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Oct 20, 2013alpaca85 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Cinema Paradiso is a movie about people who love movies made for people who love movies. It's basically a two hour love letter to the cinema and it spares no expense in showing it's heart on it's sleeve. It's an unabashedly sentimental movie, but of the highest order. Not unlike My Life as a Dog, it takes place from the point of view of a child at the beginning. And although the child in question is a little annoying, he does mature into a very good character. Cinema Paradiso is about a young boy, named Salvatore, in post-war Italy who falls in love with the movies. He befriends a local projectionist, who teaches him the "tricks of the trade", so to speak. His father was killed in the war and his family is very much in sadness. While the film wisely chooses to not dwell for long on that, it does make the implication that the movies are some kind of safe haven for the boy. The film can be quite funny too, such as a scene where a priest cuts out kissing scenes from movies. And it can be quite sad as well, such as when a fire nearly kills the projectionist and blinds him. The boy works at the theatre afterwards, and he soon after becomes a man, and falls in love with a girl. Not wishing to spoil that scene, I'll just say that there's a lovely analogy between that story and one that the projectionist tells earlier on. Cutting between past and present, and using the focal point of the cinema, Cinema Paradiso basically sneaks in all of the cliches it so adores from the films that are shown. It's a comedy-romance-drama-nostalgia piece that throws in lines like "I wish it would rain, like in the movies!" just before it actually rains in the movie. And yet, despite all the film's love for the older films it pays tribute to, Cinema Paradiso is uniquely it's own movie. It's a movie that somehow manages to make movies come alive and off the screen. The closest comparison I can make is that of a cross between Amarcord and Radio Days. The performances are good. Philippe Noiret, who plays the projectionist gives a fantastic performance. He's just an intensely relateable and charming man. He imbues his character with all the wisdom and charm that it requires, and then he gives more. Even after the fire, he still remains incredibly quick witted and fun. It's a great role. The rest of the cast is rather average. Jacques Perrin carries the emotional burden of the film in it's last twenty minutes, but other than crying and looking at things wistfully, it's an average performance. Agnese Nano and Marco Leonardi do good work as Salvatore and his love, but their roles don't really have much to them. Salvatore Cascio can be pretty annoying at times, but as child performances go, he's not that bad at all. The score by Ennio Morricone truly stands out. Morricone was perhaps one of the best film composers, and his work here is flawless. He does an amazing job at evoking nostalgia, and his score reminded me of Once Upon a Time in America, which is another truly great score. The script too does a good job at evoking emotions out of the audience, and there are some great shots. In particular there is a shot where the blind projectionist runs his hand over Salvatore's face, and when his hand leaves the face, Salvatore has aged to a teenager. The direction is also quite good, even though Giuseppe Tornatore may have not been quiet as prolific as his contemporaries. It's a film that appeals to everything that I love about the movies, and in the process becomes a great movie itself.