Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

  • Home
  • Contact us
  • Links

The Movies of Cinema Paradiso

Posted September 16, 2009 by Sharon 8 Comments

Nuovo_cinema_Paradiso

Reading that Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore’s new film Baaria opened this year’s Venice Film Festival — and wishing I were there! — sent me to my DVD shelf. I reached for Tornatore’s Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso in the Italian release) and popped it into the player.

This is a movie that improves every time I watch it. It’s a bittersweet tale of an irrepressible little boy Salvatore, nick-named Totò, in post-war Sicily who finds both father figure, and his future, at the local movie house Cinema Paradiso.

An important element, and one that’s really fun to watch, are the dozens of clips of movies we see — through Salvatore’s perspective – that are showing through the years at Cinema Paradiso. Some of the movies I recognize. Others are unknown to me.

Curious if I could find a roster of all these films that appear in the movie, I started searching the Web. Finally, on Italian Wikipedia, there they were.

I like the variety in Tornatore’s choices for the Paradiso. He’s not a film snob. In a movie that’s really a love letter to the cinema, Tornatore mixes Capra’s American middlebrow It’s a Wonderful Life with Vadim’s tacky Euro-flick And God Created Woman with Visconti’s art-house La Terra Trema with Ford’s classic Hollywood Stagecoach.

From Charlie Chaplain’s City Lights to Fellini’s I Vitelloni, the clips just keep on coming. If I had to pick only one, however, for sheer entertainment value, it has to be Silvana Mangano’s crazy dance to Il Negro Zumbon in Anna. (A nun with a past!) You can catch it on YouTube.

If you love Cinema Paradiso, check out the director’s cut. It’s a much longer and very different flim. If you’ve seen both, which do you prefer and why?

Filed Under: Culture, Film, Language, Music Tagged With: Baaria, Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore, italian culture, Italian film, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Silvana Mangano

« Sommelier, M.D.
Bed & Breakfast Cavallino »

Comments

  1. A says

    May 28, 2020 at 11:21 PM

    I’ve seen both version and far prefer the original (2 hours). I’d even go as far as to say that if I had watched the 3 hour version first, it would have completely ruined my experience of the movie. Stick with the 2 hour version…

    Reply
  2. Damien Piller says

    September 26, 2014 at 6:39 AM

    What’s up, I log on to your new stuff like every week.
    Your story-telling style is witty, keep it up!

    Reply
  3. judy says

    September 17, 2009 at 4:25 PM

    Great movie memories of Cinema Paradiso at NU taking a Film Appreciation class. How great is that.

    Reply
    • Sharon says

      September 17, 2009 at 4:37 PM

      Ciao, Judy,
      What fun!
      Did the professor show (or discuss) the director’s cut of Cinema Paradiso?

      Reply
  4. Ciaochowlinda says

    September 16, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    I have seen both versions and far prefer the longer one. It ties up a lot of loose ends that the short version doesn’t. It’s too bad it’s not shown on tv instead of the shorter version. I actually met Tornatore a couple of times. Once in Sicily, I happened to bump into the set of Malena. It was a hoot with all the actors in period dress eating and drinking at a cafe, where I was shooed out as the filming restarted.
    Then he came to Princeton University as part of a film festival of his movies – talked and talked and talked about his craft. very interesting guy.

    Reply
    • Sharon says

      September 17, 2009 at 9:57 AM

      Grazie, Linda for your comment. I agree that the longer version of Cinema Paradiso ties up the loose ends but I think it’s too lengthy to sit through. I wish Tornatore could have kept in the revelation about Alfredo (don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it) in the theatrical release.

      Reply
      • Azman says

        May 28, 2020 at 11:04 PM

        I cannot possibly imagine anything added to the 2 hour version. It’s perfect as is. I regret watching the 3 hour one.

        Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Read more about Melissa’s Inner Italian says:
    December 3, 2009 at 4:40 PM

    […] My favorite Italian movie is Cinema Paradiso directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. This is a wonderful nostalgic film about childhood memories, first […]

    Reply

Join the Discussion! Cancel reply

Please submit your comment with a real name.

Thanks for your feedback!

Follow Simple Italy on FacebookFollow Simple Italy on RSS
Lasagne_19 Simple Italy's Greatest Hits at a click!
Lasagne alla Bolognese and more

Recent posts

  • The Hill Towns of Molise
  • Fior di Latte Cheese
  • In the Mood for Molise, Italy
  • Silk from the Sea in Sardinia
  • Driving a Ferrari Spider

Posts by Category

  • Abruzzo (12)
  • AirBnB (1)
  • Amalfi (8)
  • Archeology (3)
  • Architecture (21)
  • Art (19)
  • Artisans (4)
  • Automobiles (1)
  • Bakery (1)
  • Basilicata (3)
  • Bologna (4)
  • Books (21)
  • Calabria (4)
  • Campania (17)
  • Cooking Classes (5)
  • Cremona (2)
  • Culture (174)
  • dreamofitaly (1)
  • Driving in Italy (2)
  • Emilia Romagna (2)
  • Ferrari (1)
  • Ferrari Museum (1)
  • Film (22)
  • Florence (30)
  • Food (134)
  • Fred Plotkin (1)
  • Friuli-Venezia Giulia (2)
  • Gardening (25)
  • Genoa (2)
  • Golf in Italy (1)
  • Guides (1)
  • History (8)
  • Hotels (14)
  • Inner Italian Q & A (11)
  • Italian seafood (7)
  • Italy Artisans (3)
  • Italy restaurants (17)
  • Language (86)
  • Le Marche (4)
  • Lifestyle (113)
  • Liguria (2)
  • Lombardy cooking (5)
  • Lucca (3)
  • Mantua (1)
  • Markets (26)
  • Mediterranean diet (55)
  • Milan (1)
  • Miscellany (86)
  • Modena (1)
  • Molise (3)
  • Mt. Etna (1)
  • Music (9)
  • Naples (2)
  • New Orleans (2)
  • Opera (1)
  • Palermo (3)
  • People (3)
  • Photography (4)
  • Piedmont cooking (1)
  • Puglia (9)
  • Quotes (4)
  • Recipes (64)
  • Rome (8)
  • Salerno (3)
  • Sardinia (4)
  • Sicily (15)
  • Test Drive (1)
  • Testimonials (2)
  • Travel (110)
  • Trentino Alto-Adige (1)
  • Tuscan cooking (17)
  • Tuscany (30)
  • Venice (2)
  • Videos (2)
  • Wine (23)

Inside SimpleItaly

  • American Couple Marries Italian-Style
  • Appearances
  • Contact us
  • Cooking Up an Italian Life
  • Le Marche Tour with Luisa
  • Links
  • Palazzo Donati Sample Itinerary
  • Palazzo Donati Tours
  • Privacy and Site Policies
  • Publications and TV
  • Sharon’s Inner Italian
  • SimpleItaly Adventure in Tuscany Tour
  • Thank You
  • Walter’s Inner Italian

Tags

Abruzzo bucket list Ferragosto Florence Gardening gelato Genoa Inner Italian Italian cooking italian culture italian food Italian food stores italian language italian lifestyle Italian music italian recipes Italian tourism italian travel italian wine Italy Italy travel Lago di Como Lake Como Mediterranean diet mozzarella di bufala Naples tourism Paestum Paolo Conte pasta polenta porcini Puglia Rome Santa Croce Sardegna Sardinia Sicily Southern Italy Stile Mediterraneo Sulmona Tuscan cooking Tuscany Uffizi Gallery Villa Pipistrelli women and travel