Gary's Movie Reviews and Ratings

1999 Movie Chart

1999 Movie eAwards

All Time Movie Chart

Cinema Paradiso (1989) = 84 =

This is a very beautiful movie that through a combination of story, acting, cinematography, and music provides a heart warming experience.

Director Giuseppe Tornatore brings the very simple story of a famous movie director (played by Jacques Perrin) who looks back on his life from when he was a young scamp (Salvatore Cascio) in a small Sicilian village, through his teenage years (Marco Leonardi), and his eventual return to his village as an adult.

The young Salvatore loved to hang out at the local church run Cinema Paradiso and get under the feet of the long suffering projectionist Alfredo (Phillippe Noiret). The two clash continually but Salvatore eventually learns to run the projector and develop further his love of movies. As a teenager we see him encounter his first love, his first attempts at movie making, and the inevitable pull of the big city lights. The movie builds to its stirring ending when we see Salvatore return to his little village as an adult and we experience the deep emotions he feels from seeing the changes in everything that was once so familiar to him.

There is nothing complicated in this story, no plot twists, and no special effects, but it is a beautiful and uplifting story, especially the relationship that develops between Alfredo, the old projectionist and Salvatore, his young companion. The cast give an honest performance (Salvatore Cascio capturing our hearts right from the start as the child who could so easily have just been annoying). The sets are not beautiful but capture the mood of the sleepy Sicilian village perfectly. Morricone's musical score is powerful and complements the rest of the tale wonderfully.

For an even simpler indicator of whether this was a good movie or not, I look back to see that I barely noticed that the film was in Italian with English subtitles. The story was told so well with images and sounds that the only times I remembered the subtitles was during the scenes where a white background made the white writing difficult to read.

A" must see" if you like beautiful and emotional cinema.

F.A.Q.

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  Director: Giuseppe Tornatore  
  Starring: Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin, Phillippe Noiret
  Date seen: 28 December 1999  
  Last Updated 31 December 1999  


Contact Gary at harbourboy@geocities.com

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