Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

This Italian drama film from 1988 was directed and written by Giessupe Tornatore. It is a movie full of youthful on-going love. It is about a man named Salvatore Di Vita who receives a call from his hometown. it was his mother with very saddening news. Alfredo has died.

Salvatore then begins to recall his life as young boy with Alfredo.

Salvatore is six years old and is fatherless for the reason that his biological father passed away in WWII. Salvatore, who was also known as Toto, realized he had a passion for films and thus spent most of his time at the movie house called Cinema Paradiso. Alfredo was a projectionist who worked there and Toto found himself bonding with him.  Toto then becomes highly productive at Cinema Paradiso as Alfredo teaches Toto many things about projecting. Soon, Toto becomes the only other person aside from Alfredo who knows who to run the machines at the theater.

Toto works there throughout all of his life as a young boy, even through high school. Toto falls in love with a girl named Elena and he films her without her knowing and watches the film at the theater when he is on his own. With the help of Alfredo’s advice, Toto goes on to pursue Elena and becomes successful in doing so. However Toto then leaves for compulsory military service and tries to write Elena but his letters always came back. Although Alfredo missed Toto so much while he was away on military service, Alfredo told Toto that it was time for him to leav this town because he had no future there as a film projectionist. He told Toto to never look back and that precisely what Toto did.

He left his wonderful family, Alfredo and his wonderful town to move forward with his life as Alfredo had asked him to do. 30 years later, Salvatore returned to his hometown to attend Alfredo’s funeral. He learned that Alfredo always referred to Salvatore as though he was his own son. ALfredo loved him dearly.

I related to this movie in many ways as I lived in Italy for a long time and I still go back every year to visit. I know the strength of the love between a father or a even a fatherly figure and a son over in Italy. They take the notion of family to another level: family is everything. I really enjoyed watching this film although I found some parts to be unnecessary and a bit too long. In the end, I noticed that those parts are what make this movie so ethical. I would recommend this movie to everyone and anyone who loves their family.