Cinema Paradiso
Cinema Paradiso | |
---|---|
Italian | Nuovo Cinema Paradiso |
Directed by | Giuseppe Tornatore |
Written by | Giuseppe Tornatore |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Blasco Giurato |
Edited by | Mario Morra |
Music by | |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Titanus[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 155 minutes |
Countries | Italy France |
Language | Italian |
Budget | US$5 million[2] |
Box office | $36 million (US/France/Italy only) |
Cinema Paradiso (
Set in a small Sicilian town, the film centres on the friendship between a young boy and an aging projectionist who works at the titular movie theatre. This Italian-French co-production stars Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Leopoldo Trieste, Marco Leonardi, Agnese Nano and Salvatore Cascio. The film score was composed by Ennio Morricone and his son, Andrea, marking the beginning of a collaboration between Tornatore and Morricone that lasted until Morricone's death on 6 July 2020.
Credited with revitalizing Italy's film industry, Cinema Paradiso has been cited as one of the greatest films of all time.
Plot
In 1988 Rome, Salvatore Di Vita, a famous film director, returns home late one evening, where his girlfriend sleepily tells him that his mother called to say someone named Alfredo has died. Salvatore shies from committed relationships and has not been to his home village of Giancaldo, Sicily in thirty years. As his girlfriend asks him who Alfredo was, Salvatore is not able to fall asleep and flashes back to his childhood.
A few years after
Alfredo eventually teaches Salvatore how to operate the film projector. One day, Cinema Paradiso catches fire as Alfredo is projecting The Firemen of Viggiù after hours, on the wall of a nearby house. Salvatore saves Alfredo's life, but not before a reel of nitrate film explodes in Alfredo's face, leaving him permanently blind. The movie house is rebuilt by a town citizen, Ciccio Spaccafico, using his winnings from a football lottery. Salvatore, still a child, is hired as the new projectionist, as only he knows how to run the machines.
About a decade later, Salvatore, now in high school, is still operating the projector at the "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso". His relationship with the blind Alfredo has strengthened, and Salvatore often looks to him for help – advice that Alfredo often dispenses by quoting classic films. Salvatore has been experimenting with filming, using a home movie camera; doing this he has met, and captured on film, a girl named Elena Mendola, daughter of a wealthy banker, and has fallen in love with her. Salvatore woos – and wins – Elena's heart, only to lose her due to her father's disapproval.
As Elena and her family move away, Salvatore leaves town for compulsory military service. His attempts to write to Elena are fruitless; his letters are returned as undeliverable. Upon his return from the military, Alfredo urges Salvatore to leave Giancaldo permanently, counseling that the town is too small for Salvatore to ever find his dreams. Moreover, the old man tells him, once Salvatore leaves, he must pursue his destiny wholeheartedly, never looking back and never returning, even to visit; he must never give in to nostalgia or even write or think about them. They tearfully embrace, and Salvatore leaves to pursue his future as a filmmaker.
Back in the present, Salvatore realizes that he is very satisfied with his life from a professional point of view but not from a personal one, so decides to return home to attend Alfredo's funeral. Though the town has changed greatly, he now understands why Alfredo thought it was important that he leave. Alfredo's widow tells him that the old man followed Salvatore's successes with pride and he left him something: an unlabeled film reel and the old stool that Salvatore once stood on to operate the projector. Salvatore learns that Cinema Paradiso is to be demolished to make way for a parking lot. At the funeral, he recognizes the faces of many people who attended the cinema when he was the projectionist.
Salvatore returns to Rome, watches Alfredo's reel and discovers it comprises all the romantic scenes that the priest had ordered Alfredo to cut from the movies; Alfredo had spliced the sequences together to form a single unreduced film of aching desire and lustful frenzy.
The final scenes shows Salvatore coming to peace with his past, with tears in his eyes.
Cast
- Philippe Noiret as Alfredo
- Salvatore Cascio as child Salvatore Di Vita
- Marco Leonardi as teenage Salvatore
- Jacques Perrin as adult Salvatore
- Agnese Nano as Elena Mendola
- Brigitte Fossey as adult Elena (extended cut only)
- Antonella Attili as Maria Di Vita
- Pupella Maggio as old Maria
- Enzo Cannavale as Spaccafico
- Isa Danieli as Anna
- Leopoldo Trieste as Father Adelfio
- Roberta Lena as Lia
- Nino Terzo as Peppino's father
- Leo Gullotta as the Usher
- Tano Cimarosa as the Blacksmith
- Nicola Di Pinto as the Village Idiot
Production
Cinema Paradiso was shot in director Tornatore's hometown Bagheria, Sicily, as well as Cefalù on the Tyrrhenian Sea.[5] The town square in the film is Piazza Umberto I in the village of Palazzo Adriano, about 30 miles south of Palermo. The ‘Paradiso’ cinema was built here, at Via Nino Bixio, overlooking the octagonal Baroque fountain, which dates from 1608.[6]
Told largely in
Seen as an example of "nostalgic postmodernism",
Releases
The film exists in multiple versions. It was originally released in Italy at 155 minutes, but poor
Director's cut
In the 173-minute version of the film, after the funeral, Salvatore notices an adolescent girl who resembles the teenage Elena. He follows as she rides her scooter to her home, which allows Salvatore to contact his long-lost love Elena, who is revealed to be the girl's mother. Salvatore calls her in hopes of rekindling their romance; she initially rejects him, but later reconsiders and goes to see Salvatore, who was contemplating his rejection at a favorite location from their early years. Their meeting ultimately leads to a lovemaking session in her car. He learns that she had married an acquaintance from his school years, who became a local politician of modest means. Afterwards, feeling cheated, he strives to rekindle their romance, and while she clearly wishes it were possible, she rejects his entreaties, choosing to remain with her family and leave their romance in the past.
During their evening together, a frustrated Salvatore asks Elena why she never contacted him or left word of where her family was moving to. He learns that the reason they lost touch was because Alfredo asked her not to see him again, fearing that Salvatore's romantic fulfillment would only destroy what Alfredo sees as Salvatore's destiny – to be successful in the cinema world. Alfredo tried to convince her that if she loved Salvatore, she should leave him for his own good. Elena explains to Salvatore that, against Alfredo's instruction, she had secretly left a note with an address where she could be reached and a promise of undying love and loyalty. Salvatore realizes that he never found that note, and thus lost his true love for more than thirty years. The next morning, Salvatore returns to the decaying Cinema Paradiso and frantically searches through the piles of old film invoices pinned to the wall of the projection booth. There, on the reverse side of one of the dockets, he finds the handwritten note Elena had left thirty years earlier.
The film ends with Salvatore returning to Rome and, with teary eyes, viewing the film reel that Alfredo left.
Home media
A special edition of Cinema Paradiso was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment on 4 September 2006. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, the Director's Cut version, scenes from the Director's Cut, the Ennio Morricone soundtrack and a documentary on Giuseppe Tornatore.[10]
An Academy Award edition of Cinema Paradiso was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment on 1 February 2009. It is also compatible with all region codes and includes different special features such as Umbrella Entertainment trailers, cast and crew biographies and the Director's filmography.[11]
On 1 July 2011, Umbrella Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray.[12] Arrow released a remastered special edition Blu-ray of the film, with both theatrical and extended cuts, in 2017.
In June 2020, Arrow Films announced a 4K UHD Blu-ray release with both of the aforementioned cuts due for September of that year, with the 124-minute theatrical cut as a 4K UHD presentation, the 174-minute Director’s Cut as a Blu-ray presentation.[13]
Reception
Box office
Cinema Paradiso was a box-office success.
The film was released twice in Italy before its Cannes win and flopped at the box office both times. After the Cannes win it was re-released and performed steadily[14] however, following its Academy Award success, it was released again and performed better, grossing $5.3 million in Italy.[15] In France, the film ran for over a year, grossing over $19 million.[16] In the United States and Canada, it grossed $12.3 million.[17]
Critical response
Cinema Paradiso was also a critical success, making Tornatore internationally known, and is regarded by many as a classic.
Film critic Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars out of four[20] and four stars out of four for the extended version, declaring "Still, I'm happy to have seen it--not as an alternate version, but as the ultimate exercise in viewing deleted scenes." Oddly, despite giving a higher rating to the extended version, Ebert maintained that the theatrical version was superior: "I must confess that the shorter version of Cinema Paradiso is a better film than the longer."[21]
The film was ranked #27 in
Awards and nominations
- 1989: Cannes Film Festival
- Trop belle pour toi)[23]
- 1989: Golden Globe Awards
- 1989: Academy Awards
- Best Foreign Language Film[4]
- 1990: César Awards
- César Award for Best Poster: Jouineau Bourduge
- BAFTA Awards[25]
See also
- List of submissions to the 62nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Italian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ^ a b c d e "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988)". Archivio del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ Vancheri, Barabara (26 March 1990). "Foreign-movie nominees discuss money, muses". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 10.
- ^ a b Willow Green (23 September 2019). "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema: 27. Cinema Paradiso". Empire.
- ^ a b "The 62nd Academy Awards (1990) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-470-39899-9.
- ^ "Cinema Paradiso film locations (1988)". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ Marcus, p. 99
- ^ Bondanella, p. 454
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Cinema Paradiso". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
- ^ "Umbrella Entertainment - Special Edition DVD". Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "Umbrella Entertainment - Academy Award DVD". Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "Umbrella Entertainment - Blu-ray". Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "Cinema Paradiso UHD Blu-ray". Arrow Films. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Titanus on a roll: seven films tapped for slots in Venice". Variety. 30 August 1989. p. 50.
- ^ "Top 10 draw $167 mil". Variety. 3 September 1990. p. 56.
- ^ "'Paradiso' kicked out of Paris by 'Everybody's Fine'". Variety. 24 September 1990. p. 38.
- ^ "Cinema Paradiso (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (16 March 1990). "Cinema Paradiso Movie Review & Film Summary". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 3 July 2021 – via RogerEbert.com.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (28 June 2002). "Cinema Paradiso: The New Version Movie Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Movie quotes in Dream Theater lyrics". IMDb. Retrieved 2 August 2023. [unreliable source?]
- ^ "Nuovo Cinema Paradiso". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Cinema Paradiso". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Film in 1991". BAFTA. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
Further reading
- Bondanella, Peter E. (1 January 2001). Italian Cinema: From Neorealism to the Present. Continuum International Publishing. ISBN 978-0826412478.
- Marcus, Millicent Joy (24 April 2002). After Fellini: National Cinema in the Postmodern Age. JHU Press. ISBN 978-0801868474.
External links
- Cinema Paradiso at IMDb
- Cinema Paradiso at AllMovie
- Cinema Paradiso at Discogs (list of releases)