CINEMA PARADISO
Tony Montesdeoca
If you love movies, it's impossible not to appreciate Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso, nostalgic look at one man's love affair with cinema, and the story of a very special friendship. Most of Cinema Paradiso is told through flashbacks. As the film opens, we meet old Salvatore, a famous director, who has just received the news that an old friend has died. Then, before the funeral, he reminds us of his childhood and adolescence, thinking back to places and people he hasn't seen for decades.
When he was a child, Salvatore loved the movies. Specially the local theatre, called the Cinema Paradiso. The Paradiso became his home, and the movies, his parents. He developed a friendship with the projectionist, Alfredo, a lively middle-aged man who offered advice on life, romance, and how to run a movie theatre. Salvatore worked as Alfredo's apprentice until the day the Paradiso burned down, then Alfredo became blind. Some years later an adolescent Salvatore became the projectionist. But Alfredo filling the role of confidante and mentor to the boy he loved like a son.
The film is sometimes funny, sometimes joyful, and sometimes poignant, but it's always warm, wonderful, and satisfying. There has always been a certain magic associated with the simple act of projecting a movie on a screen. Tornatore taps into this mystique, and makes Cinema Paradiso a great motion picture.
