Cinema Paradiso
Last night, I shed a million tears watching the cinema paradiso. I know this film through my friend and
I watched the movie at home and enjoyed it dearly. Somewhere in me, I
wish I could have seen it on the big screen when it first came out, and
someday, I intent to watch it in a theater keen on re-playing the
classics of our time.
How is it that I do not even remember the movie being in Italian, Some of the movies when I watched I couldn't understand the language so most of the times I will concentrate on subtitles. But
it happens far away, in a small Sicilian village many moons ago. In a
world where luck and fortune have not set foot to bless a small Italian
boy, he finds solace and curiosity and escape from reality in cinema.
The story of the little Toto, told from the perspective of the grown
and successful Salvatore as he recalls his own childhood, is a
bewitching tale of every human emotion imaginable – sorrow, bliss,
laughter, compassion, rage, desperation and loss, teaching, learning,
dreaming and hoping. The directors captivate each intangible in its most
perfect essence. Cinema Paradiso is an unforgettable experience which
leaves you forever changed. I will never forget the scenes of this
movie, and the subtle melancholy it stirred up deep in my soul. The
main theme song by the fabulous
Ennio Morricone, the sweet slow longing sound of violin and cello, no doubt will play in my ears forever.
Alfredo plays the role of a tough mentor, a demanding supervisor, and
a loving father figure to little Toto all in one as he starts to work
in Cinema Paradiso in Alfredo’s film “box”. Worlds and years apart, they
are inseparable as one another’s companion through the beautiful shared
passion of films. A major effort goes into censoring any form of
intimacy or passion from the movies, to abide by Italian government
regulations. They strip out every clip of rapture from the films,
robbing the audience of small pleasures and large hope in a life
otherwise gloomy as the bleak wintry skies. I derived some joy from
watching Alfredo secretly holding on these clips of , for they are
moments too good to part with. Nonetheless, the duo live to please
audiences who come to Cinema Paradiso in masses to escape their grim
reality for a little while and to watch the featured black and white
movie of the day over and over.
In the gloomy post-WWII days of Sicily, Cinema Paradiso brings joy to
the empty lives and longing hearts. The films are far more than
entertainment; they represent a shadow of hope and passing joy, masked
in black and white scenery, delivered in beautiful dialogue, on the big
screen of the theater. It is for this that the crowds gather here every
day. They come back for the same laughs and tears, they memorize every
word, they mimic every expression, they know every line. They are one
with the movie, and for an hour or two, they live happily. At his early
young age, Salvatore knows that he contributes to this, and it gives
him the unquestionable sense of purpose he needs to pursue his dream.
Toto is mesmerized with the world of film and deeply influenced by
Alfredo. It is especially obvious when Alfredo recounts the hardship of
his job to Toto, in hopes of dissuading him from pursuing the film
industry, that you can see the undeterred look in his little eyes. Why
did you not change jobs then, Alfredo? he asks innocently. Alfredo gazes
away, at his projector and at the film strips, at the photographs on
his wall – old movie posters from the greatest moments in the cinema at
the time. Because of this, all of this – you become a part of this and
this becomes a part of you, I paraphrase his response.
“Life isn’t like the movies. Life is much harder”,
Alfredo’s famous quote as he explains to Toto, and yet that is
precisely why the obsession continues to live on, the obsession to
create a world that is apart from reality and can bring joy and hope to
people’s lives. The world of our imagination. The world of cinema.
In the course of this magnificent film,
Cinema Paradiso takes us from the old to new age of movie industry; as
we mature from analog to digital age, and as Salvatorre shows the newer
ways to Alfredo, we see only nostalgia of losing the way things were.
We go into Cinema Paradiso with the crowds and watch them together in a
theater as a community, as friends, neighbors, families, watching and
experiencing the movie on the big screen. Then we see it all disappear
into the digital age of watching our beloved movies on small screen in
private living rooms. The difficulties associated with the analog age
are as harsh as the pleasures produced by the long lost traditions of
experiencing movies in the one way possible. The demolition of Cinema
Paradiso is the peak of this yearning and felt not only for those who
watched movies there, but by all of us. It signifies the longing we all
feel at times for the way things used to be, a yearning for the years
gone by in innocence and simpler times, and a sadness for our ignorance
of the treasured moments, stolen much too quickly at the merciless hand
of time.
The love story of Elena and young
Salvatorre happens naturally. It adds texture and richness to the story.
Salvatorre’s character matures painfully and it takes the shape a
permanently broken heart for the rest of his years. While significant in
itself, I felt this love story was a sub-plot to Cinema Paradiso, not
central to its main theme. The real story in this timeless movie is
between Alfredo and Salvatorre, entangled through the shared devotion to
film.
In the
Extended Cut 154-minute version
of the movie, we see a reunion – albeit temporary and much overdue –
between Salvatore and his darling Elena. We experience a different
ending from the Director’s Cut which never brings closure to the story
of star-crossed lovers. Taste is personal. Perhaps closures are
over-rated. Nonetheless, the extended cut is the first and only Cinema
Paradiso I have watched so far, and the story has taken its shape in my
mind. It is not easy to ascribe a new ending now. So to me, Elena and
Salvatore met later in life, and discovered what really happened on the
day they were meant to elope together.
Timeless. Bitter. Sweet.
A classic.
Brilliant dialogue. Filled with nostalgia.
A journey through time,
hope, war, friendship, love affairs but most of all, a movie about the
love of film.
I came to remember my childhood memories now. As a Tamilian I have seen my first film with my mom in karthik theater on a sand ticket. It was my first experience. And most of the films i will go with my mom in childhood. And that theater owner will provide the free tickets for me because he is a friend of my dad but after few years I have gone there for some official purpose that owner dead and i couldn't find that theater it was changed as a hospital. So i couldn't find the theater even i couldn't find my mom, because she is no more...
