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Cinema Paradiso
- The New Version -
Studio: Miramax
Year: 1988
Rated: R
Film Length: 174 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.66:1)
Subtitles: English
A celebration of youth, friendship,
and the everlasting magic of the movies
Truly Magnificent!
If I could pick the one single thing I have been
most passionate of in my lifetime it would be the
love of film. Ever since I was a child I have been
held captive by the images I have seen on the silver
screen. My teen years were spent next to an 8mm
movie projector as I tried to recreate the movie
house experience in my home. I even made my own
home movie shorts using my parent's 8mm camera.
Now as an adult I spend much of my time still looking
at celluloid images on my Home Theater system. It
is for these reasons that I fully connected with
Cinema Paradiso, an Italian film about a
young boy's journey into the life of the cinema that
can best be described as pure "movie magic."
Set in a provincial, little town in Sicily we meet
a young boy named Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio) and
his family as they await the return of the father
who's gone off to fight in WWII. Salvatore ("Toto")
spends his afternoons as an assistant to an Italian
village's only film house owner. Every Friday night
the village goes to his Cinema to be taken away from
the simple lives they lead. Toto instantly is enchanted
by the movies and what they stand for. The young boy
isn’t content to simply sit amongst the audience and
watch the film on the screen. Seeking to be part of
the magic, he seeks out the magician behind the
tricks and becomes friendly with the projectionist
Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) who not only teaches him
the trade but becomes sort of a surrogate father
to him.
When the Cinema Paradiso burns down, Salvatore finds
himself looking after Alfredo. The theater is
quickly rebuilt and by the time Toto becomes the
head projectionist there he has matured into a bright
young man. He soon falls in love with a banker's
daughter, Elena (Agnese Nano), experiencing the
simple type of romance he has watched on the screen
his entire life. Alfredo, concerned for Salvatore's
well-being, advises him to leave and never return
again. Salvatore takes the advice and travels to
the city to become a famous film maker.
Thirty years later the middle aged film director
(Jacques Perrin) returns to the town to pay respect
to his deceased friend and learns how the
townspeople's lives have changed and evolved around
their beloved cinema. In the process Salvatore
rediscovers a lost love. I dare anyone not to be
emotionally moved by the final moments of this film.
This is the very first time I have seen this film
in any form. It is my understanding that when
Cinema Paradiso was released in 1988, Italian
movie-goers were treated to a much longer cut of
the film than what was shown to North American
audiences. For the first time, a New Version
incorporating 51 minutes of never-before-seen
footage has been reconstructed for this DVD
presentation. This is the version I chose to
watch, and at nearly 3 hours in length, the film
never seemed to be badly paced. This film has been
restored quite well as I also was unable to
distinguish the new material from the original.
How is the transfer?
Generally, the transfer looks very good. My
biggest disappointment was that images never looked
as sharp as I wanted them to, always looking a tad
soft and unfocused. Knowing the quality that Miramax
puts into their releases, I am going to guess that
this transfer best represents what the original
print looked like. The film has a dated look
to it with colors that look slightly washed out
and flesh tones that run a little too red. There
is occasional background noise and blemishes
throughout the picture.
The New Version contains a new Dolby Digital
5.1 soundtrack that is a little uneven with its
sound direction. Audio is well presented across
the front channels with very distinct stereo
separation. Surprisingly, this re-recorded track
firmly places dialogue in the center channel with
absolutely no bleeding. There are also times that
dialogue cleverly moves across the front channels
left and right. Problem is, the center channel sort
of becomes a "catch-all" for most of the film's
effect noises. The rears occasionally help support
Ennio Morricone's beautiful score whose charm and
grace lifts you up and leaves you feeling marvellous.
Special Features
Released under the Miramax Classics label,
you have the opportunity to watch either this
New Version or the Original 1990 Version.
Note that only the new version contains a 5.1 track,
while the original retains a normal surround track
and an added French language track.
One of the problems you will find is which end
of this dual-sided DVD contains what movie. Both
sides of this DVD are labeled as NEW VERSION. This
may have been an initial printing error on the part
of the studio. Just so you know, Side A
contains the NEW version and Side B contains
the ORIGINAL.
The only added piece of material is the original
theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts
Cinema Paradiso is enchanting, magical and
absolutely delightful. It is a celebration of
everything film is about. I can sit here for hours
and tell you how great a film this is, but yet
everything I say would probably be an understatement.
I implore everyone who loves film as much as I know
you all do to go out and at least rent this utterly
moving story of friendship, ambition and the
glittering silver screen. It is one of the finest
films I have ever had the pleasure to watch.
For anyone that loves film -- this is a film you will
love!
Release Date: NOW
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
