Jake C. posted: " Recently, I rewatched Cinema Paradiso after work. Even picked up movie-style popcorn, Cherry Pepsi, and Reeses Pieces (my holy trinity of movie snacks). This was my third time watching this film. Cinema Paradiso is an Italian-language film that depict" Wheat & Tares
Recently, I rewatched Cinema Paradiso after work. Even picked up movie-style popcorn, Cherry Pepsi, and Reeses Pieces (my holy trinity of movie snacks). This was my third time watching this film.
Cinema Paradiso is an Italian-language film that depicts the main character at three different pivotal ages in life, adolescents, early adulthood, and middle age. His pivotal experiences in each time frame are informed by his bond with the local movie theatre projectionist, his love of movies and a particular girl, and the evolving moral climate of the town. Here is the official trailer
The first time I watched Cinema Paradiso was at the Egyptian Theatre in Ogden, Utah in college (early 2000s). The screening came complete with a pre-film lecture by a professor from Weber State University. He teed the movie up wonderfully, including spoiling the oh-so-obvious-and-yet-absolutely-wonderful ending montage. On that first viewing, I identified mostly with the protagonist as a young boy—jazzed by getting to help the film projectionist, but also portrayed as a teenager experiencing first love before getting called away to the service.
Whatev... That was then, and my head was in the clouds.
The below GIF of the protagonist as middle-aged man sums up my second viewing, a few years ago. We see him at the climactic moment of the movie, watching a special reel of film gifted to him. On second viewing, I found myself a 30-something alone in my apartment and totally in the mood to revisit the Cinema Paradiso. Less interested in the young boy, more interested in the problematic man he becomes. I bawled my eyes out during the closing montage, just like this guy.
Whatev... That was then, and my head was in the clouds.
This week, I was looking for things to calm my anxiety. Cinema Paradiso's main title theme by Ennio Morricone popped into my mind and did the trick. Such a beautiful score! And some serendipity: I noticed YouTube had the whole movie free with ads. Hence my late-night viewing last night. Gotta catch these freebies before they get tucked back behind a paywall.
On this viewing, I mostly failed to suppress my sense that the Act Two young-love subplot is schmaltzy BS. This time I felt the greatest tenderness for Alfredo, the aging film projectionist who can't deny the little boy a chance to explore his dreams. He wants to leave the boy a treasure, secreted away, to be found at the right time when he is beset by the storms of adulthood. The closing montage didn't make me bawl this time, but charmed me reliably.
Wonder which character I will connect with when I watch Cinema Paradiso again in a few years. Will I sympathize with the abandoned mother, who lies about accepting her son's choices for the sake of avoiding an argument? Or will I identify with the Village Idiot, raving around the Town Square homeless and delusional, to the amusement of a community full of bad Samaritans.
Whatev... That will be then, and my head will be in the clouds.
Have you watched Cinema Paradiso? If so, what was your reaction to the story? Did you catch where I likened the story to the visit of the Angel Moroni to Joseph Smith? What other relevance might the story have for Mormons?
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