Cinema Paradiso

Introduction To Cinema

Name: Hamza Bin Tahir

                                                                                                                         School Of Creative Arts

 

  

Cinema Paradiso

(An analysis by Hamza-Bin-Tahir)

 

 

 

Cinema Paradiso:

 

 

 

 

Introduction:

“è un bel film” as they would say in Italian for “It’s a beautiful movie”, and indeed it is. Cinema paradiso is a remarkable work of art, it’s a film that pays homage and tribute to cinema culture and in doing so gives feelings of nostalgia, passion and memories. It’s the sort of film can make your day, it carries all the moods of emotions and makes us think about the hardships and difficulties of life, the compromises we have to make and really tells us that cinema is a medium that is powerful and engrossing.

Idea:

 

The main elements discussed in this movie are love, passion and the past. Although, there is a lot of portrayal of cinema culture in the film but the elements on which it thrives upon are the three. It does explore the relationship and intermingling of life and cinema, how it affects our lives and the culture, and how cinema itself becomes a culture. It aims upon emotions and sentiments of the characters. It portrays that whatever we do in the past, has certain effects on our future and coming times. Its experiences that make us the man we are, the journey of childhood, teenage and then finally an adult life. It also discusses themes as decision making in life, our religion, moral values and decisions, love passion and interests shape our lives, and how the past is significant in one’s life, one can either accept it or just consider it as a forgotten aspect of his life. It discusses that one should not isolate himself in a small world, rather he should explore the world, chase his dreams, follow his passion, leave one’s home and experience the world outside because experience is what shapes us.

Synopsis/Overview:

 

Cinema paradiso revolves around a character named Salvator Di Vita nick named “Toto”. It’s journey in his life, from his childhood, adolescence and then adult life. Toto develops a very deep friendship with Alfredo, local projectionist of a cinema. When Toto is an adult and a big shot director, he hears the unfortunate demise of his dear friend and mentor Alfredo. He then remembers his past, his childhood life, his friendship with alfredo, the love of his life Elena, and how is life went to lead him to his current status. Through the fatherly guidance of his mentor, he falls in love with movies, cinema and the art of film making. After a failed pursue of love, Alfredo advices Toto to leave the town, chase his dreams and erase the memory of the people that were associated with his past. Through this journey of his, he is encountered by family problems, passionate love and relationships. He when hears the news of Alfredo’s death goes into nostalgia and then leaves to attend his funeral. He encounters familiar faces, faces that he considered as a forgotten memory, and realizes that no matter how much you try to forget the past, it does stay with you, but one has to move on. In the end, his beloved cinema is demolished and he receives a box of negatives before going back. The negatives contained kissing scenes from Salvatore’s youth in the cinema.

Script:

 

The script of the film is outstanding, it is a fine example of good story telling and writing. The plot of the film is thrilling, enjoyable and filled with nostalgia. The film flows in a flashback manner; it revisits the character’s past and makes the audience connect to the visuals. The script has a lot of dialogues, but it is as heavily visual as the dialogues. In terms of story telling, the script most of the times, remains first person, as it tells the story from the main character’s point of view. The script has a lot of, humor and comic factor. For example the school scene, where Toto helps Alfredo cheat in the exam. From an emotional point of view, the script really holds the viewer. It is an immensely emotional film; example of this can be the scenes when the adult Toto returns home. As the film pays homage to classical film making, the film itself carries classical film narratives structures in the script, such as tragic romanticism and themes where the protagonist finds his true love but ultimately ends up losing her. It shows the cinema culture very well, it puts emphasis on collective experience and how cinema can bring people together. It also discusses, how in early times films faced censorship, when the priest and church used to view them for censorship but eventually it overcame religious barriers and showed kissing and intimate scenes, in other words cinema went bold. A scene, when there is a funeral being taken away, escorted by the priest and child Toto, there are some people who are photographing the scene. It showed that even a culture so dominated by religion; images and visuals were still able to integrate themselves in the society. Such is the power of cinema. There are so many characters in the movies, which are very likable and so diverse, that it really is masterful writing to establish such characters, that every character’s personality is distinctive, charming and appealing. The dialogues are very well written. They are very humorous, smart, comic and enjoyable with a dramatic touch in emotional situations. All characters have their distinctive style of dialogue, which the actors deliver remarkably.

Execution:

The film is technically very sound, and is masterfully crafted. The cinematography is very traditional and grammatical to how camerawork should be done. Sound is used wonderfully, the editing is remarkable and overall the film flows nicely and the script is executed in great fashion.

Protagonist:

 

The protagonist is Salvatore Di Vita, whose is a very lovable character, and the audience connects to him instantly. He is not just a simple character; he is very deep and complex, as far as psychology is concerned. Throughout the film, we experience his journey of life, we explore his character and throughout this film we learn about him. Toto is a hard working, passionate, loveable and very emotional character. In his childhood, we see him as a mischievous, hard working, fun loving and naughty boy who is lost in his own imaginative world. He finds films magical and is intrigued by them, and is willing to be a part of this magical creation. So to get closer to the films he tends to bond with Alfredo the projectionist at cinema paradiso. Due to his mischievous attitude, he is constantly scolded by his mother; He at one time nearly gets his little sister killed because of the burning of negatives that he collects from the Alfredo. But at heart the kid is pure and a very lovable character. One of the reasons why Alfredo himself generates fondness with Toto, one scene can be an example is that when, Toto is caught red handed by his mother as he leaves the cinema, and mother asks for the money. So Alfredo gives his mother the money to save him the scolding. He also considers Alfredo as a father figure, and is willing to even give his life for him and that is depicted by the scene where he risks his life to save Alfredo when the cinema is burning. As he grows up under the guidance of Alfredo, he becomes more mature. When he reaches his teens, we see a young enthusiastic and passionate Toto, who becomes even more bonded with Alfredo, and finds his first love. We see how passionate the character is about his first love, he even goes out and waits outside Elena’s window just like the Soldier story told by Alfredo. After losing faith in his beloved, he follows Alfredo’s advice and leaves town. This shows that he was determined to chase his dreams, even at the sacrifice of the past and his hometown. As he becomes an adult, he becomes a big shot director, we see transcendence of a fiery, emotional and enthusiastic teen Toto to a very mature person, who has learned a lot through experience. We can see by his face, that now he has learned a lot in life and when he returns to his home, he does feel a bit guilty about leaving his family and loved ones behind. But if he had not left, he might not have become the man he is today and compensations had to be made, he learned that life is that way.

Desire/Goal:

 

There are multiple desires here for Toto, as a child he is passionate about film and cinema and want to be a part of that magic. That can be seen from the scene, where he operates the projector for the first time, by just watching and learning. When he turns a teen, he finds the love of his life and starts to pursue and when he turns adult, he regrets the fact that he left his hometown, and treated his past as a lost memory and wished those moments could return. But he eventually realizes that he has to move on. But it can be said that the main desire of Toto is finding the love of his life that is Elena, even though he gets to live his passion as a director but he still gets deprived of his love Elena.

 

 

 

Obstacle:

 

The Obstacle for Toto when he wants Elena to be with him, are of course her parents, who are against Toto and keep her away from him. And as a child, when he wants to go to the cinema and work in the projection booth, her mother and Alfredo. But those are just mere physical obstacles. The bigger part is much more complex. The obstacle in a way was the feeling of regret and nostalgia. The feeling of dwelling in past memories, being caged and isolated by them. Overcoming time itself and letting go off the past is

perhaps the hardest obstacle in any man’s life. Alfredo, one can say, that he was sort of an obstacle too. But he wasn’t a villain; he was an obstacle in a good way. Even though Toto wanted to come back but Alfredo’s words still echoed in his ears. And he also didn’t let the town people and his family contact him. He wasn’t a villain but he was an obstacle in good way, which prevented him from dwelling in the past and making him the successful man he is today. Alfredo’s role in Toto’s life is very complex and hard to define.

Conflict:

 

Physical conflicts are there for Toto, but the real conflict is within him. Toto when experiencing a failed love venture, had to decide whether he wanted to live in isolation or explore the world and chase his dreams. He then fought off with feelings of loneliness, regret, guilt and nostalgia. It was an inner battle, within a man who has matured with experience. He never got his true love, he remained unmarried and alone, he resisted nostalgia and the past. A massive conflict on a psychological level.

Resolution:

 

The film resolves as Toto returns to his hometown, to attend his mentors Alfredo’s funeral. He then comes face to face with his past that he tried to forget. He realized that Alfredo was wise and right, that everything changes with time and one should move on. He then experiences his past and remembers them very emotionally, as the cinema paradiso is shut down and demolished; it feels as every good thing comes to an end eventually. And the paradiso just remains a memory for Toto and for evrybody who were a part of the time in it. Toto then receives a film reel containing all the kisses that the priest censored over the years in the cinema. As he watches those assembled kisses from different movies, he bursts into tears with great emotions, indulged in the reminder that this simple, yet powerful passion of love was missing in his life since he lost his connection with his true love Elena.

 

 

 

Mise-en-scene:

 

 

Figural Movement:

 

The movements on the screen are a sheer delight to watch. The actors do a staggering job in their respective roles, specially the roles of Toto have been played masterfully well. A lot of symbolism has also been used in the film as regard to movement blocking. For example, when we see the cinema paradiso and people sitting in it, the actors are so cleverly placed in the frame that you can see life every where. Every actor performs with such life and vigor that it looks so natural and believable. Coming to the symbolism, we see that the upper booth of the paradise is for the upper class people and ground floor is for the lower class people. There is a certain guy, sitting in the upper booth, spitting below on the lower class. A depiction how the elite class treats the lower class, but in a certain scene they throw back something on the face of the spitting guy, shutting him up and declaring that cinema is not only for elite class but for everybody. Overall the acting is theatrical and very appealing. The actor’s expressions are marvelous and at every mood of the film the figural movement is beautiful.

Figural Arrangement:

 

Through the figural arrangement, the director really has shown off the Italian culture. From the locations, places and props, everything matches up. As the film moves forward, of course the time also does, so gradually we see advancement in the surroundings and things as the time gets more modern and Toto grows up. The houses, the settings and the way the cinema paradiso changes over time is captured really well.

 

Costumes:

 

The costumes are top notch, with authentic portrayal of time and place. The Italian culture is well shown, through the costumes and they also change a bit over time. Of course the class difference is again implied with elite having extravagant clothes and the lower class having mediocre cloths. Same implies to Toto as mostly his attire is quite mediocre but when he turns into a hot shot director, his attire completely changes and gives the essence of a successful man.

Make up:

 

The make is great, with authentic and natural feel. It’s not overly done and helps in giving a believable feel to the audience. It also aids in the lighting as it gives natural textures on faces. Aging is well shown through out the film, and make up is the main element in that. As Alfredo ages, one can see that after the burning incident, his wounds and scars also naturally change over time.

Cinematography:

 

The director has done a marvelous job in visualizing the subject matter, in a way that it’s symbolic, beautiful and appealing. Many dolly ins are used, an example of this can be a establishing shot when the camera dolly ins through the church bells and shows the town. There are many dolly ins and outs through streets and alleys. Whenever Toto and Alfredo are shown, they are usually shown in a mid shot, together which is the classic technique of showing a relationship between two characters. The cinematography style is very classical and grammatical, as it should be because the movie pays homage to classical cinema. Whenever a character is shown as shown isolated and caged, foregrounds are shown, particularly with Alfredo because his life is nothing but being a projectionist isolated in a small room who eventually turns blind. Lower angles are keenly used, whenever characters are sitting, an example of this can be the scene where the priest is watching the movies for censorship, he even enjoys the film, showing that no matter how much religious you are, cinema is powerful that it holds you. The inside atmosphere of cinema paradiso is visualized magnificently. One ponders how the director managed to do it in such tight spaces; the cinema culture is depicted well. News is shown before the start of films. Everybody is going through a collective experience. People are enjoying and relaxing, a culture, society has been created in the cinema, more like a family where people are having a laugh together. A particular scene has very good cinematography, where people are not allowed in the cinema by the owner, so Alfredo shows them the film on a building wall in the town square. The way the moving image on the walls is shown is remarkable and a work of genius. This shows that cinema is a universal medium, it is for everybody and not limited. Another scene can be where, Toto sees a news reel, where the death of soldiers is told, shows the death of his father, so he and his mother are walking in a street. His mother is sobbing because of the death news and Toto also feeling the sadness, suddenly sees a movie poster and cheers up. This shows even in the tragic times of war and post war, cinema was tool that kept people happy and entertained. There are also depth of field changes, such as the shot where the projector’s light is shown, and the camera shifts focus to the statue of Mary, depicting as if the light is coming out of the Mary statue, and again showing cinema as sort of a religion. High angles have been used mostly, in rooms to show the environments and the camera is constantly in motion through different shots. Close ups have been used to capture the facial expressions and long shots and mid shots are there for their respective purposes. The lighting is also very symbolically used and it’s perfect. When in the cinema, the light is some what majestic, as if in a magical place. When characters isolation is shown the light is a bit darker and tinted.

Editing:

 

Editing is slick and very neat, there is very little room for errors and the timing is so perfect that you don’t see this in many films. The pacing of the film is so constant and comfortable. The pacing in tense situation is a bit faced paces and in conversations the cuts are subtle with varied shots. There are many good cuts, for example the shot where the teacher is beating the child with the stick, cuts to Alfredo tapping something on the table, the scene where the priest rings the bell, and it cuts to the church bells tower. The eyeline matches are authentic; overall the film flows like a song with wonderful rhythm and smoothness.

Sound:

 

Sound is an integral part of the film, as the music really makes the experience wonderful and emotional.

 

Non-Digetic:

 

The music of the film is powerful and captivating, the orchestral pieces mix so well with the visuals. As romantic, comedy and tragic all moods having varied music to fit the tone of the visuals. Wonderful composition makes the audience feel as if they are in another world.

Digetic:

 

The films sounds in the film sphere are well mixed. The audio video sync perfectly. They sound is natural and believable, with the dialogues being heard clearly with pitch perfect delivery. The sound effects are also very convincing. An example can be when the film is shown in the town square on the building, the audio of the film echoed as if it would in real life in an open area, so overall sound is great.

Personal comment/Analysis:

 

Cinema paradiso is a sort of a nostalgic celebration of movies and cinemas, it celebrates the wonderful culture of cinema, how it brings people together and its social impact, packed in a wonderful dose of romantic drama which is itself a classic. It’s a film that really stimulates our emotions and feelings, making us feel gloomy, happy, joyful and sometimes curious and poignant. With a fantastic script, cinematography, story and loveable characters it takes us back to a person’s first time at the cinema, the excitement and the wonderful experience. Cinema paradiso is a wonderful film, both warm and satisfying for any movie lover.

“FINE”