‘Life isn’t like in the movies...’
The film industry loves a movie about itself. The phrase ‘a love letter to cinema’ crops up again and again in various film reviews, many of which you will find on this very blog. Well, Cinema Paradiso is the ultimate love letter to the art of cinema. It’s not just a love letter, it’s an elaborate bouquet of flowers, a spa weekend away. In short, this should be essential viewing for anyone with a passion for moving pictures. And yet… it didn’t quite do it for me…
Salvatore (played by Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi and Jacques Perrin at various stages of his life) falls in love with his local cinema and the sagacious projectionist (Phillipe Noiret) who runs the place. He also pursues a terminally dull romantic relationship that threatens to derail the entire film.
The relationship between Salvatore and Alfredo is a beautiful thing here. Really touching. The moments they share that really amount to little more than Alfredo imparting various pearls of wisdom are truly poignant. The first (and best) part of the movie in which we watch their relationship blossom against the backdrop of Salvatore’s absent father and comically abusive mother are sensational; lovingly shot by writer-director Giuseppe Tornatore and wonderfully scored by Ennio Morricone. The emotional conclusion is also great, the final procession serving as a symbolic funeral for both the art of projection and of cinema itself. The middle part of the movie flags howevever, and it is this lack of consistency that leaves Cinema Paradiso just short of the greatness that its reputation suggests.
Cinema Paradiso is a giant of Italian cinema, but if I’m being honest, it left me ever so slightly disappointed.