Cinema Paradiso

Actors: Phillipe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Salvatore Cascio, Marco Leonardi
Rating: 8 out of 10, this is the first movie with subtitles that I ever sat all the way through. Any true lover of movies should have this movie which tracks the life of a true movie fanatic and film director from the age of five until middle age. The young actor does extremely well and the relationship with his secret father, who is the projectionist at the cinema, is so poignant. The movie is set in post WW2 Sicily but it has some universal truths as well as the characters that seem to inhabit all small towns. There are so many funny moments as the denizens of this town evolve with the movies they watch. The ending scenes, where we see the modern village, you share their sense of loss of innocence. It was an interesting mix of French and Italian actors but this movie works on so many levels. The movie ends with one of the best scenes in movie history as the adult Toto watches the bequeath of his recently deceased father, a compilation of all the on screen kisses that the village priest had required be excised before the film could be viewed. If you love movies and you haven’t seen Cinema Paradiso then you are not complete.
MVP: Noiret as Alfredo the beloved projectionist and secret father of Toto who nurtures his love of the movies