Cinema Paradiso - The New Version

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Giuseppe Tornatore's beautiful 1988 film about a little boy's love affair with the movies deservedly won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and a Special Jury Prize at Cannes. Philippe Noiret plays a grizzled old projectionist who takes pride in his presentation of screen dreams for a town still recovering from World War II. When a child (Jacques Perrin) demonstrates fascination not only for movies but also for the process of showing them to an audience, a lifelong friendship is struck. This isn't just one of those films for people who are already in love with the cinema. But if you are one of those folks, the emotional resonance between the action in Tornatore's world and the images on Noiret's screen will seem all the greater--and the finale all the more powerful. --Tom Keogh

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Cinema Paradiso's complex, interwoven tales of wartime Italy, a boy's coming of age, and the history of cinema can be viewed in their entirety on the Director's Cut included in this Deluxe Edition. Director Giuseppe Tornatore's additional 50 minutes of footage provides closure for the saga's detailing Alfredo's death, and Salvatore Di Vita's lost relationship with his teenage love, Elena. Most of the 50 minutes serves as a continuation of the story, rather than as previously deleted scenes. The original, already celebrated Cinema Paradiso follows Toto (Jacques Perrin), a Sicilian boy who persuades the town projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), to teach him how to show films. Spanning nearly 50 years, the film craftily draws parallels between Toto's life and those lives he sees on screen. As Toto matures into Salvatore, a successful Italian filmmaker, the Cinema Paradiso ages as well. Salvatore's return home for Alfredo's funeral is also a goodbye to his Paradiso, demolished to become a parking lot. The film's heightened sense of nostalgia subtly mirrors our humanistic love of movies, making it a tribute to cinema as an artistic genre. The Director's Cut can be fulfilling if one felt unsatisfied by the more ambiguous ending of the theatrical release, but it also feels slightly overwrought. Two documentaries in this package feature fans and critics praising Cinema Paradiso, proving its endurance as a classic. However, as Salvatore discovers over the course of the film, there is no need to improve a masterpiece. --Trinie Dalton

Description

This Miramax Classics presentation of CINEMA PARADISO: THE NEW VERSION brings you the critically acclaimed triumph as never seen before! A famous Italian filmmaker, haunted by the memories of his first love, returns to his hometown after an absence of 30 years. Upon his return, he reconnects with the community and remembers the highlights and tragedies that shaped his life and inspired him to follow his dream of becoming a filmmaker. For those who have never seen it -- and those who have never forgotten it -- director Giuseppe Tornatore's (MALENA, THE STAR MAKER) cherished Academy Award(R)-winning motion picture (1990, Best Foreign Language Film) is now fully restored, digitally remastered, and includes 51 minutes of never-before-seen footage!

Customer Reviews:

Views from a jazz fan.......2007-09-15

An outstanding and creative movie. Production, acting, dialogue and music are all first rate. A marvelous creation and one that every movie and music lover should see more than once.

Truly Affecting, Romanticized View of Cinema in a Sicilian Village.......2007-09-11

Before watching this on DVD just now, I had not seen director/screenwriter Giuseppe Tornatore's internationally renowned hit movie - at least the 123-minute version - since its initial 1990 release in the U.S., but I remember having mixed feelings that ran the gamut between being moved by its genuine poignancy and being resentful about what I felt at the time was its shameless heartstring tugging. Nearly two decades later, as I have gotten older and closer to the adult Salvatore's age, I have softened considerably in my opinion of the film, an open-hearted tribute to cinema and its transcendent impact on people's lives. Granted it is awash in sentimentality, but with its unique combination of storytelling elements inspired in equal parts by Chaplin and Fellini, there is a burnished, nostalgic glow to the whole venture as most of it is designed as a flashback.

The plot begins with Salvatore ensconced in middle age as a successful film director based in Rome. Unexpectedly, he makes plans to return to his hometown in Sicily for the first time in almost thirty years. The reason is two-fold: the funeral of Alfredo, the projectionist who first introduced Salvatore to films, and the demolition of the Cinema Paradiso theater where they showed films to the enthusiastic denizens every Saturday night. This triggers memories of Salvatore's childhood at the old theater with Alfredo and then his adolescence and young adulthood when he falls in love with a beautiful local girl named Elena. In true Romeo and Juliet fashion, he is separated from his one true love by her disapproving father, a wealthy banker, and I have to admit this is the part of the film I still find a bit predictable with Tornatore's Baroque sense of romanticism in high gear. The scenes that really have enduring impact are those between the young, energetic Salvatore, nicknamed "Toto", and the surly but lovable Alfredo. Tornatore captures the magical bond between the two, including a tragic episode that forces them to reverse their roles in the projection room.

Interestingly, the 174-minute version presented on the second disc of the 2006 two-DVD set fills in the blanks about Elena's fate. The older Salvatore is reunited with Elena and finds out the truth behind their separation. While I enjoyed and appreciated the longer director's cut, I feel overall the additional scenes don't add as much dimension to the story as the nearly three-hour running time warrants. I think my preference for the heartwarming Alfredo-Toto scenes gravitate me more toward the 123-minute version presented on the first disc. The central performances are memorable with the obvious standouts being Phillipe Noiret (Il Postino) as Alfredo and cherubic Salvatore Cascio as Toto. Looking like a Neapolitan Josh Hartnett, Marco Leonardi (Like Water for Chocolate) takes over as Toto and brings youthful, hormonally-driven fervor to the role, and Agnese Nano brings the requisite dreamy quality to Elena.

As the older Salvatore, Jacques Perrin (Z, The Young Girls of Rochefort) bears so little resemblance to his younger counterparts that his performance feels somewhat removed. In the longer version, his performance resonates more, especially as he shares the screen with Brigitte Fossey (Forbidden Games) as the older Elena. The famous screening room ending is in both versions - the showing of Alfredo's gift to Salvatore, a reel of film clips highlighting kissing scenes excised by the local priest - though I find just as touching the theater demolition scene with the now-aged villagers looking on in a most resigned manner. Blasco Giurato's cinematography is stunning throughout, and enough cannot be said of Ennio Morricone's memorable music score, one of cinema's most beautiful in evoking the movies aura of romantic nostalgia.

Beyond the director's cut of the movie, the 2006 Limited Collector's Edition DVD has several extras of note, the best being an informative, somewhat academic commentary track from Italian film historian Millicent Marcus interspersed with periodic personal recollections from Tornatore, as well as a fifteen-minute retrospective featurette, "Exploring a Timeless Classic". Of more anecdotal interest are a four-minute short on how Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood has embraced the film with an annual outdoor showing encouraging more than a few romances; two theatrical trailers - the original and the director's cut released in 2002; and most inconsequentially, a Food Network show with Napa chef Michael Chiarello with recipes inspired by the movie.

Cinema Paradiso is Fabuloso!!.......2007-08-23

Great movie to watch.... one that you never get tired of watching over and over again. Will be remembered forever...

A story of life, frienship, love, boyhood and the emotions we carry deep inside .......2007-07-17

A msterprice by Tornatorre and Morricone! The critical acclaim is fully deserved - the performances are strong (particularly that of Philippe Noiret in what is one of his best roles), the music is wonderful, the cinematography memorable.

Yes, the film is ostensibly about the role that movies play in our lives, but in reality Tornatorre is using the "cinema" as another one of his vehicles (as the ship in "The Legend of 1900") through which he tells us the important story of how important and charater-forming our early friendships, loves, fascinations and disappointments are. As the years are going by, the main character has all grown up, but part of the little boy is still alive insde and it does not take much for the memories to flood the silver screen accompanied with the poignant Morricone music.

This movie is a gem for those who like Tornatorre, Italian cinema and a "must see" for all seirous movie fans!

Cinema Paradiso.......2007-07-11

Shot on location in Tornatore's hometown of Bagheria, Sicily, this gorgeously nostalgic semi-autobiographical film pays tribute to the magic and wonderment of movie-going while spinning a bittersweet wartime tale about love and lingering disappointment. A masterly evocation of time and place, mood and feeling spiced with Fellini-esque humor, the decades-long story gingerly unfolds alongside well-chosen clips from Lang, Renoir, and Welles. Tornatore's bold direction of spunky young actor Cascio and Marco Leonardi, who plays Toto as a lovestruck teen, adds to the ease with which we identify with his predicaments. And Noiret is superb as the humble but soulful Alfredo. Winner of an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, "Paradiso" will capture your heart and imagination.

Best of World Cinema - Volume 1 (Amelie/Malena/Farewell My Concubine/Cinema Paradiso: the New Version)

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Best of World Cinema - Volume 1 (Amelie/Malena/Farewell My Concubine/Cinema Paradiso: the New Version)
Starring: Audrey Tautou , Mathieu Kassovitz , Rufus , Lorella Cravotta , and Serge Merlin
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet , Kaige Chen , and Giuseppe Tornatore
Manufacturer: Miramax Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000YTOSA
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Description

Grab your passport and experience Miramax's BEST OF WORLD CINEMA I, featuring the internationally acclaimed films AMÉLIE, CINEMA PARADISO, MALENA, and FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE -- all in widescreen format! AMÉLIE: Nominated for five 2001 Academy Awards(R), including Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography. Special 2-disc set. CINEMA PARADISO: THE NEW VERSION: Winner of the 1989 Academy Award(R) for Best Foreign Language Film and winner of the Grand Prize Jury Award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. MALENA: Nominated for two 2000 Academy Awards® including Best Cinematography and Best Score. FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE: Nominated for two 1993 Academy Awards(R), including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography, Golden Globe® winner for Best Foreign Film, and Palme D'Or (Best Film) winner at the prestigious Cannes Film festival. CLICK ON LINKS BELOW FOR INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT DETAILS.

Customer Reviews:

Exotic world movies.......2004-07-24

French, Chinese, and Italian -- three different countries, cultures, and worldviews. Two tragedies, a romantic comedy, and a character drama. This is the "Best of World Cinema Volume 1," collecting four of the best and most beautiful non-American films together.

"Amelie" makes life a little better for everyone. The entrancing, whimsical story centers on the sweet-natured, shy Amelie (Audrey Tautou) who finds a little box of treasures in her apartment, and returns it to its owner, now an old man. She changes the man's life, and decides to continue doing good for others via benevolent meddling. But then when she encounters her soulmate, will Amelie summon the courage to help herself as she's helped others?

"Malèna" is the heart and soul of this lush, riveting film. The sensual Malèna (Monica Belucci) moves into a small Sicilian town in the 1940s, and immediately captures the adoration of all the men, and the disgust of all the women. Preteen Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro) begins to develop pure, worshipful feelings for Malèna, but as he grows toward manhood, he sees that not all her beauty is on the outside.

"Farewell My Concubine" gives a breathtaking look at Chinese history and culture. A prostitute manages to get her young son Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung), into the world of the Peking Opera, and falls in love with his costar Duan Xiaolou (Fengyi Zhang). But Duan takes a beautiful courtesan as his wife, and thus begins Dieyi's fall from grace.

"Cinema Paradiso: the New Version" is the expanded version of the classic film, a film about film. A famed film director returns to his old hometown and reminisces about his life, and the path that set him towards cinematic fame. As a boy (Marco Leonardi), he befriended a blinded projectionist (Philippe Noiret) -- but did the old man give him fame and glory at the cost of his love?

"The Best of World Cinema" covers different cultures, characters, and ways of directing. And they deal with each topic in their own ways -- fate, love, jealousy, hate and gossip. Is it depressing? In a majestic, melancholy way, some of the films are depressing, although the gorgeous "Amelie" will uplift you if you watch it last.

The acting in these films is almost uniformly superb, from Belucci's silent temptress to Leslie Cheung's tragic young singer to Tautou's elfin sweetheart. And the direction ranges as well -- "Farewell" is starker and grittier, "Amelie" is fantastical and wink-nudge sweetness, and "Malèna"'s warm sensuality.

Four beautiful movies. Four magnificent stories. And four modern classics of the cinema, each a work of art in its own way. Highly, immensely recommended.

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