Cinema Paradiso

A celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies.

Beautiful, picturesque, evocative, enchanting, more beautiful, romantic, moving, touching and not forgetting, beautiful. You might well presume that I like this film. Yeah, it's all right. Quite simply, Cinema Paradiso is one of the most brilliant movies ever made, warranting a position within any greatest movies ever list, and nothing shy of a criminal offence if you have never watched it.

The story is simplicity itself, as a letter from his home town draws Salvatore back to his roots, from which point he reveals the story of his childhood, of the friendship he formed with the town's projectionist Alfredo, and how he succeeded Alfredo as projectionist after an all changing accident.

Tornatore succeeds in drawing utterly believable performances from all of his actors, with arguably the greatest performance by a child actor ever, the result of which is that the whole story is utterly engrossing. The camerawork continually excels itself in finding more and more breath-taking scenery, which serves to observe every-thing perfectly.

The tale told reveals a heart-warming story of youth, friendship and the magic of cinema, and it is this magic which cements the whole film so perfectly. In a world of 'Coyote Ugly's and 'Battlefield Earth's, this film reminds you exactly what it is that draws you to the cinema, and leaves you with a truly childlike sense of wonder at how amazing the whole thing is. If you don't come to see this film, it is your enormous loss, no excuse merits missing this masterpiece.

Rotten Tomatoes Score:

96%

Genre:

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Writer:

Guiseppe Tornatore

Directors:

Guiseppe Tornatore

Leads:

Phillipe Noiret, Jaques Perrin, Savatore Cascio, Mario Leonardi

Music:

Ennio Morricone

Length:

155 minutes

Year:

1988

Country:

Italy/France

Language:

Italian, English, Portuguese

PG

These pages copyright Union Films, 2001-2024. All views expressed in these pages are those of Union Films, and are not necessarily those of the University Of Southampton, or the Students' Union. All logos and trademarks are property of their respective organisations.

Tickets, passes and the prices thereof are subject to availability