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Cinema Paradiso

Original title: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
  • 1988
  • PG
  • 2h 54m
IMDb RATING
8.5/10
304K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
569
468
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Trailer
Play trailer2:02
14991
2 Videos
99+ Photos
Coming-of-AgeDramaRomance

Salvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love wit... Read allSalvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love with cinema.Salvatore, a famous film director, returns to his hometown for the funeral of the local theater's film projectionist, Alfredo. He reminisces about his life as a young boy falling in love with cinema.

  • Director
    • Giuseppe Tornatore
  • Writers
    • Giuseppe Tornatore
    • Vanna Paoli
  • Stars
    • Philippe Noiret
    • Enzo Cannavale
    • Antonella Attili
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.5/10
    304K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    569
    468
    • Director
      • Giuseppe Tornatore
    • Writers
      • Giuseppe Tornatore
      • Vanna Paoli
    • Stars
      • Philippe Noiret
      • Enzo Cannavale
      • Antonella Attili
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    • 694User reviews
    • 134Critic reviews
    • 80Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #46
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 25 wins & 33 nominations total

    Videos2

    Cinema Paradiso
    Trailer 2:02
    Cinema Paradiso
    14991
    Cinema Paradiso
    Trailer 1:10
    Cinema Paradiso
    2523
    Cinema Paradiso
    Trailer 1:10
    Cinema Paradiso
    2523

    Photos243

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    Top cast31

    Edit
    Philippe Noiret
    Philippe Noiret
    • Alfredo
    Enzo Cannavale
    Enzo Cannavale
    • Spaccafico
    Antonella Attili
    Antonella Attili
    • Maria Di Vita - Younger
    Isa Danieli
    Isa Danieli
    • Anna
    Leo Gullotta
    Leo Gullotta
    • Usher
    Marco Leonardi
    Marco Leonardi
    • Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Teenager
    Pupella Maggio
    Pupella Maggio
    • Maria Di Vita - Older
    Agnese Nano
    Agnese Nano
    • Elena Mendola
    Leopoldo Trieste
    Leopoldo Trieste
    • Father Adelfio
    Salvatore Cascio
    Salvatore Cascio
    • Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Child
    Tano Cimarosa
    Tano Cimarosa
    • Blacksmith
    Nicola Di Pinto
    Nicola Di Pinto
    • Village Idiot
    Roberta Lena
    Roberta Lena
    • Lia
    Nino Terzo
    Nino Terzo
    • Peppino's Father
    Jacques Perrin
    Jacques Perrin
    • Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Adult
    Brigitte Fossey
    Brigitte Fossey
    • Elena Mendola - Adult
    Nellina Laganà
    Turi Giuffrida
    • Director
      • Giuseppe Tornatore
    • Writers
      • Giuseppe Tornatore
      • Vanna Paoli
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews694

    8.5304.4K
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    Summary

    Reviewers say 'Cinema Paradiso' is acclaimed for its emotional depth, exploring nostalgia, love, and friendship. The bond between Toto and Alfredo, and the magic of cinema, deeply resonates. Ennio Morricone's score and stunning cinematography enhance the film's impact. Themes of loss and change, along with Philippe Noiret's superb performance as Alfredo, leave a lasting impression. However, some find the pacing slow and the sentimentality overwhelming.
    AI-generated from the text of user reviews

    Featured reviews

    ali-38

    A breath of fresh air blowing away the cobwebs of Hollywood "blah" films.

    I have seen this film at least a dozen times and each time I am carried away to a small village in Italy, where the dreams of a small boy come true and we can join his spellbinding journey. The Italian language (it is subtitled) adds to the film's beauty and music, the characters are so real you can almost smell them. I am absorbed into "Paradiso" each time I watch it, so that when it is over, I am shocked into the realisation that I haven't actually been anywhere except right there, in my theatre seat. I am not a huge "art house" film fan or indeed enjoy subtitled films (it is hard on the old eyes!) but "Paradiso" is a gem and is worth seeing again and again.
    10rappy-68741

    Amazing to the end

    The final scene is probably the best in the history.
    9PIST-OFF

    Wished I'd seen this when I was younger.

    This movie is wonderful. It really captures a sense of nostalgia many of us harbor in our own lives. I don't know why I put off seeing it for so long. A little boy grows up loving movies (movie people in their narcissism love movies about movies) and is mentored by an older guy who sees big things in the kid's future. A rose tinted view of youth, love, and times that never seem to stop changing is what follows and a wonderful story it makes for. One of the few movies to get a grasp on childhood along with Stand By Me, The Sandlot, and a few others. Another movie that could benefit greatly from an English dub, as too many people are too likely to avoid subtitles at all costs.
    8ccthemovieman-1

    The Loves Of 'Toto' Beautifully Told

    After seeing this special edition DVD which shows the entire 174-minute film (in addition to the 121-minute one that most of us had seen over the years,) my rating of this film was elevated. This review is of the longer "director's cut."

    Most of the new footage involved the main's character's romance while he was a young man. The story then is continued years later when that character comes back to his hometown for a funeral and runs into the woman he was in love with but never was able to get for his own. It turns out to be a somewhat tragic love story.

    The first part of the film, with Salvatore Cascio as "Toto" a young boy is a love story about two people sharing their love of movies: the kid and an adult "Alfredo" (Phillpe Noiret) who runs the local movie theater. Their love of film bonds them for life.

    The word "love" is used repeatedly in this review because that's the dominant theme: the love people had for others and for the world of film, something all of us on this website share.

    The second and third parts of the film are the above-mentioned love story of Toto (Marco Leonardi as an adolescent and then Jacques Perrin as an adult) and "Elena" (Agnese Nano/ Brigitte Fossey). The first third of this director;s cut edition is much livelier and interesting, frankly, than the last two-thirds. Although not boring, it does drag in a few spots but the longer version is better in the long run because it makes the whole story much more meaningful.

    It's very nicely filmed and you get a real feel for the Italian people and their little town. The director of the movie, Giuseppe Tornatore, went on to make other great visual films, two of which I also like: Malena and The Star Maker.....but Cinema Paradiso, I believe, is considered his "masterpiece."
    10*DATo*

    Personal Favorite

    Whether you are a professional or an amateur it is always wise to avoid superlatives with regard to a movie critique ... but I cannot. 'Cinema Paradiso' is simply the finest movie I have ever seen. Like many who have posted at this site before me I have seen it many many times. It reaches within me to places other movies have never reached and I have often wondered why. Perhaps it is because of it's simplicity. It contains no expensive special effects, it has no gratuitous sex or violence, it has no "multi-millon dollar per performance" actors that I know of, it is arguable whether it even has a story line, and yet it soars far above the nonsense that film makers are producing these days. It's characters are portrayed by each and every actor in award winning style and the music is not only beautiful but absolutely perfect for this film.

    It is quite simply the story of a human life and it's tragedies and triumphs within the context of a vocation. A young boy matures and gradually learns the lessons of life, cultivates his passion for the cinema, and is rewarded with professional success; however, he remains unfulfilled for true love has escaped him only to return in the form of a gift of love which transcends time, space, and death to reveal at the closing of the film Toto's one true mistress.

    A staggering triumph of both the cinematic art and of story telling and yet there may be found people who do not like this movie .... I tend to keep such people at arms length and maintain a wary eye fixed upon them at all times.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Philippe Noiret said all of his lines in French, his native language. He was later dubbed in Italian by Vittorio Di Prima. In the French version, Noiret dubbed himself.
    • Goofs
      When Toto is young, the films that Alfredo gave him catch fire. They burn and ruin the only picture that his mother had of his father. When Toto is a grown up, this "burnt" picture is hanged on the wall totally unharmed.
    • Quotes

      Alfredo: Living here day by day, you think it's the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything's changed. The thread's broken. What you came to find isn't there. What was yours is gone. You have to go away for a long time... many years... before you can come back and find your people. The land where you were born. But now, no. It's not possible. Right now you're blinder than I am.

      Salvatore: Who said that? Gary Cooper? James Stewart? Henry Fonda? Eh?

      Alfredo: No, Toto. Nobody said it. This time it's all me. Life isn't like in the movies. Life... is much harder.

    • Alternate versions
      Originally presented at the EuropaCinema Festival in a 173-minute edition. It was there released in Italy at 155 minutes; after a very poor box office performance, the film was pulled out of circulation and shortened to 124 minutes. After it won the Special Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes festival and the Best Foreign Film Oscar, it was re-released in Italy on video first in its initial 155 minutes cut and then in the original 173-minutes director's cut.
    • Connections
      Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (Titoli)
      Written by Ennio Morricone

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    FAQ

    • How long is Cinema Paradiso?
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    • How was this film eligible to be nominated at the 62nd Academy Awards, held in March 1990, when it had apparently only opened in the USA that February?
    • Is 'Cinema Paradiso' based on a book?
    • What is it that Toto's mother should never tell Toto?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 23, 1990 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • France
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Cinema Paradiso: The New Version
    • Filming locations
      • Cefalù, Palermo, Sicily, Italy(film screening in the port, Elena's house at Via Umberto I°, 3)
    • Production companies
      • Cristaldifilm
      • Les Films Ariane
      • Rai 3
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $5,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $12,397,210
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $16,552
      • Feb 4, 1990
    • Gross worldwide
      • $13,472,833
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 54 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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