development of someone like Toto. The job of a projectionist is no path for a young man of whom the world is his oyster. Ultimately, this works, as we learn from the opening and closing of the theatrical cut of Cinema Paradiso (more on the directorās cut later) that Toto holds a job of some esteem in the film industry (possibly a director although itās not made clear) and lives in a not too shabby Rome apartment, but only by the way the of great sacrifice imposed by Alfredo. The man may not have had much education, but itās clear he had the wisdom of age.
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The question has to be asked, isĀ Cinema ParadisoĀ the most tear-inducing film ever made?Ā I recommend wearing a life jacket while watching this movie or you will drown in your own waterworks. This is one of few films that give me teary-eyed goosebumps even thinking about it or by listening to the music score by Ennio Morricone. The entire score is one of few I can listen to in its entirety, full of compositions of pure tranquillity to reminisce on days gone by. I hate to imagine how much of a nihilist one would have to be not moved by the scene in which Alfredo makes a projected image travel along the walls of the projection room and into the town square accompanied by the booming music score. Alternatively, take the scene in which or a lonely teenage Toto walks through the streets of Giancaldo just as New Years rolls in after being rejected by his love Elena. I also personally find it hard to retain a straight face at the utter soul-crushing scene near the filmās end as the adult Toto walks through the abandoned interior of the Paradiso on the day beforeĀ it is set to be demolished to make way for a car park. However, it is the final scene in whichĀ Cinema ParadisoĀ really does save the best for last, a conclusion which is movie magic of the highest magnitude. Aside from being a tribute to the 20th centuryās greatest art form, Cinema Paradiso is full of emotions of nostalgia, youth, love and the losses we have to deal with during our lives. Like the stamp of any truly great film, Cinema Paradiso is a movie which you donāt want to end and the streamlined version of Cinema Paradiso is Cinema Perfecto. Oh yes, thereās more, with the directorās cut of Cinema Paradiso which adds not only so much more additional material to the film, but so much more depth and complexity to its characters which bares discussion.
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For the original Italian release or directorās cut, Cinema Paradiso had a run time of 173 minutes and for the international release, it was cut to 124 minutes. The biggest difference with the directorās cut is the far greater examination of the relationship between Toto and Elena, transforming what is a subplot in the cut version into one of the main focuses of the story, especially during the pictureās third act. In the theatrical cut, there is only a hint that Elenaās middle-class parents object to her relationship with Toto but in this longer version, this objection is on full display. However more significantly, we learn in a crucial flashback scene, that it is Alfredo himself who worked to end this young love, viewing Elena as another obstacle to Totoās artistic development. Toto and Elenaās contemporary reunion scene is an incredibly lengthy and talkly affair, outlasting by great magnitude any other scene in the film but its emotional payoff is satisfying and in the end, both characters come to accept that Alfredo was justified in his actions.
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InĀ the theatrical cut ofĀ Cinema ParadisoĀ itās merely hinted that Toto has become a film director but in this version, it that not only the case, but he is also famous enough that he is recognised by fans in a bar.Ā In regards to other new scenes, that in which the film acknowledges the rise of television by having a game show projected in the Paradiso via aĀ teleprojector much to Alfredo dismal is a nice addition, foreshadowing the eventual demise of the local cinema. Other scenes however I did find unnecessary such as adult Totoās encounter with the street punks in Rome to Totoās friend Boccia getting some action in the countryside. Although the one scene I really didnāt need to seeĀ wasĀ Toto losing his virginity to a cougar in an empty paradiso and just before meeting his later love, taking away from the characterās innocence. I have to say I greatly prefer the shorter, more streamlined version of the Cinema Paradiso. The additional material of the directorās cut greatly affects the film's pace and takes away much of the mystery posed by the shorter cut. Likewise, theĀ majority of the additional scenes are set in the modern day and stylistically do feel very distant from those set in the Sicilian village of the ā40s and ā50s, thus at times, it does feel like Iām watching an entirely different film altogether.Ā That said, even though it is a flawed version of the film, I am glad this cut exists as it does contain its own merits turning the film into something of an epic and reminding me of another film with anĀ Ennio Morricone score with similar coming-of-age themes,Ā Once Upon A Time In America.
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A very good movie
Posted : 12 years, 11 months ago on 16 May 2011 01:450 comments, Reply to this entry
Life isn't like in the movies.Life is much harder.
Posted : 15 years, 8 months ago on 19 August 2008 12:01A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
Salvatore Cascio: Salvatore 'Toto' Di Vita - Child
Cinema Paradiso is one of those films you hear made in some kind of reference too many times and ponder, yes, I must watch that one someday.
Unfortunately that day kept passing me, but I now believe this was meant to be, for when I did finally catch, it was a very different film than everybody had been going on about.
The most enjoyable moments to me were the scenes with the child Salvatore (real name in fact Salvatore), or Toto as he is known in the village. A little acting marvel, his face truly lights up brighter than the cinema screen with which he is enraptured, and his scenes with Philippe Noiret as projectionist Alfredo are touching and magical without being overly sentimental (Spielberg could learn a lesson here). I could also have easily believed he would grow up to be the older Salvatore (French actor Jacques Perrin) who returns to the village. The adolescent Salvatore (Marco Leonardi) however bears no resemblance to these two whatsoever and, if I have a complaint, this is it, and so my disbelief was unsuspended for a while.
This notwithstanding, Cinema Paradiso is beautifully framed, lensed, and is enhanced immeasurably by an exquisite score by the Morricones which has become a favourite soundtrack for collectors. As with many of Morricone's scores it was composed based simply on the script and before any filming took place, so that the actors could perform and react to the music and tempos being played in the background of their scenes, a la theatre. According to Tornatore 'Some of the themes that are now in the film were composed right in front of me during those first few days. His music was an inspiration to everyone, whilst Morricone himself states 'The music was born of my collaboration with Giuseppe. It reflects how I was inspired by the story of a boy, in love with a beautiful woman and coming of age in a small town in Sicily. After reading the script I attempted to write music that would aid the film in its slow transformation from comedic and ironic to heavily dramatic'.
He succeeded beautifully.
The movie Nuovo Cinema Paradiso moved me greatly and the feelings are so strong that I can't even describe it. As they say, beauty in terms of human words can only go so far before it becomes meaningless.
It is a film about film, a story about love and friendship and everything that a living human being can feel. A lovely and smart child ,living with a desperate mother waiting for her beloved husband at war,grew up with movies and finally became a famous director.
He once loved a beautiful woman and the woman loved him too. However,as we all know, love is fragile. Love immediately comes to an end the moment it meets with marriage.
So,is there a way that makes love eternal,always smiling at you when you open your eyes in the morning? I had guessed the beginning but I didn't get the fine.That's why it's such a film of greatness and a masterful work.
A Moving Masterful Piece of film that is Cinema Paradiso.
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The cinema as a paradise
Posted : 16 years, 3 months ago on 19 January 2008 10:08I first watched this movie as part of a requirement for one of the film classes that I had taken. It was a good movie and little did I know that what I had watched in the class was the whole movie without the actual theatrical release version. This left me in surprise on the topic on the question to why the movie that was first released in 1988 would have been criticized so badly for being "too sentimental".
I once again watched this movie after purchasing this dvd supposedly as a gift. This movie is done in such detail and you could watch it over and over again just to catch the glimpse of the details of parts that i might have missed to make sense of the other pieces.
The interesting part of the movie would be the score. The music has blended well with the movie and noticeably repeated in great length that it has become part of the whole movie itself. If I were to listen to the music, it would bring me back to the movie itself. No other movie could use the score without abandoning the existence of Cinema Paradiso.
Overall, it is a movie to watch. This movie is all about different type and stages of love. However though, if you're not a fan of slow-pace movie then I would not recommend this movie to you. I liked it a lot too because I appreciate slow pace movie more than high impact action movie because not everything in life are action packed
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