Cinema Paradiso (1988) Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (original title)

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writers:

Giuseppe Tornatore (story)
Giuseppe Tornatore (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 February 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

A celebration of youth, friendship, and the everlasting magic of the movies.

Plot:

A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Boy | Village | Cinema | Film Making

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 19 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Antonella Attili	...	Maria Di Vita - Younger
Enzo Cannavale	...	Spaccafico
Isa Danieli	...	Anna
Leo Gullotta	...	Usher
Marco Leonardi	...	Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Teenager
Pupella Maggio	...	Maria Di Vita - Older
Agnese Nano	...	Elena Mendola
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Father Adelfio
Salvatore Cascio	...	Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Child
Tano Cimarosa	...	Blacksmith
Nicola Di Pinto	...	Village Idiot
Roberta Lena	...	Lia
Nino Terzo	...	Peppino's Father
Jacques Perrin	...	Salvatore 'Totò' Di Vita - Adult
Philippe Noiret	...	Alfredo
Nellina Laganà
Turi Giuffrida
Mariella Lo Giudice
Giorgio Libassi
Beatrice Palme
Ignazio Pappalardo
Angela Leontini
Mimmo Mignemi
Margherita Mignemi
Giuseppe Pellegrino
Turi Killer
Angelo Tosto
Concetta Borpagano
Franco Catalano
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle	...	Boxer (uncredited) (archive footage)
Charles Chaplin	...	Referee / The Lone Prospector (archive footage) (uncredited)
Kirk Douglas	...	Ulysses (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jean Gabin	...	Wasska Pepel (archive footage) (uncredited)
Vittorio Gassman	...	Walter (archive footage) (uncredited)
Georgia Hale	...	Georgia (archive footage) (uncredited)
Suzy Prim	...	Vassilissa Kostyleva (archive footage) (uncredited)
Alberto Sordi	...	Alberto (archive footage) (uncredited)
Totò	...	The Suitor - Disguises Himself as Dummy / Band Leader (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Giuseppe Tornatore

Writing credits
Giuseppe Tornatore		(story)
Giuseppe Tornatore		screenplay and
Vanna Paoli		collaborating writer

Produced by
Gabriella Carosio	....	delegate producer: RAI
Franco Cristaldi	....	producer
Giovanna Romagnoli	....	producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Blasco Giurato

Film Editing by
Mario Morra

Production Design by
Andrea Crisanti

Costume Design by
Beatrice Bordone

Makeup Department
Laura Borselli	....	assistant makeup artist (as Laura Borzelli)
Paolo Borselli	....	hair stylist (as Paolo Borzelli)
Maurizio Trani	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Mino Barbera	....	general manager
Romualdo Buzzanca	....	production manager (as Aldo Buzzanca)
Eleonora Comencini	....	production manager
Aureliano Luppi	....	production supervisor
Salvo Luppo	....	production supervisor
Vittorio Noia	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giuseppe Giglietti	....	assistant director
Pietra Tornatore	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Fabio Bonzi	....	assistant production designer
Benito Leonardi	....	construction foreman
Marco Maggi	....	constructor
Alberto Michettoni	....	first property master
Cinzia Milani	....	assistant art director
Marcello Molfo	....	second property master
Raffaele Pantaleo	....	construction foreman
Porfirio Perrone	....	constructor
Oreste Quercioli	....	set painter
Marina Zalapi	....	assistant production designer

Sound Department
Luciano Anzellotti	....	foley artist
Annia Bargagli	....	dubbing assistant
Alberto Doni	....	sound mixer
Franco Finetti	....	sound engineer
Massimo Loffredi	....	sound recordist
Stefano Nissolino	....	sound dubbing
Giulio Viggiani	....	boom operator
Dan Edelstein	....	supervising sound editor: special edition re-release (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Danilo Bollettini	....	special effects technician
Giovanni Corridori	....	special effects coordinator (as Corridori)

Stunts
Angelo Ragusa	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Luca Biamonte	....	still photographer
Nazzareno Brescini	....	chief electrician (as Neno Brescini)
Giuseppe Di Biase	....	camera operator
Claudio Diamanti	....	grip
Fabio Lanciotti	....	assistant camera
Carlo Passari	....	first assistant camera
Giuseppe Petrignani	....	key grip
Giuseppe Sciarra	....	electrician
Giuseppe Sgarra	....	electrician
Elio Tolles	....	electrician
Doriano Torriero	....	grip

Animation Department
Massimiliano Cerchi	....	animator (as Alvaro Passeri)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jacopo Bellini	....	assistant seamstress
Luigi Bonanno	....	costume assistant
Amedeo Monti	....	seamstress

Editorial Department
Ida Cruciani	....	assistant editor
Giancarlo Mammetti	....	color technician
Luca Montanari	....	assistant editor
Stefano Quaglia	....	assistant editor

Music Department
John M. Davis	....	music editor (director's cut)
Enrico DeMelis	....	general music coordinator (as Enrico De Melis)
Andrea Morricone	....	composer: love theme
Franco Tamponi	....	musician: violin

Other crew
Nestore Baratella	....	administrator
Cesare Barbetti	....	dubbing director
Cesare Barbetti	....	voice dubbing: Jacques Perrin
Luigi Biamonte	....	press agent
Riccardo Caneva	....	coordinator
Lillo Capoano	....	continuity director
Claudia Catani	....	voice dubbing: Agnese Nano
Vittorio Di Prima	....	voice dubbing: Philippe Noiret
Vittoria Febbi	....	voice dubbing: Brigitte Fossey
Peter Fernandez	....	voice director (US version)
Elizabetta Gizzi	....	administrator (as Elisabetta Gizzi)
Francesco Liberati	....	production secretary
Fabrizio Manfredi	....	voice dubbing: Marco Leonardi
Bruno Morganti	....	production secretary
Vanna Paoli	....	researcher: film clips
Carla Pettini	....	coordination secretary
Alba Maria Ruggeri	....	cashier
Luciano Vittori	....	print production

Production Companies

• Cristaldifilm
• Les Films Ariane (co-production)
• Rai Tre Radiotelevisione Italiana (as Rete 3) (associate production)
• TF1 Films Production (associate production)
• Forum Picture (collaboration)

Distributors

• Herald Ace (1989) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Nippon Herald Films (1989) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (1990) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Transmundo Films (1990) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• HBO Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (1990) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Miramax Films (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2002) (Australia) (DVD)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2003) (Canada) (DVD)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (TV)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (theatrical) (restored version)
• Dolmen Home Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (director's cut)
• Weinstein Company, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Emerald (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Concorde Filmverleih (1989) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1990) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (19??) (USA) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Spentzos Films (Greece) (VHS)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2003) (Sweden) (DVD) (director's cut)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (2004) (Sweden) (DVD) (International version)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (1990) (West Germany) (VHS)

Other Companies

• DRG Records  soundtrack published by
• Penta Studio  titles
• Solare Location & Casting  casting

Also Known As:

"Nuovo Cinema Paradiso" - Italy (original title)
"Cinema Paradiso: The New Version" - USA (director's cut)

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality (director's cut) (2002)

Runtime:

155 min | Italy:173 min (extended version) | 124 min (International version)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 (director's cut) | Spain:T | South Korea:All (original rating) | West Germany:12 (f) | Italy:T | Netherlands:9 (2009) (DVD) | Japan:PG12 (2010) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Australia:M (Director's Cut) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:10 | Peru:PT | Singapore:M18 (director's cut) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15 (director's cut) | UK:PG | USA:PG (original rating) | USA:R (director's cut) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Bagheria, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Company:

Cristaldifilm

Trivia:

When Salvatore returns to his home and looks at the room his mother prepared for him, there's a picture on the wall from the movie The White Sheik (1952), a Federico Fellini movie starring Leopoldo Trieste, who plays Father Adelfio in this movie.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The 1954 calendar is wrong. All the days are out by one. The calendar shows that 1st April, 1954 is a Friday. In fact it was a Thursday.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Maria Di Vita - Older:[in Italian]
[on the phone]
Maria Di Vita - Older:Yes, Salvatore di Vita. You mean you don't know him, Miss? That's right, and I'm his mother. I've been calling from Sicily, all day long. I understand, he's not there.

Movie Connections:

Features Bitter Rice (1949)

Soundtrack:

Love Theme

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.