I am getting increasingly attracted to Italian movies just like how I am attracted to the beauty of Italy. I watched another extraordinary and soulful film that kept me glued to my TV screen for 2 hours. It was soul stirring. It really stirs your soul. It went deep inside and touched memories and nostalgic moments inside myself that it is hard to put words to describe the feeling. No wonder this movie won an academy award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990.
The film begins with a prominent film director learning in Rome that old Alfredo is dead and making a sentimental journey back to his hometown. Then we see the story of the director’s childhood and his teenage years set in Giancaldo, a tiny town in Sicily in the final years before television. What could I write about? Is it the brilliant acting or the captivating visuals or the mesmerizing music or the soul stirring moments that kept coming scene after scene. Every scene was magic, especially in the first half.
The central characters in the film include the cinema hall called Cinema Paradiso where a young boy, Toto (Salvatore) and the film projectionist, Alfredo, form a life long bond. It cannot be described in words, it can only be experienced and felt. The boy had to become the projectionist after a fire accident inside the projection room leaves Alfredo blind. Alfredo wants Toto to do well in life and wants him to leave Giancaldo and go to Rome with a powerful statement,
“I dont want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear the talk about you”
Toto leaves the village goes on to become a top director and returns back to attend the funeral of Alfredo followed by the demolition of the movie hall that gave him countless beautiful moments early in his life.
In the cinema hall, there is a village priest in who is the local cinema’s most faithful client. He turns up every week like clockwork, to censor the films. As the old projectionist shows the movies to his audience of one, the priest sits with his hand poised over a bell, the kind that altar boys use. At every sign of carnal excess — which to the priest means a kiss — the bell rings, the movie stops and the projectionist snips the offending footage out of the film. Up in the projection booth, tossed in a corner, the lifeless strips of celluloid pile up into an anthology of osculation, an anthology that no one will ever see, not in this village, anyway.
As the audience line up night after night to see the priest censored film without kisses, the boy with a boundless curiosity watches Alfredo wrestle with the the bulky machine that throws the dream-images on the screen. The scenes made me realize the power of cinema and its ability to make people laugh, clap, whistle, enjoy, cry, wipe tears… There were countless beautiful scenes where a mother cheers up while breastfeeding her baby, a man who passes away while watching the film followed by a flower bouquet in his chair in the next scene to show how much the hall plays such an important role in that society.
The cinema hall brings people of all shapes and sizes from the village into its space. It helps us to remember that it is one of the few places that does amazing things that governments and great leaders spend lifetimes to achieve — create equality once the lights are switched off, make everyone get hope and make everyone happy.
At first Alfredo tries to chase Salvatore away, but eventually he accepts his presence in the booth and thinks of him almost as his child. In the next scene, he saves Toto who was mercilessly beaten by his mother for using the money to watch a movie instead of busing milk. Alfredo saves the boy by giving a 50 lira note as if it was found in the theater. It was beautiful. Salvatore certainly considers the old man his father, and the movies as his mother.
The scene when Cinema Paradiso itself catches fire is both tragic and transformative. Salvatore’s return to his hometown is prompted by the news of Alfredo’s death, and the destruction of the cinema marks the end of an era. This event triggers a flood of memories for Salvatore, leading to a series of flashbacks that form the narrative backbone of the film.
The build up to this scene is a memorable and charming moment where Alfredo, the wise and experienced projectionist, introduces Salvatore, the young boy who becomes the protagonist, to the magic of cinema. Alfredo takes Salvatore to the projection room and teaches him the art of operating the film projector. However, rather than projecting the film onto the screen, they decide to have some fun. Alfredo sets up the projector to cast the film onto a large white wall outside the cinema, turning it into an impromptu outdoor movie experience for the townspeople.
It was almost like a celebration of cinema and then, when the tragedy strikes with people running past the camera leaving the helpless Toto running into the theater to save his old friend was breakthtaking.
The music in “Cinema Paradiso,” composed by Ennio Morricone and conducted by Andrea Morricone, enhances the film’s emotional impact. The main theme, “Love Theme for Nata,” is particularly memorable and has become synonymous with the film. Its hauntingly beautiful melody captures the essence of the movie and is used throughout the film, reinforcing key emotional moments. The cinematography, handled by Blasco Giurato, captures the beauty of the Italian countryside and the intimate moments between characters. The film’s visual style contributes to its timeless quality.
The iconic final scene is the montage put together by Alfredo, the projectionist, for Salvatore. It is a collection of censored kissing scenes from various films. As he views the scenes, the memories of his youth come flooding back, and the film closes with a sense of nostalgia and reflection. This scene is not only a humorous commentary on the conservative censorship of films but also a touching representation of the bond between Alfredo and Salvatore.
This movie is art in its most beautiful form of expression. It is a celebration of the power of cinema. This movie is another drug that is making me become an addict of Italy and its cinema.
