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Cinema Paradiso
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5023965123725
Format: PAL
Languages: English (Original Language), AnalogItalian (Original Language), AnalogPortuguese (Original Language), AnalogEnglish (Subtitled),
Number Of Discs: 1
Theatrical Release Date: February 23, 1990
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Editorial Review:
Giuseppe Tornatore's beautiful 1988 film about a little boy's love affair with the movies deservedly won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Philippe Noiret plays a grizzled old projectionist who takes pride in his presentation of screen dreams for a town still recovering from World War II. When a child (Jacques Perrin) demonstrates fascination not only for movies but also for the process of showing them to an audience, a lifelong friendship is struck. This isn't just one of those films for people who are already in love with the cinema. But if you are one of those folks, the emotional resonance between the action in Tornatore's world and the images on Noiret's screen will seem all the greater--and the finale all the more powerful. --Tom Keogh
Cinema Paradiso's complex, interwoven tales of wartime Italy, a boy's coming of age, and the history of cinema can be viewed in their entirety on the Director's Cut included in this Deluxe Edition. Director Giuseppe Tornatore's additional 50 minutes of footage provides closure for the saga's detailing Alfredo's death, and Salvatore Di Vita's lost relationship with his teenage love, Elena. Most of the 50 minutes serves as a continuation of the story, rather than as previously deleted scenes. The original, already celebrated Cinema Paradiso follows Toto (Jacques Perrin), a Sicilian boy who persuades the town projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), to teach him how to show films. Spanning nearly 50 years, the film craftily draws parallels between Toto's life and those lives he sees on screen. As Toto matures into Salvatore, a successful Italian filmmaker, the Cinema Paradiso ages as well. Salvatore's return home for Alfredo's funeral is also a goodbye to his Paradiso, demolished to become a parking lot. The film's heightened sense of nostalgia subtly mirrors our humanistic love of movies, making it a tribute to cinema as an artistic genre. The Director's Cut can be fulfilling if one felt unsatisfied by the more ambiguous ending of the theatrical release, but it also feels slightly overwrought. Two documentaries in this package feature fans and critics praising Cinema Paradiso, proving its endurance as a classic. However, as Salvatore discovers over the course of the film, there is no need to improve a masterpiece. --Trinie Dalton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - This is the best movie ever!
I saw "Cinema Paradiso" more than 30 times. Each time I cry like a baby and each time I like it more. It's the best film I ever saw and I'll be seeing it at least 30 more times. Don't miss it!
Rating: - Can see over and over!
Such a great movie! What characters. You want to know them personally. A film to see over and over again. It will make your heart glad.
Rating: - Excellent Movie
Have watched this movie 4 or 5 times. Always wanted to buy this for keeps sake. Lovely story and beautifully scripted movie. I definitely recommend it not only to watch it but buy it for the library.
Rating: - Astonishing
There are few people who will know the depths of the loves portrayed in this movie: the complete, early love of an art; the selfless, stern love of a mentor; the young--in some ways unfilled, incomplete--love of an impassioned couple.
Perhaps the film's greatest gift--aside from the wonderful story you will see; the strong emotions which you will feel (tears will drop)--is that you will be shown, almost tangibily, these depths so you may, in your remaining life, attempt to fathom them ... Read More
Rating: - cinema paradiso
Put off seeing this after all its original rave reviews because the plot seemed boring. boy in italy learns about cinema. well, good reviews were justified. i never get tired of this film and watch at least once a year. great character development and follows almost the entire life of a famous italian film maker. beautiful and a sweet insight into a boy's/man's heart, and life in pre and post war Sicily.
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