SUMMER JOURNAL #3

Cinema Paradiso

Movie:  1988, color, 155 min.

• Director: Guiseppe Tornatore
• Actors: Philippe Noiret, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin.
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Tiny synopsis:

A now famous filmmaker recalls his childhood and how he fell in love with film and the person who guided him to a better life.

What are some ironies in the film?

The film takes place in the late 40’s just after World War II in a small town in Sicily. This time and setting is pertinent to the setup of a few key ironies in the film. First, we have the priest who enters the Cinema Paradiso as a representative of the Vatican, he watched the new influx of films that are about to be beheld by all the villagers and cuts, edits them of all sexual scenes. This is one irony because the priest beholds the immoral acts himself. So in fact the censorship theme of the film that reoccurs more then a couple of time was sort of hypocritical. Another one is when the town ousts a family because the father works for a communist and is supposedly Stalinist all the while ignoring the actual communist repression vital in the town.

What are a few key scenes of symbolism?

One scene in which the townspeople are not allowed in the theater and become an angry riot results in Alfredo moving the projection reflection onto the wall of the court square. Whilst the reflection of the film is moving across the walls in the room, Toto is amazed by this magic. A magic that is film and the beauty of it’s ability to silence a crowd and thee beauty in which Alfredo used this trick to please the people. It’s like the moment Toto fell in love with film, before he was a lover of it but now he is in love. A second scene where there is much symbolism is Salvatore’s return to the village, his home and his mothers travel down the stairs where she unravels this thread, something that signifies her attachment to her home, her life and he village. She is unable to leave, stuck by a threaded umbilical chord. The very theme of the entire film, the desire for a better life and Alferdo's execution in persuading Salvatore to escape the wretched city where dreams die.