Cinema Paradiso (1989)

Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Starring Philippe Noiret, Salvator Cascio, Marco Leonardi, Jacques Perrin, Antonella Attiti, Agnese Nano, Leopoldo Trieste, Isa Danieli, Enzo Cannavale, Pupella Maggio. [PG]

Popular Italian coming-of-age seriocomedy is a rapturous valentine to cinema itself. Framed as a bittersweet reminiscence by fictional filmmaker Salvatore Di Vita (Perrin), the story jumps back to a small Sicilian town in the postwar period where young Salvatore spent as much time as possible at the local movie theater watching films with projectionist Noiret, a father figure for the boy to make up for the real one who died in combat. The plot particulars are paint-by-numbers stuff, but the feelings they evoke and the pure expression of the power of nostalgia and film make it a considerable treat that’s almost impossible to dislike. The stirring music, by Ennio Morricone and son Andrea, elevates the final “kissing scene” montage at the end to its status as one of the most recognizable and beloved scenes in world cinema. Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film. Initially released in Italy at about two-and-a-half hours, then pared down for its international release the following year; that original 1988 version and an even longer director’s cut tries putting an unnecessary stamp on Salvatore’s lost-love crisis in present day, and this review pertains to the superior (shortest) edit from 1989.

88/100