Cinema Paradiso

Cinema Paradiso

At a Glance:
Score: 9/10 (10 being the highest)
Genre: Drama
Director: Guiseppe Tornatore
Salvatore Di Vita adult: Jacques Perrin
Teen: Marco Leonardi
Child: Salvatore Cascio
Alfredo: Phillippe Noiret
Elena Mendola: Agnese Nano

Cinema Paradiso is a wonderful movie that teaches lessons of love and how film affects us all. It tells the story of Salvatore “Toto” Di Vita’s youth and his friendship with a film projectionist, Alfredo. Most of the story is told through flashbacks after Salvatore learns that Alfredo has died. Salvatore visits his home town for the funeral for the first time in almost 30 years. Overall it was a very good movie.

This was a good movie. I enjoy watching foreign films because they are different. They are not all special effects, gimmicks, sequels, or remakes like almost all Hollywood movies are. Cinema Paradiso has a good plot and solid acting. It is enjoyable and can be watched with your family. I really enjoyed it.

The only downside is that it is in subtitles. Since it is an Italian movie it is not in English. While this can be annoying at times, I prefer subtitles instead of voice overs because voice overs seldom match mouth movements and are often censored. Other than that, it is a great film.

I would highly recommend this movie. With a strong plot and solid acting, Cinema Paradiso could easily become one of your favorite movies. I’ll close with my favorite quote from the movie, “Progress always comes too late.”