These little reviews are so much easier when I hate the movie. All About Eve was a cakewalk and took me about half an hour, whereas I’ve only just started this and I know it’ll take my all damn day. What do you say about a movie that’s extremely good, that was given due praise and accolades upon its release, and that hasn’t yet fallen off the radar? I guess you say this:
Cinema Paradiso could have been a melodrama. It could easily have been the type of film you catch on the Hallmark Channel (for those of you without benefit of black market satellite: yes, there is such a thing.) There’s tragedy and thwarted love, a beloved character dies, and a son is reunited with his mother after thirteen years—but no one wallows in despair; I don’t think that any of the leads actually cry.
In the town of Giancaldo shortly after the end of the Second World War, the Cinema Paradiso is the only real form of entertainment. A young boy named Salvatore (or Toto) befriends the cinema’s projectionist, Alfredo, and finds in the old man a surrogate to the father he lost in the war. Night after night, Toto sits in the booth with Alfredo, watching him run a myriad of movies and silently absorbing the craft. And each night the same cast of characters show up among the audience; the same man always falls asleep, and the same guy always spits off the balcony onto the seats below. There is both a reassurance and a fear that things never change. But a fire in the projection room takes Alfredo’s sight, and at an absurdly young age, Toto takes over as projectionist.
It’s this first half of the film that’s the best part. Can I call it ‘magical?’ (Not if I want to retain any respect as a writer and a man, no.) Alfredo describes his life as dull and plain; a life spent always in the dark, with no friends, watching the same movie one hundred times. Regardless, I found myself aching to have that job—at least for the length of the movie.
I’ll end here. It’s a half-assed review but I’m already in vacation mode and I’m surprised I got this far. We’re out of town for the next week, so until July 6th, you stay classy, San Diego.
Cinema Paradiso could have been a melodrama. It could easily have been the type of film you catch on the Hallmark Channel (for those of you without benefit of black market satellite: yes, there is such a thing.) There’s tragedy and thwarted love, a beloved character dies, and a son is reunited with his mother after thirteen years—but no one wallows in despair; I don’t think that any of the leads actually cry.
In the town of Giancaldo shortly after the end of the Second World War, the Cinema Paradiso is the only real form of entertainment. A young boy named Salvatore (or Toto) befriends the cinema’s projectionist, Alfredo, and finds in the old man a surrogate to the father he lost in the war. Night after night, Toto sits in the booth with Alfredo, watching him run a myriad of movies and silently absorbing the craft. And each night the same cast of characters show up among the audience; the same man always falls asleep, and the same guy always spits off the balcony onto the seats below. There is both a reassurance and a fear that things never change. But a fire in the projection room takes Alfredo’s sight, and at an absurdly young age, Toto takes over as projectionist.
It’s this first half of the film that’s the best part. Can I call it ‘magical?’ (Not if I want to retain any respect as a writer and a man, no.) Alfredo describes his life as dull and plain; a life spent always in the dark, with no friends, watching the same movie one hundred times. Regardless, I found myself aching to have that job—at least for the length of the movie.
I’ll end here. It’s a half-assed review but I’m already in vacation mode and I’m surprised I got this far. We’re out of town for the next week, so until July 6th, you stay classy, San Diego.
Comments
I wish you'd do a few lists - favorite films made from books, favorite books never made into films, favorite films titled "rosemary's baby," you know, that sort of thing.
Dave, I'm surprised you ever wrote the damned thing after talking to you about it.
Have fun visiting the pinky knuckle, and dancing like a weirdo.