Cinema Paradiso

Original title: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso

1988
PG
2h 54m

IMDb RATING

8.5/10

292K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,675

Play trailer2:02

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99+ Photos

Coming-of-Age Drama Romance

Salvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love wit... Read allSalvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love with cinema.Salvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love with cinema.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.5/10

292K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,675

See production info at IMDbPro

Top rated movie #48

Won 1 Oscar
- 25 wins & 33 nominations total

Videos2

Photos228

+ 223

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Storyline

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Trivia
By the end of 1956, Italy had 17,000 movie theaters, the most in Europe.

Goofs
When Toto is young, the films that Alfredo gave him catch fire. They burn and ruin the only picture that his mother had of his father. When Toto is a grown up, this "burnt" picture is hanged on the wall totally unharmed.

Quotes
Alfredo: Living here day by day, you think it's the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything's changed. The thread's broken. What you came to find isn't there. What was yours is gone. You have to go away for a long time... many years... before you can come back and find your people. The land where you were born. But now, no. It's not possible. Right now you're blinder than I am.
Salvatore: Who said that? Gary Cooper? James Stewart? Henry Fonda? Eh?
Alfredo: No, Toto. Nobody said it. This time it's all me. Life isn't like in the movies. Life... is much harder.

Alternate versions
Originally presented at the EuropaCinema Festival in a 173-minute edition. It was there released in Italy at 155 minutes; after a very poor box office performance, the film was pulled out of circulation and shortened to 124 minutes. After it won the Special Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes festival and the Best Foreign Film Oscar, it was re-released in Italy on video first in its initial 155 minutes cut and then in the original 173-minutes director's cut.

Connections
Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

Soundtracks
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (Titoli)
Written by Ennio Morricone

User reviews666

Review

Featured review

10/10

As Good as Movies Get

Movies can wield a strange power over those who sit in the darkened seats of a theatre. The truly great ones manipulate your perception of reality, suspend your disbelief, and ultimately either alter or affirm your view on life. NUOVO CINEMA PARADISO is just such a movie. It is the near-perfect melding of direction, acting, script, sound track, and cinematography. Phillipe Noiret and Salvatore Cascio give the kind of performances usually associated with much more recognizable actors. The supporting cast looks like they could all be full-blooded Sicilians. The location shots add depth and realism to the entire production. Ennio Morricone's music is simply the most appropriate and emotive I have ever had the pleasure to hear in a theatre. Tornatore's script and direction are a joy, a breath of fresh air.

I will not spoil this story by repeating it, nor will I give away the ending, although it matters not a whit. I could disclose fully everything in this movie, and in seeing it, all my words would evaporate. There is nothing like the experience of sitting through it, becoming engulfed by it, and in the end, being changed.