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Cinema Paradiso follows the friendship between Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), an aging projectionist at a small theater in Sicily, and Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio), an impressionable 8-year-old that finds himself mesmerized upon the world of cinema as well as Alfredo's job. Initially reluctant, the old man does end up taking the kid under his wing and teaches him the trade, which he embraces. But Alfredo's warning for him is to not get complacent in that fictitious world, but to go and make more of his life.
I've been trying to write this review for days, and I still can't find a thread to latch on to. But the more I think about it, the more I find myself in Salvatore's shoes. This was actually one of the first "foreign" films I saw when I was on my late teens and barely starting to get into films. So, much like Salvatore, I found myself amazed by the beauty of this story and the "wonder of cinema". I think I saw it a couple of times around that same time. Enough for it to get stuck in my mind, and for me to vote it at #1 in the recent Foreign Countdown.
But then I "left": a year, two years, 20 years. I just "came back" this month, and everything had changed. The beauty and wonder I felt when I was a teen wasn't exactly there, even if all the pieces were. Like adult Salvatore looking around at the same people he knew when he was a kid, everything was there, but everything's changed. The thread was broken.
Even though that may sound negative, I still think the film is remarkably well done, well acted, and with a beautiful story, but not at the same level I thought when I was younger. I found the second half, when Salvatore is younger, to be a bit more tedious than I remembered. I also realized, as the third act unfolded, that I was watching the Director's Cut, which tries to bring some closure to the relationship between Salvatore and his long-lost love, but I found that whole bit to get in the way of the story that I thought mattered. It seems that the Theatrical Cut agreed.
Still, Noiret is a delight to see, and the performance from Cascio as the young Salvatore is charmingly good. I also think that the way that Tornatore builds this "love letter" to cinema is mostly effective, and there is a good sense of closure in the character of Salvatore as the film ends. I just wish I felt a stronger connection to his adult persona, like I felt for his kid self. The ending of the film is certainly bitter-sweet, as Salvatore realizes what Alfredo had told him years before, and much like him, I found myself smiling at the memories of yesterday, even if what I came to find wasn't necessarily there.
Grade:
CINEMA PARADISO
(1988, Tornatore)
A film from the 1980s • A romantic film
-- recommended by XRadioX Podcast --
(1988, Tornatore)
A film from the 1980s • A romantic film
-- recommended by XRadioX Podcast --
"Living here day by day, you think it's the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything's changed. The thread's broken. What you came to find isn't there. What was yours is gone."
Cinema Paradiso follows the friendship between Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), an aging projectionist at a small theater in Sicily, and Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio), an impressionable 8-year-old that finds himself mesmerized upon the world of cinema as well as Alfredo's job. Initially reluctant, the old man does end up taking the kid under his wing and teaches him the trade, which he embraces. But Alfredo's warning for him is to not get complacent in that fictitious world, but to go and make more of his life.
I've been trying to write this review for days, and I still can't find a thread to latch on to. But the more I think about it, the more I find myself in Salvatore's shoes. This was actually one of the first "foreign" films I saw when I was on my late teens and barely starting to get into films. So, much like Salvatore, I found myself amazed by the beauty of this story and the "wonder of cinema". I think I saw it a couple of times around that same time. Enough for it to get stuck in my mind, and for me to vote it at #1 in the recent Foreign Countdown.
But then I "left": a year, two years, 20 years. I just "came back" this month, and everything had changed. The beauty and wonder I felt when I was a teen wasn't exactly there, even if all the pieces were. Like adult Salvatore looking around at the same people he knew when he was a kid, everything was there, but everything's changed. The thread was broken.
Even though that may sound negative, I still think the film is remarkably well done, well acted, and with a beautiful story, but not at the same level I thought when I was younger. I found the second half, when Salvatore is younger, to be a bit more tedious than I remembered. I also realized, as the third act unfolded, that I was watching the Director's Cut, which tries to bring some closure to the relationship between Salvatore and his long-lost love, but I found that whole bit to get in the way of the story that I thought mattered. It seems that the Theatrical Cut agreed.
Still, Noiret is a delight to see, and the performance from Cascio as the young Salvatore is charmingly good. I also think that the way that Tornatore builds this "love letter" to cinema is mostly effective, and there is a good sense of closure in the character of Salvatore as the film ends. I just wish I felt a stronger connection to his adult persona, like I felt for his kid self. The ending of the film is certainly bitter-sweet, as Salvatore realizes what Alfredo had told him years before, and much like him, I found myself smiling at the memories of yesterday, even if what I came to find wasn't necessarily there.
Grade: