Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso is a 1988 film directed by Guiseppe Tornatore, his second film that won Best Foreign Film at the 1990 Oscars. The movie begins in present day (or at least present day when this movie was filmed). It starts out with a mother calling her son, Salvatore (Jacques Perrin), who hasn’t been home in 30 years for reasons yet unknown, to tell him that Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) has died. So, even though he hasn’t been home for decades, those seem to be the magic words, because he decides to come home for the funeral. But because he is leaving the next morning, that gives Salvatore an entire night to have his childhood memories come flooding back within a matter of hours, memories he has been working hard to suppress for years.

He remembers being a small boy and being entranced with the movie theater, Cinema Paradiso, in his hometown of Giancardo, Italy, run by a crusty but warmhearted projectionist named Alfredo. Since Salvatore (affectionately called “Toto” by everyone in his hometown, presumably a reference to the dog from Wizard of Oz) doesn’t have a father, Alfredo becomes a sort of surrogate father for the boy, teaching him about life, love, and how to run the projection device at the Cinema Paradiso. After Alfredo loses his sight, Salvatore takes over as projectionist for their little town. Over the years, Salvatore grows up and finds love with a beautiful girl named Elena. After he joins the army, he loses contact with her and never sees her again. Salvatore leaves Giancardo and doesn’t look back, following the advice of Alfredo.

My favorite scene was the part where Salvatore is looking through the projectionist eyehole with a happy look on his face. That is what the movies is all about, pure emotions being brought to the big screen.