Cinema Paradiso (1988)

                   Cinema Paradiso (1988) directed by Giuseppe Tornatore tells a story about a boy named Salvatore also known as “Totto” who loves to spend his free time at the movie theater. As a child he was a troublemaker and the theater was a way of staying out of trouble. While young Salvatore went to the movies he was always curious of how everything worked and was fascinated by the projection booth. Throughout the entire beginning of the film Salvatore grew a strong relationship with the projectionist of the local theater Alfredo. During the film the two become very close and Alfredo takes on the father figure of the young Salvatore. When Sal becomes a teen he falls in love with a girl who often leads him on. When the love comes and goes Alfredo tells Sal to move on and go and succeed in bigger dreams. Alfredo tells Sal to never come back because there is nothing good for him in the town.  When many years pass Sal receives a phone call from his mother back home and gives him the bad news that Alfredo has passed. The boy goes back to the town in which he grew up to morn his beloved friend’s death.

            This film follows a couple of major themes throughout its entirety. The first is friendship. By show how Totto and Alfredo became close, to the hardships along the way really show audiences that friendship is hard to come by but if it is achieved then it can last a lifetime. The main theme that was shown was love. This film followed a young boy as he grows into a man. During each section of the film love is evident for example Alfredo and Sal grow a strong connection which makes them form a friendship then later Alfredo becomes more like a father to the main protagonist.  Also in the middle of the film audiences follow Sal’s teenage years and watched him fall in love with a woman. Love is often expressed throughout many films in the industry today. The reason why love was a major theme throughout this film is because love is a subject in which everyone can relate to.

            This film was fantastic the story the character development, and the cinematography was just out right phenomenal. I loved how they opened the beginning of the film in the present day and the older Salvatore got the news about a character in which the audience did not know yet, Alfredo. By doing this audiences members like myself was automatically interested in the story. The character development is another thing in with I really enjoyed. By watching Salvatore grow up throughout the film the audience related to the main character because we watched him grow up on screen. Finally the story really hit it home for me. The one part in which I feel that they really did a fantastic job with was when Alfredo gave the young Salvatore some old film reels of all the kissing scenes he had to cut out of the films for the theater but never handed it to him. At the end of the film the older Salvatore is given a gift from Alfredo’s wife and when he plays the reel in the theater it is the old film reels Alfredo promised Salvatore. It was a great ending and that really caped it off fore me. Cinema Paradiso (1988) was definitely the best film we have watch this semester thus far. I give this film a 8 out of 10.