Italian Cinema Brian K.

Reynolds

Detailed Commentary on Cinema Paradiso

Introduction

Cinema Paradiso directed and written by Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy 1988), Cristaldi Film (Rome)
and Films Ariane (Paris), distributed in Britain by Palace.

This Franco-Italian co-production made in association with RAI, TRE and TFI Film Production
and in collaboration with Forum Pictures reflects the economic realities of the contemporary
Italian cinema. Since the decline of cinema audiences in the 1970s film makers have been
obliged to co-produce with foreign companies (usually French) thus raising capital and ensuring
a wider distribution and also to cooperate with the old enemy, television.

Giuseppe Tornatore had worked for RAI TV from 1979, making films for the GLCT co-
operative. Cinema Paradiso is Tornatore's second film as director. (He has subsequently directed
a third.) He would, therefore, be seen as a reasonable risk by potential backers.

The score by Enrico Morricone, who wrote music for spaghetti westerns including the haunting
score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly , would seem to be an ingredient for success.

The choice of Philippe Noiret and Jacques Perrin to play Alfredo and the mature Salvatore would
have been part of the deal with the French co-producers; Noiret, in particular, could be expected
to draw French audiences. The French actress, Brigitte Fossey, who appeared in the original
version of the film was cut out completely in the final version, however.

The film, originally two hours forty minutes, was cut to two hours by the time it was shown at
the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, on the insistence of the producer, Franco Cristald. Apparently
Tornatore regretted the decision but accepted it because of his respect for Cristaldi and his
recognition of the latter's courage in backing him. This reminds us that art is subservient to
commercial considerations even in the European Film Industry.

The subject matter and themes of Cinema Paradiso , particularly growing up and loss of
innocence, would not be contentious. The exploration of the relationship between life and the
movies is an attractive theme for film makers and has been tackled successfully by a number of
directors. Though set in Sicily, the film is sufficiently universal in its appeal to attract not only
Italian audiences but art house audiences elsewhere. Whilst Tornatore's film has much in
common with other European art house films, it is not at all obscure; furthermore, the plot is
fairly simple and aimed primarily at the emotions rather than the intellect. The inclusion of the
child actor Salvatore Cascio as the young Salvatore would also contribute to the film's attraction.
Its popular success - at least in art house terms - might have been foreseen.

The relatively spare dialogue coupled with the lush music manipulating the audience's response
to the images would make the film accessible to foreign audiences.

Having won awards at Cannes in 1989 Cinema Paradiso won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film
in the same year. This, of course, guaranteed its continuing success in the cinema at home and

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abroad (though not perhaps in the purely commercial cinema) and additional income was derived
from the sale of videos, records and cassettes. Despite the film's critical acclaim, I do not know
whether it enjoyed success with ordinary audiences and I doubt if it reversed the trend to close
cinemas. Tornatore related the following anecdote to John Francis Lane, Screen International , in
May 1989:

"(Salvatore Cascio, the young Salvatore) had never been to see a movie in the cinema so one
Sunday I arranged for a screening of E.T . in our Paradiso for him and other kids working on the
film. None of them showed up. They'd all seen E.T. on pirated cassettes. That's the cinema
today."

Narrative

Cinema Paradiso is a movie of the heart, not of the mind. It is not a film that belongs to any
cinematic movement. It is a film that appeals to pure sentiments of love and nostalgia. The
narrative portrays the relationship between a young boy, Toto, and an older man, Alfredo the
projectionist at the cinema of a small Sicilian town in the post-war years.

Cinema Paradiso deals with the relationship between Toto (Salvatore di Vita) and Alfredo, the
projectionist, at the cinema of a small Sicilian town in the post-war years. Alfredo, who assumes
the role of the young Salvatore's father who was killed in Russia, not only teaches the boy how to
project movies but becomes his mentor, offering advice and support and finally encouraging the
young man to leave home in order to develop his talents in the wider world. Salvatore becomes a
famous film director, and is living in Rome in some style at the beginning of the film when he
receives the news of Alfredo's death. At the end he returns to Sicily, his first visit for thirty years.

Their relationship is, undoubtedly one of father and son, as Alfredo, assumes the role of young
Toto's father who had been killed on the Russian front. However, in certain instances the
relationship changes, and Toto becomes the father, the protector, the one Alfredo leans on,
(particularly during the scene of the school exam and after Alfredo goes blind).
As a father, Alfredo teaches the young boy how to project movies, offers him advice on life and
love and, above all he is instrumental in convincing Toto to abandon the confining life of
Castaldo and go to Rome, venture into the world, make use of his love for the cinema and his
cinematic talents. Indeed, Salvatore becomes a famous film director in Cinecittà and lives now in
Rome. At the beginning of the film when he receives the news of Alfredo's death, we see him in
his luxurious home, enjoying a life-style quite different from the one he lived in the poor town he
had left 30 years earlier. As he ponders about Alfredo and his death, memories of the past come
rushing to him.

In contrast to Hollywood but in common with many French and Italian films there is little
conventional action; the film explores relationships.

As the title suggests Cinema Paradiso is a film about the movies (though about much else as well)
and a lot of its appeal derives from the pleasure of enjoying post-war films along with the
Sicilian audience of the 1940 and 1950 (though their activities are often more interesting than the
action on the Paradiso screen). Like A Bout de Souffle (Jean-Luc Godard, 1959) where Paul

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Belmondo as Michael Poiccara mimics Bogart, and a number of later films, Tornatore's film
explores the theme of the relationship between films and life. One of the subsidiary themes is the
tremendous social and economic changes in post-war Sicily, a topic of interest over and above
the film's purely cinematic qualities.

The film's impact derives from a good script, fine acting (Salvatore Cascio as the child is hard to
resist), superb camera work, editing and design and the haunting score that manipulates our
emotions. On close study we note the effective use of imagery - particularly the frame and the
storm - the ability to make correspondences and allusions and the elegance of the structure.
There is scope too for the viewer to engage actively with the narrative.

The narrative is built up by the posing of questions, most of which are answered sooner or later,
and the setting up of oppositions. The film (basically simple in structure: childhood, youth,
maturity) uses two time-scales - about 36 hours on one level and over 40 years on another -
working through the device of flashback. Though we may admire the manipulation of time we
are never puzzled by it. Cinema Paradiso does not fall neatly into the classic Hollywood
narration pattern of normality - crisis - normality; in this respect we are reminded that it is a
product of European tradition.

Opening Sequences

A first-time viewer of Cinema Paradiso may well be confused through the first ten minutes or so
of the movie in an effort to understand the plot presented in the opening scenes. The plot is
developed through a series of unanswered questions, better yet of questions and statements
answered or followed by other questions.

The opening scene is very subdued and almost deprived of any colour. Our attention is taken
away by a haunting music, which will recur and touch our hearts throughout the movie. As a
contrast to the dark interior, suddenly, as to indicate the life and vitality provided by the movies,
we see the 'Cinema Paradiso' sign in bright neon lights, as it is typical of movie theatres. Then,
there is a shot of an old woman, dressed in black, the colour of eternal mourning and traditional
behaviour, very representative of Southern Italy and of Sicily in particular. The old woman is
talking to her daughter as she is trying to reach by phone a certain Salvatore DiVita, her son,
whom she has not seen in 30 years. (There will be a bittersweet reference to that long absence at
the end of the movie when Salvatore says to his mother: "The trip was nothing, only two hours
by plane." and she answers: "That is not what you should say, after having been away for 30
years." Then, the opening scene concludes with a close-up of the mother as she tells her daughter
"He'll remember"; and, of course memory and nostalgia are the driving motors of this film.

The film cuts to a night scene in Rome. Tornatore cleverly uses one of the many variations of
Morricone's haunting score to link disparate scenes. There is a high shot of a man driving a
Mercedes. This mysterious shot is followed by a cut to the inside of a luxurious apartment.
Mystery abounds. Our curiosity, however, is rendered more intense by the conversation that he
entertains with a young woman, who is half-asleep in the bedroom. She tells him of his mother's
phone call. As the camera moves in to a medium close-up of Salvatore lying in bed, hands
behind his head, we focus our attention on him, identifying with him. The light level decreases

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and the girl informs him: "She said someone called. Alfredo is dead. The funeral is tomorrow."
Now there are more questions, "Who is she? Who is Alfredo? Is he a relative?"
"No...." replies Salvatore. The unsatisfactory answer makes us more anxious to know. There is
the sound of a storm as he turns on his side.... almost searching for isolation, expressing a need to
be mentally alone. The camera zooms in to a close up, further focusing our attention on him, and
allowing us to hare in his thoughts and in his memories, because, now, we are about to enter his
past. The storm increases, heightening the drama and engaging our emotions; the figure is
alternately lit up and in darkness. Tornatore cleverly uses the storm to suggest turbulent emotions.
This metaphor of the storm portraying spiritual restlessness will be presented to us in, at least,
two other occasions, Salvatore waiting under Elena's window and the storm before Elena's kiss in
the rain.

Our minds are now puzzled by the following questions: Who is Alfredo? What is his relationship
with Salvatore? Why has Salvatore abandoned his native town and his family? Why is he so
prosperous? Will he return to Sicily for the funeral?

The theme music, slower now, is heard as we cut to another dark scene. The camera pans and
zooms in allowing us to identify a church. The camera zooms in further focusing on a small altar
boy. This is a flashback with the young Salvatore. We cut to a shot, taken as if from behind the
altar, of a priest consecrating the wine during Mass with a sleeping boy kneeling in the
background. The shot is taken from a high point, making us almost spectators of Salvatore's past.
There is a slow close up of the child accompanied by the theme music, which, once again links
different scenes through different time periods.

We see young Toto asleep and the priest upset at the bell not ringing. Finally, the bell rings. The
priest expresses resignation, as if Toto, must customarily get into trouble and always succeed in
getting himself out of trouble with clever and ingenious ways. The gentle humour of this moment
introduces a mood of love and understanding for human frailty and errors, another major theme
of the film.

Tornatore's next series of cuts portrays Salvatore's sequence in his reminiscence of past events,
and represents a very clever device in order to move from the past to the present and vice versa.
We cut to the priest, in the sacristy, berating the child for falling asleep during the most crucial
moment of the Mass. Furthermore, he, the priest needs the bell to remind him of the religious
sequences during the function. Once again, human understanding of errors, benignly forgiven.
Toto explains his behaviour on account of his being tired. He is tired because in his house there
is nothing to eat. We now become aware of the poverty that plagues him, his family and post war
Italy. This is certainly a theme that ties this film to Neorealist productions. There are many other
scenes that convey the same message. (The various segments of the newsreels that relate to
World War II, the bombed buildings of Castaldo, the scene of Salvatore 's mother receiving a
pension for her husband's death and many others. The main difference is that this neorealist
character is presented with resignation and not with the ferocious anger that coloured the early
Neorealist productions. It is conveyed with the same sense of acceptance that we find in Life is
Beautiful and in Malena. It is yet another reminder that the time has come to let go of the tragedy
that was World War II.

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We cut from a shot of a statue in the sacristy to another religious statue. This transitional shot is a
marvellous piece of cinematography. There is a high shot, as if from the projection room, of the
priest entering a room which we assume at first to be a church, but which is gradually revealed to
be a cinema. This, however, is a cinema where the church has control. We cut to the projection
window, proudly surrounded by a lion's head, a recurring image, then finally to the projection
room and the projectionist, soon identified as Alfredo.

An over-the-shoulder shot of the sitting priest allows us to share his activity, previewing the
week's movies for censorship purposes. Many cinemas, as in Tornatore's home village, were
owned by the church.

We see the opening sequence of Jean Renoir's The Lower Depths, a title that neatly summarizes
the church's view of many of the films. A typical vision of cinema within the cinema. Films,
integral to this film's subject matter, are a means of dating events, of demonstrating the passing
of time and the evolution of the cinema and of the town.

We cut from the projectionist, framed in the projection window, to the young Salvatore known,
we soon learn, as Toto, having a comically illicit look through the curtains. We cut to the priest.
We see in turn the enjoyment of each character. A close up of the priest's hands ringing a bell
reminds us of the other bells. It is also the subject of comedy since this sound of the bell ringing
tells Alfredo when to cut the "sinful" scenes of the kisses. The treatment may be comic but the
church really did control the viewing of small communities. In the darkened cinema the camera
moves in to a detail shot of the small bell. We then cut to a lighter scene with a large bell ringing,
this time for school.

There is a high angle shot of an enormous square, devoid of traffic. People, small therefore
depersonalized, are there to simply portray the life of a small Sicilian town as they are attending
their daily affairs. There is a cut to the cinema building, the first exterior shot of the original
Cinema Paradiso, to hint at the association between the town and the cinema itself.
We cut to the projectionist, Alfredo, with his projector. He is accompanied by the child, Toto,
whom he is lecturing about the danger of the flammable nitrate film. This point is extremely
important for the plot. Bogart and Ingrid Bergman look down from a poster. The movie stars, we
soon discover, provide most of Alfredo's wise words. The central relationship and theme have
now been established in situ. Man and boy bound together by their love for the cinema. The
opening sequences have raised questions and answered some of these. They have also introduced
some of the oppositions central to the narrative: the child and his adult self, youth and maturity,
Salvatore and his mother, Salvatore and Alfredo, Salvatore and Sicily, Sicily and Rome, film and
life.

Here we have the dynamic for the rest of the film.

The Central Body of the Film

The central part of the film can be divided into eight development sequences which answer
questions and develop themes raised in the opening scenes. We briefly cut back to the mature

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Salvatore in Rome on three occasions of emotional intensity, reminding us that it is his memories
we are sharing.

The Importance of Cinema in Toto's Life

Toto's obsession with the movies and his struggle to get to the projection room. School, seen as a
brutal yet comic affair, has little importance for the child. At home he provides his own dialogue
for the scraps of film cut for censorship purposes but never re-spliced, which he has taken from
the projection room. He even spends money given to him by his mother to buy milk on a cinema
ticket. Fortunately, thanks to the intervention of Alfredo who pretends the child got in free and
dropped the money, his mother spares some of her blows. After Toto's illicit film stock catches
fire, Alfredo promises the child's mother never to allow him in the projection room. However,
Alfredo tries in vain to dampen the child's enthusiasm for the movies and finally, agrees to let
him into the projection room and teach him his trade in exchange for answers in an elementary
school certificate examination which Alfredo is trying to pass. In these sequences we see the
beginnings of the relationship between Alfredo and Salvatore. The relationship is summed up by
the use of the medium shot with the man, boy and the projector, the latter almost a character. The
use of shot-reverse-shot suggests the intensity of their relationship. Furthermore, cutting between
the projection room and the cinema auditorium where the goings on of the actively participating
audience are at least as interesting as the kiss-less films, the director suggests periods, indicates
the passage of time and provides a humorous microcosm of society.

The ironic juxtaposition of images is often a source of quiet humour. The choice of films
screened at the Paradise is not always significant but the extract from Visconti's La Terra Trema
is, since it is a serious film about poverty in Sicily. Poverty in Tornatore's film is less realistically
portrayed, although it remains a prevalent theme, as it was in all of the Neorealist productions.
Yet, just like all the recent Neorealist films dealing with these themes, (Life is Beautiful,
Malèna), there is a feeling of acceptance of reality rather than the powerful anger, typically
found in the original films shot immediately after WWII.

Another theme is the relationship between Toto/Salvatore and his mother. In contrast to the
devotion of the adult Salvatore's elderly mother, the young mother of the child seems lacking in
affection for her son. She is angered by the cruel loss of her husband in Russia (over 500,000
Italian soldiers died in the ill-fated Russian campaign) and she seems to take it out on Toto, the
only man left in her life. Here, one needs to stop and understand the culture. For a widow in
Sicily, there is no chance to remarry. Thus, love and emotional life are essentially over. Although
Toto's father has not yet been reported dead, she knows that her existence will be lived only
through her children. For Toto it is quite a different story. His father's place will be taken by
Alfredo who now assumes the role of Toto's guide and mentor, offering him wisdom, primarily
through the lines pronounced by movie stars.

Another important element is the town square. Just like the cinema, the square is a microcosm of
life, showing vignettes of real life, such as the shepherd with his sheep or the old lady spinning, a
man posting a cinema poster falling from his ladder after his laces have been tied together by
mischievous boys, or the Neapolitan fainting on hearing the news of his win in the lottery.
At this point, the basic themes have been established. We will now see the development of the
relationship between Salvatore and Alfredo. We will meet numerous minor characters. But they

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remain very sketchy. They are there simply to reinforce the main themes. As an example, to
demonstrate the microcosmic function of the Cinema, we see people meet and eventually get
married, a prostitute entertaining her clients, a supercilious character spitting from the balcony
on the people in the cheaper seats below. Indeed, all these characters remain two-dimensional
never fully developed, yet indicative of the reality of the movie theatre.

A final intangible, yet important element is the music. As in the opening sequence Ennio's
magnificent music manipulates our emotions, with a final crescendo that will bring tears to our
eyes and will stir powerful feelings of nostalgia.

Growing Up
The cinema has become the centre of Toto's life. He is now Alfredo's unofficial assistant. It is
from a newsreel that we have confirmation of the death of the child's father. His grief-stricken
mother passes a bombed building as she returns home, having signed for her widow's pension:
the building, one of the few signs of the recent war in the film, is a metaphor for her shattered
life. In contrast to the visual message the accompanying music, an upbeat version of the theme
tune, suggests that Toto is unaffected by the loss. This impression is further reinforced as he
gazes fascinated at a poster advertising Gone with the Wind. For Toto the real tragedy is yet to
come.
One night Alfredo, who is compared with a magician, shows he can indeed do anything. Feeling
sorry for the people who have been unable to get in to watch a popular film, he projects the film
onto the wall of a house in the square. In an amusing reminder of the blurred line between life
and film, real people stepping out onto the balcony invade the projected image. Alfredo, looking
indulgently down on the crowd outside, forgets his warning about the danger of fire. Suddenly,
flames leap into the air, accompanied by dramatic music. The cinema bums down but the
severely-burned Alfredo is rescued by Toto. This sequence shows the depth of the relationship
between them. It also marks a turning point; Salvatore is no longer the weaker partner. Things
are also about to change in the town. As the flames roar we briefly cut back to Salvatore in Rome.

A New Beginning - Changes in Society

The priest articulates the community's sense of loss to the tolling of a bell. In fairy tale style the
Neapolitan decides to invest his lottery winnings in a new Cinema Paradiso and Toto, though
under age, is to be the projectionist under Alfredo's guidance. Although the new cinema is
consecrated by the priest in a scene typifying Tornatore's quietly ironic style, things are never the
same again. Films are more daring and kisses no longer cut as they reflect a new reality and the
changes in the morality of society. Scenes of sexual nature are now prevalent in the movies of
the rebellious 50's and 60's, to the cheering of the crowds and the dismay of the clergy (the
priest). The passage of time is indicated by the advent of colour and nudity on the screen. The
activities of the patrons of the movie theatre have also drastically changed, from the
masturbation of the young patrons to the portrayal of the prostitute conducting her trade in the
movie house.

Toto and Alfredo

The relationship between Alfredo and Salvatore still remains the central element in the picture.
The passing of time has caused drastic changes in the projection booth as well. It is now Alfredo,
the man who visits Toto, the boy at work. Indeed, even the boy's relationship with his mother has

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changed Now he is the breadwinner and that affords him the position of a man in charge of the
household.

In a brilliantly cinematographic sequence to indicate the passing of time, Tornatore has the
almost blind Alfredo touch the boy's face while he offers advice about the future. When he takes
his hands away the child has become a young man.

Salvatore. His First Experiences as Film Maker and of Falling in Love

Salvatore, later to become a successful director at Cinecittà, starts shooting a documentary but is
side-tracked when he sees a beautiful newcomer to the town, Elena. Consistent with the film's
theme, life through the movies, she is first seen through the camera lens and Toto can relive his
encounter with her, over and over again in the projection room. Since Elena is well dressed and
middle class we get the feeling that the pronounced social strata differences, still plaguing Italy
nowadays, will render that relationship ephemeral.

Alfredo is content to take on a secondary role as confidant and mentor, offering wisdom from
John Wayne and others. An ironic scene in which the audience weep at a sentimental film and a
member of the audience pre-empts the dialogue, followed by a comic cycle ride to collect the
first reel (they have, we realize, seen the second first) provides a nice counterbalance to the
sentimentality of this section of the film.

Alfredo helps Salvatore in his pursuit of Elena and connives with the young man in an amusing
scene in the church. The older man monopolizes the priest's attention with feigned doubts whilst
his young friend slips into the priest's confessional, thus gaining intimate access to the girl. We
see each character in close up, framed and through a grille; despite their temporary intimacy a
barrier remains between them. In a melodramatic sequence the young man waits outside the girl's
house. The image of dates being crossed off on a calendar reinforces the parallel with old movies
as well as dating events, the close of 1954. Storms predictably reflect emotions. The hero seems
to have been rejected and walks despondently away as celebrations are heard inside the house
and fireworks rise into the sky. In Hollywood style he tears up his letters, then returns to the
projector. However, we see, before he does, the girl's arrival. Their first cinematographic kisses
take place in the projection room, the finished reel unheeded in the heat of the moment. An
idyllic courtship is suggested by the two lovers hand in hand in a cornfield beneath a blue sky
accompanied by upbeat music. The idyll ceases abruptly; the girl's father intervenes and takes
her away. Salvatore sweats out the summer, showing movies outside beside the port. His drawn-
out torment is suggested by the voice-over of him reading Elena's letters as we see him in a
variety of lonely situations, until one night, in the rain, he gets to kiss her.

Military Service
The departing Salvatore's isolation is emphasized in a high shot of the square, empty except for
his bus. In the following brilliantly sequence where military type music accompanies rapidly cut
shots of marching boots, moments of lassitude and returned letters the period of military service
is evoked. When he returns, all that he had left is gone, even Elena.

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The Decision to go to Rome to Work in the Movies

A companion shot of the bus in the square marks Salvatore's return. Close-ups of a more mature
looking youth invite us to identify with him as he looks at his hometown through new eyes.
Alfredo's decline, suggested when we see him in bed, is temporarily reversed by the young man's
return. On the beach beside redundant anchors, suggesting ties and wider horizons, the friends
talk. The pattern of close-ups and shot reverse shot tell us there has been no loss of intimacy; this
is the central relationship in Salvatore's life. Alfredo, no longer borrowing his wisdom from the
stars urges, 'Life isn't like the movies ... it's much harder... go back to Rome...' Salvatore is about
to embark on the next stage of his journey through life.

Departure
We see Salvatore embracing his mother before a longer and more poignant farewell to Alfredo
who forbids his return. This sequence exemplifies the importance of the relationship with
Alfredo, more important than his family. It also explains why Di Vita has not returned home. As
the train draws out and the young man looks back at his past watched by a mother only now
showing the affection we are to see in her older self, the priest arrives, too late to say good-bye.
This perhaps shows us just how irrelevant the church was to the young man.

The Ending
In a sequence typifying the film's elegant structure we cut from the train leaving the station in
Giancaldo, taking Salvatore to begin his career in Rome, to an incoming plane. The mature,
elegant Di Vita, reflected in the window, then in a taxi window, looks out at the new highways
symbolizing the profound changes that have occurred in Sicily during his absence.
Thirty years have elapsed since the previous scene, several hours since the scene at the beginning
of the film. We cut to Salvatore's mother knitting as she waits. When she gets up to welcome him
the knitting unravels (as the years of waiting slip away), perhaps a reference to Ulysses' Penelope.
A long shot of mother and son in the hall emphasizes the spacious proportions of the new house,
contrasting implicitly with the one-room childhood home. The elderly lady's shyness and
deferential solicitude for her son contrast with her tempestuous relationship with the child. The
daughter, apparently the favourite of childhood, is absent. The mother shows Salvatore 'his' room
(where, of course, he's never been before), now a sort of shrine with bike, projector, film, the
photographs he left behind. We are somewhat surprised, given her initial hostility to the cinema.
The accompanying music manipulates our emotions, investing the scene with resonances from
the past. We cut from picture to picture and back to a surprised Salvatore. Finally, we cut to a
photograph of Toto and Alfredo, thence to a close up of Alfredo alone reminding us why
Salvatore is there.

There is a clever cut to the coffin, linking with the funeral procession, shot from behind to allow
us to join the procession. We cut alternately to the widow and Salvatore, so we identify with the
chief mourners. The widow speaks of Alfredo's love for Salvatore. As the procession moves
through the town's narrow streets (very different from Rome) our attention is drawn to the cars
and the advertisements which typify the changes to the town left thirty years previously. The film
cuts to the derelict Cinema Paradiso, then to Salvatore looking at it, then to the procession
looking at him. Cinematically, the look is fully exploited in this sequence. We share his and their
emotions as they remember Salvatore's and Alfredo's relationship with it.
We cut to the cinema owner, who deferentially explains to his former employee, now Mr. Di

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Vita, that the building, empty for six years since audiences failed to come any more, is to be
demolished and replaced by a parking lot. We remember the packed houses and crowds fighting
to get in. Tornatore is making a point about the contemporary Italian cinema. Immediately we
cut to a close up of a can of film, Alfredo's legacy to Salvatore. The widow tells him that Alfredo
never asked to see him, insisted that he must never return here. We remember their last meeting.
Past and present, image and reality are brilliantly joined together.

In the next shot Salvatore is seated at a table looking towards the curtained window seen in the
film's opening shot; his mother stands attentively at the other side of the table. Furniture and
table cloth reflect the family's new prosperity and we remember the young widow at the table in
Toto's childhood home. While the elderly woman's stance reflects a new solicitude for her son,
the table between them suggests their lack of closeness.

A long silence increases the tension. It is finally broken by Salvatore. "Now after all these years I
thought... that I'd forgotten a lot of things. I find I'm back where I was as if I'd never been away."
We recall Alfredo's advice to the young man on his return from military service, urging him to
leave Sicily for good, only then would he be able to appreciate his own people. The camera
moves in for a more intimate scene. The director uses two shots and shot reverse shot, allowing
us to identify with them both as Salvatore admits that he neglected his mother and she replies
that she never expected anything else, reassuring him that he was 'right to leave'. A final moment
of intimacy is suggested when the mother regrets that her son's phone is always answered by a
different woman, none of whom have love in their voice. We see close-ups of the mother and
extreme close-ups of the son as they reflect on this. In this scene the mother seems to fit the
stereotype of the self-sacrificing Italian mother.

We cut to a shot of the square and the cinema with a blue sky above. The camera moves back to
show the crowd assembled for the Paradiso's demolition. As the building crumbles and the
Paradiso's sign falls to the ground, we cut to capture the reactions of the spectators, Salvatore and
the cinema owner included. Not surprisingly the latter has tears in his eyes. During this sequence,
the theme tune both stirs our emotions and evokes memories of the cinema's past glorious days.
As the dust clears, as though through the mists of time, the madman seen earlier in the film
proclaiming his ownership of the square, reappears still making the same claims. As he weaves
his way through closely parked cars we realize some things have changed and others haven't. We
hear a plane taking off before the film cuts to the accompanying image, suggesting Salvatore di
Vita's return to Rome. We cut to a close-up of a can of film which, because of the similarity of
an earlier shot, we recognize as Alfredo's posthumous gift, thence to a plush viewing room.
A shot of the projectionist reminds us that this time Alfredo is not running the film. The audience,
consists of Salvatore alone. The camera zooms in on him in shadow, watching the screen. We cut
from Salvatore to the screen and back again as he views, with increasing pleasure and
amusement, the censored kisses and embraces from the 1940's which Alfredo had failed to splice
back into the film. This is the film promised to a puzzled Toto who failed to see how something
could belong to him if he could not take it away. Alfredo had kept his promise and another
question has been answered.

The theme music, at its most lush and triumphant, accompanies this final sequence which draws
to a close in a note of triumph and good humour, bringing past and present, the adult Salvatore

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and Alfredo together. We are reminded of their joyous relationship and the elder's influence on
the younger. How else could a film about the movies finish but with a film? Neatly both
Alfredo's and Tornatore's films draw to a close with the old fashioned black and white FINE. We
are certainly touched, by the music, the nostalgia, the tears and by our own realization of the
inexorable passing of time.

Themes

Sicily and, by Extension, Southern Italy

One of the films screened at the Paradiso was Visconti's La Terra Trema (1948), a film partly
funded by the Communist party which used nonprofessional actors speaking dialect. It is about
poverty and exploitation. In contrast Tornatore, himself a Sicilian, glosses over the poverty of
post-war Sicily (maybe because he was not born until 1956). The child tells the priest they don't
eat lunch, children are deloused, we see bombed buildings, but we don't feel the poverty. There
is no reference to the Mafia, politics is barely touched on. Fascism is alluded to indirectly in the
newsreels about the Partisans. There is a token Communist who leaves for Germany watched by
a supercilious character in front of the Cerchio dei Nobili. The black-clad widows suggest
conservatism. The scarcity of motor vehicles, and characters like the spinner suggest a traditional
country. References to the classical hero, Ulysses, suggest a society with its roots in classical
Greek and Latin history reminiscent of the ancient glory of Magna Graecia.
30 years later. Modern Sicily with its elegant highway bridges seems part of modem Italy, a
country envied by other Europeans for its design. Consumerism has arrived: advertisements look
down on a traffic congested square. However, widows wear black, even after thirty years
mothers defer to their adult sons. It seems to be a closed society: we don't see any newcomers,
after thirty years' absence. The demolition of the New Paradiso tells us that cinema audiences are
declining in Italy as elsewhere because of competition from television and video.
The brief view of Rome suggests a metropolitan sophistication, elegance and prosperity
contrasting with the provincial nature of small-town Sicily. Rome is also shown as the centre of
the European cinema industry, which, of course, it is (Cinecittà).

The Church
As the church building dominates the square, so the church has a stranglehold on society. Its
presence in the cinema is hinted by the holy statue, and the priest has the power to censor films
before they are viewed. This was not a complete exaggeration. The Centro Cattolico
Cinematografo, established in 1936 to censor films, continued to classify films, according to the
church's creed. The representation of the priest as a gullible fool reminds us of the long tradition
of anti-clericism in Italy.

Women
Most female characters are not fully developed as they play subordinate roles, usually defined by
a relationship with a man. They are mothers, wives, widows. Toto's mother, as the young wife
remains devoted to her absent husband. She seems to have little affection for the young Toto
whom she regularly scolds. However, once Salvatore becomes the breadwinner, he displaces his
sister in their mother's affections and she assumes the role of caring, subservient mother. Her
devotion is such that she keeps Salvatore's bedroom as a sort of shrine and she waits like

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Penelope. There are no recriminations when Salvatore returns after thirty years, only gentle
understanding and a desire for her son's happiness.

The sister becomes increasingly shadowy and is absent when her brother finally returns home.
Alfredo's wife is another devoted woman, only appearing in the film to serve her husband, for
example, she brings his lunch to the cinema. The girl in bed in Rome may be modem and
glamorous but she too is there for Salvatore. Beautiful, well-dressed Elena, young Salvatore's
love, has no independent life. She is there to be loved and admired both in real life and on film.
At the end of the film she leaves us wanting to know more about her. As a character she remains
totally undeveloped. Indeed, what happened to Elena?

Men
This is a society dominated by men. Salvatore and Alfredo are the main characters. Both are
shown flatteringly. Salvatore is handsome, intelligent and creative and becomes a successful film
maker. Alfredo, the surrogate father, is a friend and a mentor to the young man. Neither have any
unpleasant characteristics. Men have power; the priest, despite his ironic portrayal, wields
spiritual power, the cinema owner has economic power. The 'characters' in the film, the madman
who believes he owns the square, the man who spits on the people sitting in the balcony, are men.
Men dominate by sheer numbers; we see a class of boys at school, most of the cinema audience
are men and boys. It is, not surprisingly the men who get excited about the absence, and later the
inclusion of, sex in the films. As far as Northern Italians are concerned, the film probably
represents Sicilian society in a manner consistent with their prejudices! Yet, let us remember that
Tornatore himself is a proud Sicilian and, in many ways, he is trying to portray the true traditions
of Southern Italy often misunderstood and frequently not fully appreciated in spite of all of its
great cultural contributions to western civilization from the Greco-Roman times (Archimedes,
Pythagoras) to contemporary authors such as Pirandello, Verga and Capuana.

Other important themes are:

• The relationship of growth and changes between the reality of movies and life ( the scene
of the TOTO movie projected on the wall of a building and the appearance of a man on
the terrace is one of many examples of movie as life and vice versa)
• The feeling of heavenly happiness provided by the entertainment of the movies, hence the
title Cinema Paradiso. During the times of Post war Italy, before television became a
household item, going to the movies was the only form of escapism from the hardship of
the daily existence.
• The tremendous social and economic changes in post-war Italy during the period of the
reconstruction, changes that are reflected in the new influx of diverse film genres and in
the changes of the theatre itself. All this becomes symbolic of the evolutionary times Italy
went through from the 1940s to the 1980s.
• The Cinema Paradiso itself which can be considered the centre of the town, where the
social interactions among the patrons for 30 years give us a true glimpse of their real lives.
Here people celebrate, cry, meet their future spouses, engage in illicit sexual activities,
argue and learn about life, thus creating a microcosm of society itself and, most
importantly, portraying how society and its moral fibre had changed in 30 years.

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• Finally, the film's impact derives from an excellent script (Tornatore's own), great acting
(Salvatore Cascio as the child is hard to resist), superb camera work, editing and design
and the haunting musical score by Ennio Morricone that certainly contributes to enhance
our emotions.

Source: An Essay by Barbara Poyner, http://hum3.blogspot.com/2004/12/cinema-paradiso-

essay.html

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