A big
time director receives a message from his mother, after many tries, that an old
friend from his childhood has recently passed away and that his funeral will be
the following day. The story does not
take place in recent time but instead is told in a flashback format with
Salvatore (the main character) lying in his bed at night. The story is that of his life and his
relationship with Alfredo (the recently diseased friend) who was his
inspiration to get into the art of filmmaking.
The film follows their interaction from the time that Salvatore is a
little squirt who bugs Alfredo all day and gets into trouble, to the time when
they become friends and Alfredo teaches him how to run the projection booth and
even into Salvatore’s teenage years when he leaves the small town and upon
returning his old friend urges him to chase his dreams and make something of
himself. Cinema Paradiso is a highly emotional story of how one person can
influence our lives at a deeper level than we are even aware of.
This
film is full of things that make it great; from the script to the score of the
music and even the acting is far beyond reproach. However there is one thing that makes Cinema Paradiso rise above all other
films of the time and that is its simple use of cinematography in order to
drive what the viewer sees, thinks and feels in the two hours of the film. The film relies in the use of the camera in
order to guide the viewer through the story instead of cheesy effects, which in
the eighties were not as advance as today. Though the angle, movement and even
omission of things in the frame of the shot the film creates an atmosphere
where the audience can sense all the feelings of the scene even without
dialogue. One of the things that is
apparent from the begging of this film is the introduction of new characters to
the plot through the slow zooming out of the camera, we can hear the voices of
the characters before we can actually see them.
This is used from the beginning when Salvatore’s mother is trying to
call him and we slowly zoom out from the view of the window, we get to hear the
age and strain of this woman’s voice long before we get to see her, but we can
conclude what kind of character she really is because of this. The film also does a magnificent job of using
close up shots in order to let us see into what is going on in a character’s
mind. When Salvatore first hears of the
death of Alfredo the camera slowly zooms in into his face. Even though there is no dialogue in this
scene, we can catch small things in his facial expression due to the closeness
of the camera. This way we can conclude
from his shifting eyes and grim expression that Salvatore is deep in thought
and sadness when thinking about this person from his past who we are yet to
meet and so we can conclude that Alfredo was very important to him. Even though the camera is instrumental to the
audience learning what is going on inside a character it is also used for other
purposes, often during the time where the main character is a child it is used
to show the relationships of power in the town.
Very often strong characters such as the priest, his mother, the teacher
and even Alfredo will be shown from a low angle and over the shoulder or from
the point of view of Salvatore. These shots
get the audience into the point of view of the protagonist and show the
relations that he has with these other people and how, to him, they seem to
hold a lot more power than he does.
Finally during the duration of the film the cinematography is essential
to contrast the feeling of the surroundings with those of the protagonist. During much of the film long shots and narrow
focus are used in order to get us to pay attention to a harsh contrast. For example during the new year’s scene we get
a shot of Salvatore who is looking rather grimm however as this slowly zooms
out into a long shot of the street we start to see people celebrating and
fireworks going up into the air, this comparison of happiness and sadness makes
us feel even more for the main character and his current pain. Because of these and other reasons
cinematography is an essential part of Cinema
Paradiso which makes it stand out among the films of its time.
The stars
of Cinema Paradiso really do a great
job or working with the cameras and the director to convey the feeling of the
film. Their acting is far beyond
reproach and they can convey feelings to the audience without the use of words
and instead rely heavily on their expressions and the use of the camera. Out of all of the actors and actresses Philippe
Noiret deserves a special mention. His
role as Alfredo is not only touching and completely convincing, but he stands
out in the minds of all the viewers as that role model that we all have or
want. Noiret does a great job of being
that old, scruffy man that everyone in the neighborhood finds just a bit
strange but at the same time draw us into his character and makes us love
Alfredo because in the inside he is just an old romantic with a soft spot for
the protagonist who we can even see as being his son. For his role Noiret deserves a special
mention in this review.
In my
overall opinion of Cinema Paradiso I
must say that I normally do have difficulty watching older films because, like
most of us born into the age of technology, I expect good effects and the
latest CGI. However this film was not
hard to watch at all, instead it was hard to look away from. The brilliant use of the camera, the amazing
acting and the decision to stay away from cheesy effects that at the time were
the hot thing makes this film timeless.
It is easy to watch because the story and camera ability don’ have a
time period and will be forever appreciated by audiences of all ages. Cinema
Paradiso in my book gets an nine out of ten rating for captivating an
audience even after twenty six years on the screens.
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