Cinema Paradiso (1988)

(Originally released as Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)

Starring: Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta, Marco Leonardi, Pupella Maggio

First, The Lowdown: A famous filmmaker recalls the movie theater of his childhood.

In a tiny village in remote Sicily, a young boy by the name of Salvatore spends all of his free time sneaking into the village theater (which also serves as the church.) His dalliances there frequently come to conflict with his mother, the local priest, and most especially the projectionist, Alfredo, who is required by the local clergy to preview every new movie so that any scenes that involve romantic kissing or touching can be spliced out.

Despite the finger-wagging by his superiors, Salvatore is entranced by the world of the theater, so much so that he learns the trade of running the projector from Alfredo. When an accident in the projection room deprives Alfredo of his sight and the village of their cinema, a patron uses his newly-won wealth to commission the building of a grander theater: Cinema Paradiso.

Salvatore takes over the job of projectionist from Alfredo, and as the years advance, he grows into a strong man who begins to explore the world of film on his own with this own camera. However, life has a way of changing quicker than one wants to, and Salvatore finds himself drafted into service with the Army. Upon his return, Alfredo chides Salvatore for keeping himself chained to the village of his birth out of a misplaced sense of duty. Alfredo insists that Salvatore leave and never look back, otherwise he may be trapped forever.

I remember when this came out the critical acclaim used the typical buzz words of “spectacular” and “astounding” and “a movie that reminds you of what movies used to be”. To be honest, I didn’t find any of those statements to be fitting. If anything, what I witnessed was an overlong movie with a leaden plot. It’s not to say that the story itself was boring or unoriginal, but where there was one movie being shown, there really should have been three.

It was unsurprising to me when I found out that Cinema Paradiso was intended to be a statement on the current state of film during the time it was released, but instead of showing us the wonder of the flickering images, we are treated to montage after montage of gap-mouthed people looking blankly at the screen.

Line of the Movie: “Progress always comes late.”

Three stars. Take me out to the ball game.